Revised:  1 April 2004

1) Our voice network is in the best shape of any of the services we offer right now, but we are running out of wiring capacity at some locations on the campus. In these locations we currently have outstanding requests to connect telephones, FAX machines, and computers but have no wiring available or conduit space in which to run more wiring.

2) Our video cable network was abandoned six or seven years ago. The new network will provide us with flexible distribution to the classrooms and offices.

3) The existing data network has a number of problems. First, the entire campus is one big collision zone. That means that every bit that gets put on the network travels across the entire network, even if it is just going next door. One micro going into a run-away broadcast condition will flood the entire network and basically bring the campus business to a stand-still. This actually happens far too often, and always seems to happen during some critical business cycle, such as in the middle of Registration. The backbone network has limited capacity and we can see the day coming when the load caused by delivering Internet services, particularly streaming video, to the classrooms will saturate it. Also, there is no way the current network could support the capacity and security requirements for the Common Management System (CMS), a CSU-wide project to implement a common suite of administrative software. Additionally, only five campus buildings are directly connected to the campus fiber backbone. The rest are connected with slow-speed ethernet extenders and faculty, staff, and students in those buildings often experience slow network response times due to congestion. New telecommunications equipment rooms will contain routers that will intelligently route data around the campus over fiber (higher capacity fiber than we have now) that will connect every permanent building. The routers will block run-away micros from flooding the network. Each office and instructional space will receive at least 100 Mbps to the desktop for data (so called "high tech" rooms, such as computer labs, will receive at least100 Mbps to every individual micro, printer, and server in the room). Quite a few faculty already are up against the wall because the current network does not provide them sufficient throughput for their research. Because our connections to 4CNet also will be improved as part of the project, faculty and students will have full Internet II connectivity

Along with the increase in capacity will come a whole new set and level of services:

Reliability. With the proper routing equipment in place, we will be able to install full network operations center (NOC) services. The NOC will be able to monitor all the network equipment and provide alerts for failing equipment, typically before the users notice any problems. It also will be able to isolate and switch off equipment that is degrading the performance of the network, such as a run-away micro. It will provide us with usage statistics and analysis of network congestion and bottlenecks. The NOC will be in continuous communication with new firewalls, which will greatly increase the security of the network. Once we have these capabilities, we will be able to offer the campus Service Level Agreements (SLAs) on up-time, time-to-install, time-to-repair, etc. and track and report how well we are meeting those SLAs.

Policy Based Management. Also, with the NOC, we will be able to implement what is called "Policy Based Management," which gives us the capability to manage the network by transaction type, thus ensuring maximum utility. For example, it will be possible to give priority routing to certain registration transactions during the Humboldt Orientation Program (HOP) while assigning a low priority for back-up traffic.

Virtual Local Area Networks. The new capabilities include support for virtual local area networks (VLANs) -- your LAN would be defined in the software and that would determine which servers and applications you could access and from which ones you are blocked. This will enhance usability (for example, simplifying the implementation of intranets) and increase security.

Authentication and Authorization. Authentication and authorization are part of the project. Wherever you sign onto the network, your "profile" (access rights and privileges) would be available. That would allow, for example, authorized users to access subscription services while blocking unauthorized access (e.g., faculty and students can access Lexis/Nexis under the license agreement, but staff cannot). The profile would be available to you not just on campus but also from your home computer or a computer on another campus, allowing you access to all the services you have on campus, including your preferences, no matter where you are located. Eventually (two or three years) we expect to be able to implement single sign-on for all services, which would include loading your preferences wherever you are at when you connect to the network.

In general, the operation of the entire network (voice, data, and video) will be enhanced and service will be so ubiquitous, reliable, and secure that users will think of all of the new technology the same way as they currently think of the telephone: when you pick up that handset, you expect to hear a dial-tone, and you do 99.9999% of the time or more.