3 ms·

In a well-designed building, that's not hard. All of your network drops would all be connected to the switches in advance (if network security was a concern, y

In a well-designed building, that's not hard. All of your network drops would all be connected to the switches in advance (if network security was a concern, you could do 802.1X controlled VLAN / port-based authentication). In this type of setup, you've now made it "port on a switch = physical location in the building" (within the length of an ethernet cable - say 6-9 feet). With the right automation tools, when a port goes active, it would be possible to poll the client workstation information connected to it and automatically update directory information with the physical location based on the port that user is connected to (assuming a 1-to-1 user to computer assignment).

reeses 13y ago
Doing it by port is easy if you know the MAC address (which, in this day of thunderbolt/usb/etc. Ethernet dongles can be a stretch, but you could block unknown MACs at the switch) because you can map sw01/Gi 3/02 to floor n, room x, port y. Similarly, you can get close with WAPs in each office. Getting closer would require a scanner. I'm interested in something more comprehensive and definitive, and was wondering what Valve's actual solution was.
- pudquick 13y ago
  I don't think they've made that public. But such systems do exist. Check out Figure 1 right above this link: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9742/products_tech_note09186a00809d1529.shtml#tbi http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9742/products_tech_not... There's probably a third-party vendor that can take that interface and integrate it with your Exchange / LDAP directory services to update physical location. Given the rather unique structure of Valve, however, I'd be more inclined to think they rolled their own. And if such a business product doesn't exist, hey, opportunity for you (or someone else). And RE: using MAC - that's one reason I mentioned 802.1X. If you do EAP you can have client certificates for proof of identity / identity mapping. Then it doesn't matter what the MAC is (which can be spoofed anyways, so it's not trustworthy) / which network interface the machine uses.
  - reeses 13y ago
    Yeah, I have this thing stuck in my head that I can't track down now. It was something similar to HP's CoolTown but less 20th century (no explicit IR, etc.). I can't remember if it was a group at PARC, Lucent, etc. That's why I was interested in the path Valve took. It appears from interviews with Valve staff and photos of their office that the desks are mobile, with the office built around a flexible arrangement, including freight elevators. In that case, it's extraordinarily easy to identify where someone is, or at least where their desk is, and whether they are at it. Now I'm going to toss and turn tonight, waking up at 5am with the organization I was thinking of. :-) [Edit] It was Olivetti Research. There's a good reason it was difficult to recall.

reeses 13y ago

Doing it by port is easy if you know the MAC address (which, in this day of thunderbolt/usb/etc. Ethernet dongles can be a stretch, but you could block unknown MACs at the switch) because you can map sw01/Gi 3/02 to floor n, room x, port y. Similarly, you can get close with WAPs in each office. Getting closer would require a scanner. I'm interested in something more comprehensive and definitive, and was wondering what Valve's actual solution was.

pudquick 13y ago
I don't think they've made that public. But such systems do exist. Check out Figure 1 right above this link: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9742/products_tech_note09186a00809d1529.shtml#tbi http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9742/products_tech_not... There's probably a third-party vendor that can take that interface and integrate it with your Exchange / LDAP directory services to update physical location. Given the rather unique structure of Valve, however, I'd be more inclined to think they rolled their own. And if such a business product doesn't exist, hey, opportunity for you (or someone else). And RE: using MAC - that's one reason I mentioned 802.1X. If you do EAP you can have client certificates for proof of identity / identity mapping. Then it doesn't matter what the MAC is (which can be spoofed anyways, so it's not trustworthy) / which network interface the machine uses.
- reeses 13y ago
  Yeah, I have this thing stuck in my head that I can't track down now. It was something similar to HP's CoolTown but less 20th century (no explicit IR, etc.). I can't remember if it was a group at PARC, Lucent, etc. That's why I was interested in the path Valve took. It appears from interviews with Valve staff and photos of their office that the desks are mobile, with the office built around a flexible arrangement, including freight elevators. In that case, it's extraordinarily easy to identify where someone is, or at least where their desk is, and whether they are at it. Now I'm going to toss and turn tonight, waking up at 5am with the organization I was thinking of. :-) [Edit] It was Olivetti Research. There's a good reason it was difficult to recall.