Transcript PPT - EDUCAUSE Library

“IF I COULD START FROM SCRATCH”
A Case Study of Infrastructure Design at
Olin College
Joanne Kossuth, Director Information
Technology
Mission Impossible????
Start Date?
October
End
1999
Date?
ASAP
Task
Design
a network infrastructure for Phase I buildings
and outside plant, anticipating future phases
Rationale: “It will be Different”
The Beginning
Location, Location
The Model
Design Goals
 An
infrastructure with a minimum expected lifespan of 25 years
 A technology experience consistent with the expectations for the
“Engineering College of the 21st Century”
 An infrastructure capable of :
 supporting faculty research requirements such as the Sloan
Center for Online Education (www.scole.org)
 supporting collaborative endeavors that cut across
educational, corporate, and international boundaries
 supporting student expectations and requirements for
academic, community, and social activities
Possible Services
 Network
based file sharing, storage, printing, and backup
 UNIX, LINUX, and NT operating systems support
 Desktop applications and support such as MS Office, CAD
 Disaster Recovery of laptops, desktops, servers, etc.
 A pyramid of web pages from faculty to student home pages
 Wireless connectivity to work anywhere with anyone
 High speed access to the Internet
 Constant e-mail access
 The ability to download or send applicable information from home
computers to work computers to cell phones or other personal
digital assistants
Possible Services, Cont.
 Course
materials available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365
days a year for anytime, anywhere learning
 Access to help (student, faculty, on-line, e-mail) whenever needed
 A variety of multi media materials (music, artwork, movie clips,
television clips, sound bites, PowerPoint presentations, talking
heads, chat rooms, discussion boards) used in content to keep
the interest of the student
 Online self assessment, instant feedback
 The ability to personalize the educational experience down to
coordinating and editing materials to study in the manner that
works best for the student
Possible Services, Cont.
 The
ability to produce the aforementioned multimedia materials
through taping, digitizing, editing and online collaboration
 The ability to stream and broadcast selected audio and visual
materials throughout the campus or the world
 Teleconferencing
 Voice over ip (utilizing network equipment as opposed to a
traditional PBX which would cost between $1 and $1.3 million
dollars) to make and receive telephone calls
 The ability to access all student services online, anytime, from
anywhere and to have the services provide knowledgeable
support during the process
 Things we cannot even imagine ……..
Our First Educated Guesses at
Required Resources
 Fiber
connectivity to the world
 Fiber connectivity between buildings
 Fiber connectivity between floors
 Category 6 copper cable for up to 1GB throughput to the desktop
 Fiber to the desktop for advanced multi media applications such
as CAD
 Satellite Dishes
 Partnerships with a select 8-10 technology companies
 An ongoing commitment to upgrading and replacing technology
on an annual basis
 Staffing
Staffing?
 Currently,
IT Director, Associate Director for Networking and
Technical Services, Associate Director for Application
Development, Technical Services Assistant, Network Admin and
Technician openings
 Supporting approximately 50 users, 16 servers, Great Plain
Avenue campus
 IT includes voip, A/V, electronic security
 Designing and overseeing IT work on the main campus
 Designing and overseeing IT work on the Modular Academic
Center and Residence Hall (temporary 9/01-2/02)
 Estimated final staff count of 20-25 +/-
Design Factors
 Design
 The
Factors
design is based on the following factors:
 The impact of the technology currently in place, and the
impact of the technology planned in the following
environments:
 High Schools
 Comparable Colleges
 Corporations
 Emerging technologies and challenges, the rate of change, and
customer relationship management
Design Factors, Cont.
 The
exceptional level of students being recruited by Olin College
 The increasing expectations of the student community, in general
Students are already used to:
 24x7 access to course materials on the web
 ATM machines
 Home banking
 E-commerce (groceries to cool techie toys)
 Using the Internet voice over ip to make “free” telephone calls
 Using cell phones to download material from the web to stay
constantly in-touch
Design Factors, Cont.
