Asheville School

Advanced Data earns Asheville School’s business by going the extra yard

Charles Long, technology coordinator for Asheville School, is responsible for everything technical at this private boarding school for co-eds in 9-12th grade. That includes network infrastructure, the emergency system, servers, databases, and security, including cameras. The school also has a technical committee but as he says, it all comes back to him.

Asheville School is one of the top boarding schools in the nation. Nearly 300 students attend and/or live on the 300-acre campus and they are growing. The school’s rigorous academic standards mean that students there are really smart; they are also very good at technology, so they keep Charles on his toes.

Advanced Data has worked with Charles on an as-needed basis since 2009, beginning with a server upgrade. When the school’s technology infrastructure began having serious difficulties, Charles consulted with Advanced Data who proposed a total upgrade, including VoIP, for only 50% more than what it was going to cost to install VOIP. They collaborated on writing the proposal, and were successful in securing the funds from the Board in just two weeks. Delays in getting equipment caused a stressful situation for the beginning of the school year, so Advanced Data brought their switches and equipment out to make sure everything went smoothly.

Over the years, Advanced Data has installed servers, a storage area network, a phone system, switches, routers, and firewalls, wired all the buildings, and installed a unified wireless network throughout the school’s 300 acres.