AUB PC Networking on Campus and Beyond

PC Networking on Campus and Beyond
Strategic Plan

by: Nabil Bukhalid, nabil@aub.edu.lb (June 1993)

Purpose of the Plan
PC Networking on Campus and Beyond outlines the networking directions to be pursued by Personal Computing and Networking Services (PCNS) in collaboration with the user community over the next two years.

The networking/connectivity directions in the plan were derived by analyzing AUB campus-wide computing environment as it is today, by proportionally comparing it with existing environments in a number of leading North American Universities and by looking ahead to a future computing environment that will allow AUB to be competitive in education and research.

The strategic planning have taken into account:

The input of individual campus users and University departments.
The results of the Computing Environment Survey, July 1992, carried out under the auspices of Mr. Georges Tomey, Vice President for Administration.
The enhancements in remote asynchronous data connectivity introduced by the AUB's new ISDN based telephone network, scheduled to be fully operational by September 1993.
The recommendations of the networking and Internet administrative and technical teams at University of Alberta and McGill University.
The restrictions induced by the four Class C internet addresses assinged to AUB instead of the requested Class B address, March 1993.
The Lebanese wide area network connectivity constrains and internet services unavailability.
The scarcity in networking and Unix expertise on campus and in the
Lebanese local market and the mandatory training period required to build such expertise.
The remoteness of hardware suppliers and the impossibility of demonstrating or testing their products.
The financial constrains that AUB is experiencing.

Key Strategic Issues
Not long ago, most universities' computing resources, both human and technological, were concentrated in central computing departments. In contrast, hardware, software and computing expertise today is distributed widely over the campus and the role of a central computing services unit like PCNS has clearly changed. The primary justification for its existence now, is to provide added value to the spreading and diverse computing resources and expertise on campus. Freedom has to be left to the departments to come up with their own computing solutions, but a central services unit has to ensure that these solutions are interoperable.

The central computing services unit has to provide a network infrastracture and the technical expertise and leadership to help users make effective use of network computing. Only then can the University reap the benefits of a seamless distributed computing infrastructure in which a desktop computer can access a library catalog, students records, a color printer across the campus, or a supercomputer across the continent.

A state of the art information technology environment is mandatory to maintain and improve productivity in research and the quality of instruction, and to facilitate the University's administration. Advances in many areas of information technology have given rise to tools that facilitate and enrich university activities. Those institutions which fail to exploit them will be left behind.

Networking

Many benefits become available via the network. Users gain the ability to communicate with peers through e-mail. They can access local and remote library catalogs and institutional and discipline-specific databases. Through sharing, more equipment becomes available to the user. Network management tools simplify campus-wide software licensing/upgrade and backups of data and programs.

The goal today is to provide connectivity with hierarchy of networks. Local area networks (LANs) connect to wide-area networks (WANs) like a campus backbone which in turn connects worldwide nets.

As more and more data is put on-line and stored across the campus and elsewhere, and as it will include images, text, graphics, and sound, the demand on communications will increase. To deal with the steadily increasing network traffic, emphasis has to be placed on technologies such as fiber optic networks using Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) .

There are various factors that put AUB in a fairly good position to implement a fast campus network with acceptable connectivity to the internet and the rest of the world. Following is a non exhaustive list:

The Personal Computing and Networking Services, the Computer Center and the Computer Science Division has gained some experience with the network, which today connects parts of the upper campus using Novell LANs and a baseband fiber optic/10-Base-T WAN.
Connectivity to the Internet is scheduled for October 1993 with all the requested applications filed, Upper Domain, Domain, Gateway, User NIC, etc.
Some Unix and TCP/IP administration expertise was acquired by PCNS during this year.
Three user groups, which are a Unix User Group, a Windows User Group and a Macintosh User Group, were formed and among their initial goals is to introduce AUB's users to the Internet services.
The presence of the campus signal conduits system and Physical Plant staff greatly reduce the investment that would otherwise be required to install a backbone network.

Despite these positive factors, networking the campus will present several challenges. Carrying the burden of existing normal duties while developing the staff skills and campus support infrastructure for the new technology will be problematic. Central funding for the backbone network, and departmental funding for LANs to be connected to the backbone, will be challenging. On-line communication cost to the Internet might be prohibitive.

AUB is seeking leading-edge proven network solutions with an affordable total cost. The fast pace and short life cycle of any particular network technology is by far the greatest risk. Without due care and attention AUB can end up with a technology that proves to be a dinosaur in the long run. Given this context, there is a number of networking scenarios for AUB to consider:

In the area of LANs, PCNS can provide departments with requirements analysis, coordination of installation, user training, and contract LAN administration on request.

As for the campus backbone network AUB could:

Install an FDDI backbone, choosing a one time complete installation across the campus. An Expensive option, and there is a risk in committing everything to a particular technology at a particular time.
Install a fiber optic backbone, choosing a phased implementation over three years. By using the right fiber structure and network topology the same installation can migrate in phases from bridges between the LANs on campus to high speed fully redundant FDDI. The phased option amortizes the required investments and can exploit declining prices and new technologies as they evolve.
Refrain from implementing a fiber optic backbone altogether and could instead install bridges between the LANs on campus. This would, however, reduce the effectiveness of the network. Bottlenecks would occur and multimedia high-speed communication would not be possible.

Preferred Course of Action

The most important requirement for connectivity is the presence of a fast backbone network linking campus computers to each other and the outside world.

AUB should seek a networking solution which is non proprietary and capable of evolving . Design and installation of the fiber optic campus backbone will be in phases. Migration from baseband to high speed technologies will be dictated by the network traffic in due time.

Strategic Direction

The Computer Center will establish a steering committee for data communication under the Vice President for Administration umbrella. The committee will analyze needs, form consensus in objectives, and review achievements. Representatives from the key service providers, user constituents, and financial authority should make up the committee.

PCNS will participate in the planning, installation, and support of campus LANs. This will involve requirements analysis and, on request, the coordination of installation and LAN administrator training. PCNS will plan and install a central funded campus-wide fiber optic backbone using a fiber optic technology and wiring topology that can evolve, without rewiring expenses, to a high speed (100 megabits per second) network using FDDI or ATM technologies. This will involve coordinating the initial two years phase of bridged baseband networks implementation and financial plan.

During that period PCNS will monitor, evaluate the campus requirements and the advances in the networking technology and will recommend to the steering committee for communication up-to-date campus networking upgrade proposals. This wait, monitor and evolve approach will secure a greater return on AUB's campus networking investments and will also amortize the required investment.

Cost Analysis

The implementation of a campus wide fiber optic backbone involves the commitment of substantial financial resources on the part of AUB. The following table enumerate the expected capital and operating commitments that will be incurred in implementing each phase. It should be noted that these are estimates based on North American open market prices icreased by thirty percent. The actual amounts that can only be ascertained during the appropriate purchasing and installation processes.

The capital cost estimate includes the purchase and installation of the fiber optic cable, connectors, patch panels, adequate equipment room, uninterruptable power supply and appropriate FOIL/10-base-T multi-protocol bridges or routers. This places a fiber optic backbone connection in the basement or first floor of the selected buildings.

The operating cost estimate includes the anticipated annual costs in maintaining the hubs, bridges or routers, both hardware and software, and providing maintenance service for the UPS, ventilation system, etc.

The capital and operating costs should have been listed by building. PCNS will prepare, in due time, a detailed Development Plan that covers the initial phase technical and financial issues.

The following rates have been used for the purpose of budget planning:

* Estimates will be made public upon the completion of the procurement process.