 Napster
and MP3s (“making their own music in their own portable
format)
 Sending postcards via e-mail
 Receiving photos from a CD, not negatives
 Using a digital camera and skipping the photo development
process entirely
 Watching TV or videos over the Internet
 Collaborating in “group” games such as SimCity and Doom
 The role of emerging network technologies
 The formation of “high-tech” communities I.e. the Nortel community
in California
 The rapid rate of technological innovation and change
 Focus on customer relationships over a lifetime
High School Examples
North
Carolina School of Science and Math
Maine School of Science and Math
Massachusetts Academy of Mathematics and
Science
Rockport Maine High School
Today’s High Schools
 North
Carolina School of Science and Math
 www.ncssm.edu/IT/computing_resources
 T1
Internet access
 10 servers
 300 workstations
 Student Learning Lab containing 21 PCs with video capture
cards and conferencing cameras, reserved by on-line
reservation
 E-lab containing 20 PCs and 15 development machines with
video editing, desktop publishing, electronic music, and highend graphics
NCSCM
 North
 HP
Carolina School of Science and Math (cont.)
Unix/Linux lab containing sever and workstations
 Distance Learning Department with non-linear video editing,
server, and high end workstations
 Networked HP color and black and white printers
 Terminal server clients in dormitory common rooms
 Student run web server
 Student organization web sites
 Upgrading to all 100mbs (megabits per second) connections
Today’s College Technology
 Harvey
Mudd
 Rose Hulman
 Florida Tech
 MIT
 Wake Forest University
 Northwestern University
 University of Massachusetts, Amherst
 WPI
WPI
www.wpi.edu
 Dual
campus backbone, OC-48 ATM/10GB Ethernet
 All multimedia/video runs on the ATM network
 Use Siecor fiber
 All data runs on the 10GB Ethernet
 One ATM 3/12 to each building with a 2 GB Ethernet uplink to
the data chassis
 All ports being upgraded to switched 10/100 Ethernet
Today’s Corporations
Biogen
(Medical technology)
Household Finance (Financial/Insurance)
Crossroads (Internet)
UPS (Transportation Service)
Crossroads
Crossroads, Austin Texas
 Supplier
of data storage solutions
 Full FTTD (Fiber to the desktop) solution using MTRJ
connectors
 3 pairs of fiber to each desk, copper for the telephone
connection
 4000 desktop connections
Emerging Technology
Considerations
 Internet
2 applications require end-to-end connectivity
 In an environment where voice, video, and data are converging
into a common digital infrastructure how do we connect wired and
wireless networking in a seamless manner?
 What quality of service is required?
 How can bandwidth be dynamically allocated to insure that certain
network traffic goes through regardless of any other application
(prioritization)?
Emerging Technology
Considerations, Cont.
 Should
we segregate academic/administrative from residential
networks to apply different quality of service algorithms?
 Do researchers with external support receive priority network
services?
 Should research indirect cost formulas be altered to include
quality of service costs?
 Should quality of service be fee-based?
 Can we plan the current and future replacement for network
hardware?
Market Considerations
 According
to Cabling Business Magazine, new construction
projects are installing single mode and multimode fiber at the
backbone and riser level
 Approximately 40% of the new construction projects are installing
fiber to the desktop e.g. George Washington University, Umass
Amherst
 In general, new installs of copper for data purposes are Cat6 with
the exception of strictly voice applications
 There is a world wide shortage of fiber and the raw materials that
make fiber
Market Considerations, Cont.
 Vendors
are currently producing 10GB backbone throughput on
fiber
 New technologies such as wave division multiplexing (WDM) and
dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) are being utilized in the
carrier market
 Predications call for LANs to be 10GB by 2003-2005 at the time
when MANs (Metropolitan Area Networks) are 30GB and WANs
(wide area networks) are 100GB
Technological Change

LOS ALAMITOS, CA September 26, 2000: Creating the best possible
digital learning environment is critical to sustaining California’s
technology miracle. With $32 million in State funding, the Digital
California Project: K-12 Statewide Network is underway to create a digital
infrastructure to help prepare the next generation with the skills to excel
in the network-driven economy. The Digital California Project, or DCP,
provides the framework for a cohesive and seamless statewide advanced
service network that reaches into each of the State’s 58 counties. Once
the network has been implemented, K-12 schools, districts and county
offices of education will be able to connect their networks to the DCP and
gain access to rich content resources for teaching and learning, to
prepare students with the basic knowledge and specific skills to inspire
them to enter and be successful in higher education and in the 21st
century workforce.
Customer Relationship
Management, Students
 Services
received from web-based companies lead students,
faculty, and staff to increasingly expect real-time personalized
services available around the clock
 Students will expect to receive choices in registration based on
past preferences, meeting time, learning style, academic area,
prerequisites, co-requisites, impact on degree completion,
previous student ratings, cost of textbooks and materials, etc.
