amingomaa said:

that's was funny but i'm asked to think about design for telecomm system infrastructure for a resort and i need something to start with
- Core IP network: Everything is IP now so this is definitely the groundwork. When you say resort I think multiple facilities, so you're talking a Campus Area Network. In all likelyhood that will involve fiber optics, Gigabit switches, and the LAN within each facility. If it's anything like our 460 acres you'll also have to deal with things like point-to-point wireless, DSL, and IP routing.
- Telephony: Older phone systems (like Nortel MICS) were almost entirely separate from the IP network. You had to deal with copper lines everywhere you wanted a phone. Newer systems (Nortel BCM, Cisco Unified Communications) can run over the IP network with minor additional configuration for security and reliability purposes.
- Video: Assuming that your resort has some kind of hospitality aspect, you'll likely be providing video to your guests. At a minimum you'll want basic TV service ("Free to Guest") but you'll likely be considering in-room movies, interactive checkout, etc. We're still in the planning stages but we're focusing on video-over-IP that's entirely HD. Somewhere around 50 HD channels off satellite Free-to-Guest, and a library of HD movies on demand. Of course this will run over IP, but careful planning is needed regarding bandwith and network optimization.
- CCTV and Access Control: If there are any thoughts of implementing these features at a resort, you want them to be IP-enabled, mainly for scalability reasons. We're in the midst of our third major CCTV upgrade. At first we only had 16 cameras in one facility, which necessitated a standalone DVR. Then we needed additional cameras in another facility, with everything monitored from one location, necessitating a new pair of DVRs. Most recently there has been a need to add a third facility, whereby the decision was made to buy top-level NVR software that scales to a practically limitless number of cameras over hundreds of sites. As an added bonus, a pure IP CCTV system doesn't require a separate cabling infrastructure. We have yet to look at site-wide access control, but I'm looking forward to it, as my keyring weighs more than a pound (at one point I had 65+ keys)