HTL Braunau is a higher technical secondary school in Upper Austria with around 1,000 students. It offers programs in electronics, electrical engineering, mechatronics, and IT – with a strong focus on practical, hands-on projects.
As part of their graduation project, students Gabriel Delhaye and Norbert Marinau developed a complete provider network – including firewall, routing, server services, and redundancy mechanisms.
Right at the start of the project, they encountered a common problem: disorganized cabling, damaged patch cables, and a lack of cable length variety in the school inventory. The solution was found via Instagram – in the form of patchbox.one.
After visiting the website, Gabriel presented the system to his project partner Norbert – both were enthusiastic. Their supervising teacher was also quickly convinced.
“We were immediately fascinated by how simple and clean it is to work with patchbox.one. It took our project to a whole new level.”
The technical implementation was a challenging project. Among the components used were:
- Radius server for central authentication
- DNS server for name resolution
- Syslog server for logging
- NTP server for time synchronization
- Web server for customer websites
Security was a central aspect of the project. The students implemented a professional firewall and centralized authentication, with all devices protected by individual credentials. The goal was a practical security concept with clear structure. The network was built redundantly so that data traffic remained stable even in case of failures. Protocols used included:
- EIGRP (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol) for dynamic routing and load balancing
- HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol) for a constantly available default gateway
- STP (Spanning Tree Protocol) to prevent loops and allow automatic failover
The students placed great emphasis on a practical implementation and simulated typical ISP structures such as peering and Internet Exchange Points.
They encountered a central problem: the existing network cables were often damaged or available in unsuitable lengths, resulting in disorganized and hard-to-maintain network racks. Manual cable selection was time-consuming, and the result was unsatisfactory both visually and functionally. To solve this problem, the students specifically looked for an alternative.
Gabriel discovered patchbox.one via Instagram – an innovative cable management system that immediately caught their interest. After reviewing the website, it became clear that the system could solve their cabling problem. He presented patchbox.one to his project partner Norbert – both were enthusiastic. Their supervising teacher was also quickly convinced.
“The bright colors of the cables immediately caught my eye. We tried the mechanism and were fascinated by how easy cable management became.”
To support the next generation of IT students, PATCHBOX provided several patchbox.one systems free of charge. Installation was quick and straightforward. Particularly impressive were:
- High-quality construction
- Tool-free installation
- The ability to separate connections by color – e.g., red for servers, blue for network paths
“Installation was extremely fast – and the result looks simply professional.”
With precisely matched cable lengths, the time-consuming search for suitable cables was eliminated. With patchbox.one, not only maintenance but also installation is up to 10x faster.
The cabling was not only functional but also visually appealing – a real plus for the project presentation. patchbox.one enabled clean, structured cable routing, which also provides clear advantages for later maintenance or expansion.
- 50% more space
- Downtime reduced by 90%, limiting troubleshooting effort
- Compact setup allows optimal airflow and temperature control
The project presentation, including the patchbox.one demonstration, was graded “Excellent” – both in the final report and during the official presentation. Supervising teachers and other faculty were impressed – both by the technical implementation and the tidy appearance of the rack.
“Our teacher praised us and patchbox.one for the clean cabling. Later, other teachers also came to see the system.”
Besides visual order, the system particularly impressed with time savings during patching and easy maintenance. Errors were reduced, and troubleshooting was accelerated. patchbox.one contributed significantly to making the project convincing both technically and visually.
Gabriel and Norbert strongly recommend PATCHBOX for future graduation projects. The benefits are clear: less effort, better organization, professional appearance – and a system that works long-term even in a school environment.
“Now the next graduation projects won’t waste time searching for cables – they can start right away, because with patchbox.one, the network rack remains organized in the long term.”
The PATCHBOX solution has proven highly practical in the school environment, saving time, reducing errors, and ensuring a professional appearance – a real added value for any technical education.