CRM, Researchers
 Researchers
will expect to have only those grant opportunities
applicable to their areas of interest flagged for them.
 They will also expect to be contacted only by those individuals
interested in working with them on specific projects.
 They will expect to collaborate in virtual time and space.
 Many grant proposals such as NSF can only be submitted on line
e.g. www.bu.edu/osp/nsf.html
Lifetime CRM
 Alumni
will expect to retain access to College resources as they
pursue their careers.
 They will also want to utilize electronic resources to maintain
personal relationships with faculty, staff, and students.
 The College will need to maintain “in-touch” with alumni and know
their preferences for college events, outside events, sports,
books, etc. in order to better develop donor prospects.
CRM and Convergence
 As
the world of electronics, information technology,
telecommunications, and e-business converges, the boundaries
of the current market will be blurred as web-based expectations
become the norm.
 Colleges will be competing with other web presences such as
entertainment providers, publisher, software vendors, training
providers, etc.
The Customer Influence
 Olin
College is not using a print application
 The on-line application went live on Friday, September 15, 2000
at 11:21am
 The response from students was immediate
 In the first hour, 11 accounts were created
 By the end of the first day 114 accounts were created and
students were entering data until midnight
 By the end of the second day 64 additional accounts were created
 By the end of the third day 56 additional accounts were created
 A total of 1857 accounts were created, 664 applications fully
submitted, and 126 candidates invited
The Planning Categories
Cabling
and Connectivity
Network Hardware
Servers and Labs
Audio/ Visual
Security
Relationship with Babson
Cabling and Connectivity, Cont.
 Extensive
research on performance of end-to-end solutions
and/or alternatives
 The Cabling Tour (Manufacturers and Contractors)
 Reference site visits
 Corporate Headquarter visits
 Plant visits
 Business Plans and Financial Statements
 In-house testing of Olin specified solutions
Cabling and Connectivity, Cont.
 Specified
four possible solutions in the RFP, down to part number
listings
 Contractors had to submit responses for 2 solutions
 The finalists were AMP NetConnect, NORDX/CDT IBDN,
Panduit/Belden, Avaya (formerly Lucent)2081
 The majority of the bid responses were returned with
NORDX/CDT and Panduit/Belden
 The College selected MTS of Bedford, NH as the cabling
contractor and NORDX/CDT IBDN (Cat6) solution and Fiber
Express solution
Cabling and Connectivity
Decisions
 Utilizing
50 micron fiber as opposed to 62.5 micron fiber will allow
for a fiber solution that costs approximately 5% less than the 62.5
micron fiber yet provides greater bandwidth potential for use with
WDM and DWDM, allows greater distances over MM fiber
 TIA( Telecommunications Industry Alliance)/EIA (Electronics
Industry Alliance) standards formulas for 40-50% spare capacity
planning
 6/6 (single/multimode) for fire/building control
 12/12 (single/multimode) for security
 24/24 (single/multimode) for A/V
 144 hybrid (65% single/35% multimode) for voice/data
Cabling and Connectivity
Decisions, Cont.
 Maintenance
of performance:
 Specifying indoor/outdoor loose tube fiber with dry blocking tape
so that cable can be run outdoors and to 1st floor
Telecommunications Room without having to perform any cutting
and splicing since every splice/connection results in some degree
of performance degradation.
 Leaving loops of fiber long enough to reach the Phase II Buildings
and run up the proposed risers in order to maintain the same
degree of performance.
Cabling and Connectivity
Decisions, Cont.
 Main Telecommunications
Room on the first level of each building
in a fairly centralized location, secondary Telecommunications
Rooms on each of the other 3 floors (stacked with the Main
Telecommunications Room), fiber risers are fed in conduit
(included in GC specification) to each telecommunications room.
 Within each telecommunications room, the switching equipment
will be connected to each other and to the network via fiber with
extra fiber pairs run as backup/fail over/redundancy.
Cabling and Connectivity
Decisions, Cont.
 From
the telecommunications room, fiber and Cat6 copper will be
fed to the individual port locations using doublewide snake tray.
Double wide “snake tray” was specified in the GC scope of work
allowing for services to be kept separate as they are delivered to
the various room locations and cables will be bundled (wrapped)
to T-off down the applicable corridors.
Cabling and Connectivity
Decisions, Cont.
