Recommendation 7: The University should accelerate planning for a converged telecommunications infrastructure. The University and campuses must ensure that there is appropriate funding for telecommunications services and infrastructure in the base. Specific attention must be given to improving the state of the inter-campus networks, planning for and deployment of adequate commodity Internet connectivity, a University-wide base level of campus telecommunications connectivity, advanced networking infrastructure and applications, wireless networks and support for multimedia and streaming media.
In 2000, the Telecommunications Division began work in earnest on the implementation of the strategic initiatives defined in Recommendation VII. Following the appointment of Brian D. Voss as associate vice president in December 1999, Terry R. Usrey was appointed director of Data/Video Operations in June of 2000; J. Michael Lucas remained as director of Voice Operations. With the senior leadership in place, the implementation planning process was carried out during the first quarter of 2000, and a formal plan document was delivered in late April. This plan was approved and funded by the Vice President for Information Technology and CIO in June of 2000.
The importance of a highly responsive, accessible, and reliable telecommunications infrastructure is a key element of the IT Strategic Plan. The Telecommunications Division is responsible for providing a network infrastructure upon which all other elements of the IT Strategic Plan will rely to be successful. Perhaps the most challenging part of the Telecommunications Implementation Plan is that technology in this area is changing so rapidly. The implementation plan attempts to provide a "vision horizon" in line with the objectives of the IT Strategic Plan through FY 03-04. However, so much of that implementation is based upon highly volatile areas of technology:
The impact of this level of uncertainty requires that the Telecommunications implementation plan be viewed as a work-in-process throughout the next four years. While it is unlikely that UITS will make technology selections that would need to be suddenly and completely abandoned, "mid-course corrections" in directions and implementations are quite likely. In some key areas, such as wireless networking, relatively short life-cycle replacement models have been employed to accommodate the state of flux in the technology. In other key areas, such as commodity Internet bandwidth and IUnet bandwidth, assumptions have been based upon the premise that bandwidth will become cheaper and more readily available from competing sources as the years advance. These assumptions are the foundation for the implementation plan, and changes in these and other areas may dictate revisions of various aspects of the plan in the coming years.
Action 46. UITS should accelerate planning for a converged telecommunications infrastructure that aims to maximize the benefits to IU of this emerging technology direction. It should be accompanied by an aggressive program of testing and trialing of new "converged" technologies.
Telecommunications services (telephone systems, computer networks, and video conferencing) are highly visible services that the IU community expects to be wholly dependable and of very high quality. The existing distinct network infrastructures are well understood and are extremely reliable, providing a solid foundation for the delivery of all IT services at IU. Hence, while convergence offers the potential of great benefits, in order to maximize those benefits –and to minimize negative impact on services and optimize the University's investments –the Telecommunications Division must proceed cautiously, though quickly, through testing and trialing of new technologies in this area.
The Telecommunications Task Force, commissioned in 1999 to prepare a convergence plan, delivered its recommendations in February 2000, providing the basis for the final Telecommunications implementation plan delivered in April 2000. The convergence plan called for focusing the approach to convergence along four basic elements: video network convergence and data network convergence (covered in the overall network design initiative as a part of the implementation of Action 46), technology assessment, and common infrastructure. For 2000, the primary focus was in the technology assessment area. Funding was advanced from strategic reserves toward the purchase of equipment for testing Voice over IP (VoIP) gateways (including the integration of VoIP with a Web-based call center agent) and IP PBX systems trials; testing was underway by the end of December. As the year drew to a close, the Telecommunications Division staff was preparing to address the common infrastructure needs, in terms of upgrades to the wire plant on both the IUPUI and the IUB campuses to facilitate higher speeds (from 100 megabits to a gigabit) to the desktop. A total rewiring effort will take years to accomplish, and the philosophy being evaluated is one of staged implementation, based upon the need for higher speeds in research and pedagogical activities in select areas of the campuses.
Action 47. The University as a whole and the campuses individually should establish base funding for the life-cycle replacement and ongoing development of telecommunications services and infrastructure.
