Enterprise Information Technology Services Press Release
The University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia

OCIO > EITS > Press Releases

Friday, April 17, 2009

WRITER: Bert DeSimone, 706/338-9849, bert@uga.edu
CONTACT: Chris Baines, 706/542-5487, cbaines@uga.edu

The silent success: major milestone reached for UGA's next-generation network

ATHENS, Ga.— In a major step that will move UGA closer to a faster, and even more reliable, campus network, EITS network professionals have upgraded network distribution equipment in over 140 buildings on the Athens campus.

Chris Baines, standing in front of MDF equipment in the Boyd Data Center that connects the Research Computing Center to the campus network

In networking parlance, the equipment is located in a rack (referred to as an MDF or main distribution frame, since it is located in a main wiring closet in a building), and it provides connectivity to the campus core network for each building.

"The impact to UGA is huge," said Chris Baines, an IT associate director for EITS who oversees strategic projects for networking and telecommunications. "This new equipment allows UGA to take full advantage of current and future communications technologies, including wireless, VOIP (telephone services over the campus network), high-quality video, and others."

Baines went on the say that the next-generation network (NGN) project began in 2004. A team consisting of Mike Dennis, associate CIO for Client Services, Infrastructure, and Operations; Stanton Gatewood, former chief information security officer for UGA; David Matthews-Morgan, director for Research Computing, Network Operations and Infrastructure; and Paul Keck, IT associate director for the Network Operations Center performed a due diligence process to come up with a plan to upgrade UGA's network.

"We are very much indebted to UGA's upper administration for providing the primary funding for the MDF upgrade and other portions of the NGN," said Dennis. "The university allocated funds via the Major Repair and Renovation process, which provides financial support for major projects through the Board of Regents and the State of Georgia."

UGA's network consists of three layers: core, distribution, and access. The core layer is composed of communications devices interconnected via miles of fiber cabling throughout campus. The distribution layer consists of the recently upgraded MDFs in buildings. The MDFs connect to the core network on one end and to the internal building wiring closets on the other end. The network equipment in racks (IDFs or intermediate distribution frames) in these wiring closets connects to network devices and desktop computers, constituting the access layer.

"As you can see," said Baines, "we are working from the middle out. Under the direction of the Network Operations Center, we are now upgrading the core to a 10 Gbps (transfer rate of 10 billion bits of information per second) from a 2 Gbps network."

The new core will also have greater redundancy while reducing the cost of running the network.

"The core network will be reduced from a 16-device core network to a 4-device core network," said Keck. "Also, in the new design, each building will have a connection to two core routers rather than one. This should make for fewer network outages in a given building, and less downtime for people on campus."

"From the individuals involved in the planning of the NGN to the Network Operations Center staff that are doing such a great job with the implementation, we are proud to be involved in a project that will better research, teaching, and the overall learning experience at UGA," said Baines.

In addition to the aforementioned individuals, the following individuals have contributed their time and expertise to the NGN project: Tim Shields, Dustin Deadwyler, Jeff Whelchel, Keith Ledford, Brian Marable, Neal Jordan, Sean Canup, and Dennis Flint. The Office of the CIO and EITS also wish to express their appreciation to the many campus Domain Network Liaisons, who are responsible for building networks throughout the Athens campus, for their assistance during the MDF installation.

About the Office of the CIO and EITS
The Office of the Chief Information Officer and Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS) are committed to the mission of UGA as a land-and-sea-grant institution where academics come first and the research extensive university community encourages research efforts at the undergraduate and graduate levels. To that end, under the direction of the University´s Chief Information Officer, EITS endeavors to provide a robust, reliable, and secure information technology infrastructure, maintain essential production services, and offer world-class support.