 From
6 inches off the cable tray, the cable will be run in conduit to
the applicable back box. Each standard back box (specified in the
GC scope) will contain either 4 Cat6 copper connections or a
CATV connector.
 Each standard 2-gang spacer will contain 2 strands of single
mode fiber (two strands= one port due to transmit/receive) and 2
strands of multi mode fiber, fiber terminations will be MTRJ.
Alias Prince Spaghetti Factory
Campus Backbone
Requirements
 The
campus backbone will originally consist of switched 100
Mbps to each device and 1GB of available bandwidth on the
backbone with the expectation that by the end of the 2002 year (at
the latest) there will be a requirement to move to multi-trunked
Gigabit Ethernet in order to provide a campus backbone of 2GB
or better. The estimate is that the campus backbone will need to
support 10GB Ethernet by the end of 2004 (at the latest).
Major Manholes
Network Hardware Requirements
 The
selected network hardware vendor will be required to provide
a switch platform that is redundant (backplane, power supplies,
fans, fail over), reliable, and expandable. The vendor will also be
required to provide a voice over ip solution. Due to the high
volume of services expected to be run over the network, the
selected network vendor will need to provide the ability to set
network policies and quality of service parameters to insure the
priority of certain services such as voice.
Network Hardware
Requirements, Cont.
 Additional
network needs will be firewall software and appliances
as well as equipment necessary to deploy virtual private networks
(VPNs) or secure connections to resources on the Olin network
from off-campus.
 Olin is in the market for an end-to-end solution which will include
the ability to handle voice over ip, ip-based audio visual systems,
ip-TV, and provide a web-based, real time switched network
management system
Network Hardware Selection
 IT is
in the process of working with the four major enterprise
networking companies to specify network hardware for the above
referenced cabling infrastructure
 The four major vendors are: Cisco, Nortel, Enterasys (formerly
Cabletron), and HP.
 Meetings have been held and preliminary network hardware
designs detailed by each of the vendors
 Each of the vendors created a simulated lab on their site with the
equipment Olin will be using (including management tools) and IT
committed time to working in the lab and testing scenarios.
Network Hardware Selection,
Cont.
 The
second round of preliminary network hardware designs
detailed by each of the vendors is in progress.
 Corporate visits are completed with the exception of Cisco and
HP, both of which are scheduled for April.
 The RFP is expected to be sent out in the August/September time
frame depending upon construction progress.
Lab Decisions
 24
hour card access lab in the Administrative Building (by the IT
Center);
 2 (approximately 25-30 computers) tiered computer labs in the
Classroom Building;
 a third computer lab/collaborative learning area in the Classroom
C (outfitted this with a ceiling mounted light bar in case we need
to be able to turn the room into a studio type layout as well as a
raised floor to meet networking and other lab needs);
Lab Decisions, Cont.
 A number
of public stand-up and sit-down stations in the library
area;
 Working with the faculty to provide the appropriate software and
hardware resources to support the curriculum.
 This is applicable to the computer lab areas as well as to the
engineering lab areas which will use technology in conjunction
with instrumentation, etc.
 Wireless as a complementary technology to “wired”
Current Server Decisions
 Standardized
on Compaq servers, NT and 2000
 Rack-mounted servers, shared UPS backup
 Redundant fans, power supplies, RAID 5, hot swappable disk
drives
 Minimize services per servers thus increasing performance and
monitoring capabilities
Future Server Decisions
 Caching,
load balancing, clustering of Compaq servers
 Introduction of UNIX and possible LINUX servers to the
environment
 Emulation considerations re Windows access to the UNIX boxes
Administrative System
•
•
•
Administrative system investigation begun December of 2000
Once other key employees are in place we will escalate the
process (in conjunction with Babson team members) to
include demonstrations and site visits
Since a system will need to be in place and functioning by
September 2002 we will need to send out the RFP in July of
2001 with responses expected in August 2001 and
implementation starting September 1, 2001 (at the latest)
A/V Decisions
 Working
with CDA (Communications Design Associates) in
Norwood, MA
 All classrooms and labs will be provisioned with overhead
projection, faculty podium controls for computer and A/V
appliances (TCP/IP based), and smart whiteboards on one wall;
 The classroom building will also house a Media Control center for
centralized distribution of A/V resources when necessary;
 All buildings are scheduled to have 4 or 5 wireless access points
per floor;
A/V Decisions, Cont.
 Administrative
building will have 2 rooms outfitted for distance
learning applications (complete with infrared cameras and built-in
microphones as well as videoconferencing capabilities).
