New Improvements in Internet, Voice, and Data
Chris Peabody
Since August 2001, Georgetown University has been carefully planning a complete overhaul of our wide area voice and data network. When the network redesign is completed, network outages to large off-campus buildings and to the Internet and Internet2 networks should decrease dramatically.
Over the last six months, Georgetown University has suffered three major network outages severing our ability to communicate across the Internet and the Internet2 national research network, as well as most of our large buildings located off campus, like the Law Center and 2115 Wisconsin Avenue.
In August 2001, UIS began reviewing the architecture of the voice and data circuits and services that connect GU to large off-campus buildings and the Internet/Internet2. Service interruptions to these circuits had been relatively rare, but UIS wanted to identify "single points of failure" in the existing architecture, and re-engineer a more redundant, robust solution for these networking needs. Although the service outages of the past six months were outside of the University's control, they are unfortunate proof that a network redesign was warranted and necessary.
Building and Fiber Cable Redundancy
In the existing network architecture, virtually all of the fiber optic cables from the telecommunications carriers like Verizon terminated at the Ryan building on campus. By early fall 2002, additional carrier termination points will be installed at the Car Barn Building and at the Poulton building. New termination points eliminate the potential of a building facilities catastrophe, like the Ryan building flood in January 2001, from taking the entire campus network off line.
The fiber optic cables and network electronics that connect each University building to the campus network also terminate in Ryan. These on-campus cables and electronics have also been reengineered to provide redundancy in the event of a building or electronics failure.
Internet Service Provider Redundancy
In February 2002, Verizon technicians proved our need for a redundant ISP when they accidentally cut the cable that provided Internet access to the entire University. Beginning this fall semester, the campus ISP service will be backed up by a second fiber optic cable, and the University will have a second ISP connection provided by Cogent Communications.
Increased Bandwidth Capacity
In fall 2002, bandwidth will increase from 45 megabits per second to 1000 megabits per second, greatly enhancing the speed of your Internet service.
Chris Peabody is director of Network and Computing Services for UIS.
|