As reported last year, all campuses have reached agreement on funding/billing models to fully support life-cycle replacement and ongoing development of the telecommunications services and infrastructures at IUB and IUPUI. A Web-based billing system that will give all campuses online access to their billing data was developed in 2000, and final testing was underway in December 2000. After implementation of this system (in the first quarter of 2001), IT personnel will no longer need to contact a central Telecommunications (voice) resource in order to acquire information required by end users or for analysis purposes.
Action 48. A five year plan for the University's intercampus networks and commodity Internet connectivity should be immediately developed, funded and implemented.
Design and budgetary planning for the expansion of the statewide network linking all campuses was completed in the first quarter of 2000, and following approval of the Telecommunications implementation plan in the second quarter, orders were entered to expand the connectivity levels to the five regional campuses to full DS3 (45Mbps) service. This service was installed and operational in July 2000, readying the campuses for the start of classes in the Fall semester. Connectivity between the IUB and IUPUI campuses was also increased by a total of 90Mbps (two additional DS3 connections) to support increased use associated with the regional campus expansion and Internet2.
However, the biggest challenge of the year surfaced with regard to commodity Internet access, particularly for IUB's residential population. In the first quarter of 2000, Telecommunications engineers discovered that the sudden and dramatic increase in network bandwidth consumption was due to a popular multimedia application (known as Napster) that allowed the sharing of MP3 audio files between students on campus and users in the Internet community. IUB increased its commodity Internet drainage from 15 to 45Mbps, and still usage was peaked 19 hours each day, with nearly 60% attributed to this one application.
In addressing this challenge, IU recognized that the application, although recreational in its current use, had potential for broader research and pedagogical uses, requiring not only policy examination, but also technical analysis. In March 2000, IU released an Internet Draft, providing a method for optimizing network traffic relating to distributed multimedia. Ultimately, use of Napster was controlled by legal action; IU removed access to Napster in April 2000 as part of the settlement of a suit by a recording industry artist. However, in the interim, other similar applications developed, necessitating further expansion and segregation of IUB residential traffic from campus traffic.
Expansion of the commodity Internet connection to 90Mbps was planned for IUB and to a full 45Mbps for IUPUI. Changes in the market made it possible to more than double the size of the commodity Internet connection for only about a 40% increase in costs. A new architecture was developed and implemented for the IUB campus that featured a separate link for the campus and one for the residence halls. The main benefit of this implementation, aside from the doubling of bandwidth, was that UITS could begin to analyze and manage the two separate forms of use – residential and campus – in a manner consistent with the needs and funding models of each. In the case of residential connections, UITS is leveraging its recent assumption of responsibility for IT in the residence halls by providing a role for resident government in helping to determine proper policy and practice for the residential commodity Internet connection. This new bandwidth, architecture, and approach will lead to more productive and responsible use of IU's network resources for students in both their home and learning environments.
Action 49. A uniform base level of telecommunications connectivity and standards should be defined, communicated, and where necessary, implemented for all campuses.
As the key infrastructure component in IU's IT environment, telecommunications standards are required to ensure interoperability and high quality network services. Leveraging the solid relationship built between the core campus IT organization and regional campus CIOs, University-wide telecommunications principles and standards were defined. These standards were delivered by the end of first quarter 2000 and were quickly reviewed and implemented across the institution. These standards had their first (and largest) practical impact in 2000 as the IUPUI campus network backbone was redesigned from an ATM structure to a topology featuring the now-standard Gigabit Ethernet technology. While the upgrade (which will increase overall throughput capacity by an order of magnitude) is part of operational activities in the Telecommunications Division (and not a part of the IT Strategic Plan), the very nature of the project was impacted by the existence of standards that ensure interoperability and high quality network service.
Action 50. The University should consider implementing a network architecture that separately supports production and advanced network applications.
IU has maintained its position as a leader in advanced networking through a variety of endeavors. These advanced networks effectively separate advanced research activities from those of the commodity production Internet, providing IU researchers with separate high-speed links to other researchers across the nation and around the world. Several separate endeavors are underway, and progress in these is described below.
