WA-IX’s first ever PoP in QV1 is no more. IAA has left the building. In March this year, our longest-running Point of Presence and the birthplace of the commercial internet in WA, was decommissioned.
Closing a legacy site is never easy, and QV1 didn’t go quietly. The final tidy-up was a mammoth task and a true archaeological dig through decades of networking relics and general detritus.
In the deepest recesses we found layer upon layer of history and horror. There were coiled-up cables dating back decades, disused gear long since replaced, and a truly shocking quantity of general tech junk. Old scrap, torn packaging, a Krone block, empty Krone logbooks, and even a GBIC to Ethernet module that sparked a wave of nostalgia. There were also the less savoury finds. A half empty tuna can. A long-forgotten yoghurt tub. We didn’t check the expiry dates. We didn’t want to know. Somewhere in there may still be an AUI adapter from a Cisco 2511 (and the lost treasure of the Sierra Madre), but we chose to stop digging.
Thanks to a solid team effort, the site is now restored to its former condition. Perhaps even better.
As we shared earlier in the year, QV1’s age and constraints meant it could no longer keep up with the standards we set for our infrastructure. While it will always be part of our history, we need to evolve to meet the expectations of Members and the demands of modern networks.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the clean-up, the decommissioning, and the memories.
As one of the team put it:
“I’ve been looking forward to this day since the first argument about whether we should keep it. That was at least two UPS and one air con upgrade ago.”
QV1, you were something. But your reign is over.
