UC Irvine CPG Campus Report
Network and Academic Computing Services (NACS)
Summary: The Communications Planning Group (CPG) is a group of network and telecom managers from each of the UC campuses. We meet quarterly to discuss relevant issues and to share what we are doing in network and telecommunications at each campus
August 2004
Cal(IT)2 building
NACS is planning the communications infrastructure for the Cal(IT)2 that will be completed in September 2004. This building will be a model for leading-edge telecommunications infrastructure and research. NACS will be deploying Cisco IP Telephony running on a high-speed Cisco network with 10/100/1000MB to every desktop.
Natural Sciences 2
NACS has begun planning for the Natural Science Unit 2 building scheduled for completion August 2005. This building will house programs from Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences, and Biomedical Engineering. NACS is planning the network infrastructure to support IP phones.
Wireless Networking
UCI has ranked #14 out of the top 100 wireless schools in a newly completed survey by Intel.
The survey results can be found on the Intel website at: http://www.intel.com/products/mobiletechnology/unwiredcolleges.htm?iid=ipp_m%20obiletech+colleges&
NACS will continue to incrementally add wireless capacity this year - we have a mix of Lucent and Cisco access points (APs), but have standardized on Cisco 802.11b APs. We just completed our first full production 802.11g installation with full coverage throughout an entire building (Biological Sciences' McGaugh Hall). We just completed the installation of Cisco 802.11g radios to upgrade our existing 60+ 802.11b radios in our Cisco APs. We just replaced all the Lucent 802.11b Aps in the Graduate School of Management with Cisco 802.11g. We have wireless networking in all classrooms. We are looking into how to best provide widespread outdoor wireless network coverage. For more information, go to http://www.nacs.uci.edu/ucinet/mobile/.
Core Upgrade
NACS recently received funding to upgrade the core and most of the distribution layer of the UCInet backbone to support new applications and protocols such as IP Telephony, QOS and multicast. The core will be upgraded from 1GE on Cisco 5509/8510s to 10GE on Cisco 6500s. Most of the layer 2 building distribution switches will be upgraded to Cisco 3750 layer 3 switches. The upgrade does not include the edge or access layer.
Other Backbone Network Upgrade Requirements
NACS is nearly out of fiber between our core sites and we plan to install more this summer.
We need to install a new collapsed distribution layer (CDL) at each of our core sites. The CDL is a layer three switch at each core site connected directly to the core. The CDL provides connectivity for servers located at the core sites, and for layer 2 switches out in the network.
Edge Upgrade
NACS is planning to upgrade the edges of the network with smarter switches that will support the new applications and protocols, and enhance network security and manageability. Our priority is to replace the shared network "hubs" still in use on campus. We recently replaced all of the Cisco 10MB switches in Physical Science with Cisco 100MB switches, and replaced the hubs in Social Science and Social Ecology with the Cisco 10MB switches. There are still small numbers of hubs scattered across the campus.
Network and VOIP Planning
NACS is in the process of developing a long-range strategic plan that will identify all the major reasons that the distribution and edges of the network need to be upgraded, will identify what needs to be upgraded, will estimate the costs, and will suggest a phased implementation. This plan will be used to secure funding. Some of the reasons the network needs to be upgraded include support for VOIP, enhanced security, better manageability, increased availability, higher performance, and support for new protocols.