Abilene
The Abilene Network, with its Network Operations Center at IUPUI, achieved nationwide connectivity in February 1999, with active links from New York to Seattle. As of December 2000, Abilene had 53 current and pending connections in 32 states, and 183 participants in 47 states and the District of Columbia. At this point, the number of direct backbone attachments already exceeded original design estimates by approximately 100 percent. Also in 2000, a new class of Abilene participation, the Sponsored Education Group Participant, was added to the existing classes of Member Participant, Collaboration Site, and Sponsored Participant. This new class was designed primarily to accommodate existing and emerging state-based education networks.
The October 2000 Internet2 Members Meeting marked what has been called an "inflection point" in Abilene's development. This year's highlights include establishment of a new router node in Washington, D.C.; upgrade of the Houston-Atlanta link to OC-48c; growth in the utilization of the backbone (with some links reaching an OC-12c peak); increasingly distributed international peering (accompanied by the initiation of the Abilene International Transit Network, a collaboration with STAR TAP and CA*NET3); as well as the continued role of Abilene as a platform for the development of innovative applications and the deployment of advanced services (Multicast, Quality of Service, and network management). Related to this last category, the Abilene Premium Service test program, which is open to connectors interested in wide-area QBone Premium Service connectivity to supplement local QBone deployment and testing efforts, deserves special note.
In 2001, continued effort will be directed into upgrading the Abilene backbone to leading-edge optical transport capability (OC-192c), collaborating with Abilene GigaPoPs to facilitate international peering, and upgrading OC-3c attachments. Included in this will be an upgrade of IU's connection to OC-12 at the Indiana GigaPoP. Effective throughput to the IUB campus was increased in 2000 with the addition of two more DS3 (45Mbps) links between IUB and IUPUI, and this will be upgraded further to OC-12 speeds once the Optical Fiber Infrastructure is completed later in 2001. The goal is to position Abilene as a critical component in the Internet2 End-to-End Initiative, making central its role in the U.S. research infrastructure.
TransPAC
The TransPAC Network, with its Network Operations Center (NOC) at IUPUI, saw peering on both the Japanese and United States sides increase in the past year. The network bandwidth was expanded from 73Mbps to 100Mbps with no increase in cost. Efforts continue to establish full OC-3 (155Mbps) capacity. A collection of network operations tools will be implemented in 2001, including an animated traffic map (similar to Abilene's "weather map"), network traffic statistics (including graphics based on high-resolution traffic data collection), a new trouble-ticketing system, and new TransPAC Network Operations Center Web pages.
Global Research Network Operations Center
In many areas, scientific research is a collaborative activity that spans the globe. By interconnecting the research and education networks in the United States with those in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Russia, and Latin America, scientists have access to data, instruments, and expertise that would not otherwise be available. IU manages these networks and has established a Global Network Operations Center (Global NOC). The Global NOC will play a key role in ensuring the reliable provision of the persistent advanced networking infrastructure that makes these international collaborations possible.
The principal international connections managed by the Global NOC are:
These operations are fully integrated within the existing 24/7 support model that the IU NOC provides for IUnet and Abilene. Designated NOC staff positions funded by these external networks comprise the primary support group for the various networks; additional support is available from all NOC staff, regardless of designation, as needed. Separate external identities, support mechanisms, and NOC Web pages are maintained for each network.
Optical Fiber Infrastructure and the Indiana GigaPoP
In early 1999, the OVPIT worked closely with the Higher Education Commission and the Governor's Office to secure an appropriation from the Indiana Legislature to fund a high-volume fiber route connecting IU and Purdue to Internet2. To provide the network infrastructure for advanced network-based research between the Universities, connectivity to Abilene, and participation in I2, the Universities propose minimally to establish:
During 2000, several parallel tasks were completed and, by the close of the year, the project was ready to move into full implementation:
Ground was broken in late December, and following final engineering work, will be fully underway on all routes by Summer 2001. At this time, projections are for the completion of the OFI within 10 months, and it will become fully operational before the end of 2001. A total of 36 fibers will link the IUB and IUPUI campuses, providing sufficient fiber for production use, research, testing and development, and provision of alternate routing when traded with other local companies. Efforts in the first quarter of 2001 will include researching and forming partnerships for equipment to light the fiber, and exploration of expansion of the OFI to include links to other institutions in the state and more broadly across the higher education community in surrounding states. It is believed that through the building of regional fiber infrastructures by colleges and universities, and the linking of these networks across state lines, that a dedicated advanced Internet will develop over the next decade.