 One RFP for entire CATV system, approximately August/Sept
timeframe.
 RFP for Buildings D, A, H
 Separate RFP for Building C (Classroom)
Electronic Security Decisions
 Partnered
with CGL from Norwood, MA
 CGL Electronic Security has contracted with and provides service
to Babson College. Given the collaboration between the colleges,
Babson public safety personnel will understand how the security
products operate. In addition, CGL will be able to provide
enhanced service due to their level of understanding of the needs
and operating procedures of each institution.
Electronic Security Decisions,
Cont.
 Utilizing
the same card readers will allow for simplified crosscampus use of one-card and/or security cards by the students at
both Babson and Olin College.
 Better pricing and service contract will be available to the two
campuses due to the volume of similar equipment used on each
campus.
 CGL Electronic Security is a local vendor which results in
improved, quick service as compared to national vendors.
Provided design work at no cost
Relationship with Babson
 Running
fiber to the Babson telephone switch location to provide
backup services for our voice over ip solution since Babson
currently has a telephone switch with spare capability.
 Running a Media One or other cable television feed to the Olin
Media Control Center and from there to the Babson campus.
Relationship with Babson, Cont.
 Inserting
Olin originated programming on the Babson campus and
Babson originated programming on the Olin campus.
 Providing ISP (Internet Service Provider) to a demarcation point at
Olin and then feeding Babson from the same connection. This
would allow the two colleges to have a larger connection to the
Internet and to have redundant service setup so that neither
school would ever be totally without some level of Internet service.
Relationship with Babson, Cont.
 Olin
creating an Internet 2 connection (in conjunction with
corporate partners) and then selling Internet 2 services to other
local colleges and/or schools (note that no Internet 2 hardware is
specified anywhere in the design).
 ?????????
The Cost







$$$
Cabling:
estimated at $2 million for Phase I
» Additional $1-$1.5 million for Phase II
Network Hardware: estimated at $ 4 million list price for total build out of Phases I
and II
Servers, data center switch estimated at $850,000 list
Computer labs and library labs estimated at $300,000 list
A/V: estimated at $3.0 million total build out for Phase I
» Additional estimated $150,000 for Phase II residence halls
» Additional estimated $370,000 for Building B, Phase II
Security: estimated at $823,000 for Phase I and perimeter
» Additional estimated $450,000 for Phase 2
Most Important Factors
 Partnership
(included in all RFPs)
 In order to meet these goals, the College is seeking to partner
with technology vendors at minimum over the scheduled build out
period for Phases I and II (2000-2005) as well as the as yet
unscheduled Phase III.
 The College is seeking a ___ systems partner who will exceed
these contract parameters and involve Olin College in the
company’s other business units, research and development
divisions, and its corporate connections.
Most Important Factors, Cont.
 Some
possibilities include:
 Internships for Olin College students;
 Utilizing talented Olin College students to test new technologies;
 Having Olin College students participate in developing new
technologies as part of a corporate team;
 Providing opportunities for interested Olin students to participate
in consulting opportunities;
 Providing the opportunity for CTOs and others to guest lecture at
the College;
Most Important Factors
 Providing
a reference account or showcase for the vendor(s); and
 Utilizing College facilities for events/training on a mutually agreed
upon schedule.
 Olin College values creativity and encourages the vendor to
actively pursue the once in a career opportunities available as a
technology partner to the first brand new college in forty years.
 Continuing Collaboration with Commercial and Educational
partners
The Cost of Not Planning for the
Future
 An
example of inadequate planning for the future and the possible
costs associated with the inadequate planning is as follows:
 5 years ago, a Southeastern University upgraded its systems
and put in conduit containing fiber
 However, the number of conduit and amount of fiber
requested was cut back in order to “save” on the budget.
 The University is now in the process of performing a “forklift”
upgrade to its backbone since the conduit is at capacity and
there is not enough fiber to deliver the network services
 The cost of this additional upgrade is $28 million (which
includes some upgrading of network hardware components)
which is significantly higher than the original requested
budget.
Is It Really Different?
 Yes
!!!
 But, given the tremendous opportunity there are an equal number
of challenges such as:
 Education and Training
 Budget
 Time Management
 Staffing and Support Issues
Questions
???????????
Construction progress can
www.olin.edu
Contact Information
[email protected]
781-292-2431
be seen at