Action 51. Implementation should begin for a University-wide wireless network, initially through a trial with a School.
In 2001, wireless technology will become an increasingly important element in telecommunications at IU. Although IU has some of the best wired campuses in the nation, mobile, wireless computing technology will play an increasing role in the lives of IU students and faculty in the next decade. Wireless networks will not replace the need for wiring plant infrastructure and the life-cycle modernization of that infrastructure as it ages and new technologies are available for use. Wireless will, however, play a role in augmenting the campus networks, removing the boundaries of buildings and wire-jacks for the IU technology-using community.
Extensive research into securing wireless Ethernet has been performed. A virtual private network (VPN) server is on order for testing as a mechanism to provide both authentication and encryption. The UITS wireless network will use this method as a real-world test and, if successful, it will be used for all sites on the IUB and IUPUI campuses. This would unify all the wireless networks on these campuses into two logical networks. Smaller campuses will likely find 802.11b security methods sufficient for their needs. Several wireless pilot projects were funded in 2000 and are now in place in six locations at IUB, IUPUI, and IUE. These sites represent a mixture of academic classrooms, meeting locations, and student areas. At the moment, these sites are network islands with different security regimes. Sites at both IUB and IUPUI include UITS, the Main Library, and the Law School. The site at IUE is the CIO's Office. Fourteen (14) additional sites are under consideration for pilot deployment by mid-2001 at IUB, IUPUI, and the New Albany and South Bend campuses.
It has become clear from these trials that there is a high degree of overhead in the installation of each wireless access point. An intensive site visit is required to determine the areas that need coverage and to determine possible installation locations to cover those areas. New data jacks and power receptacles are often required. Hence, successful deployment will require robust support services –advising on user-held technology (wireless access cards in PCs), standardization of laptop configurations, and user training –and a fully secure environment. The Telecommunications and Teaching and Learning Information Technologies Divisions and the IT Security Office are working closely together from the outset to ensure that the technology deployed in the pilots is functional, supportable, and secure. Following review of the pilot deployments, a full implementation plan will be developed for each campus and funding from existing resources detailed.
Action 52. The networking demands due to the increasing use of multimedia applications should be addressed as the University network continues to develop.
VIC Upgrade and Migration to IU Data Network
A direction for the Virtual Indiana Classroom (VIC) network upgrade and migration from special dedicated circuits to the standard IU data network has been determined and testing and pilot implementations have been completed. Polycom H.323 videoconferencing terminal equipment has been chosen for classrooms and administrative conference rooms. An Accord multipoint control unit (MCU) has been chosen to provide multi-party conference bridging. A pilot Polycom videoconferencing unit has been deployed on each campus. Numerous units have been deployed by administrative departments on the IUB and IUPUI campuses and are used daily. The Richmond campus VIC and the Newcastle and Connersville extension centers have been converted entirely to IP-based H.323 videoconferencing and have employed the technology over the course of the Fall 2000 semester to conduct classes. Additional classes and pedagogical conferencing to points outside the University –including UC Santa Barbara (two), Purdue, and Texas A&M –have been supported.
Over the course of the Spring 2001 semester, UITS will acquire and implement the Accord MCU, upgrade all VIC classrooms to the new technology, and deploy scheduling and management systems –on target for a July 2001 cutover from the underlying Ameritech network to the standard IU data network. An advanced network feature, Quality of Service (QoS), has been implemented in pilot on the IUB-to-IUPUI network link to provide preferential support for videoconferencing traffic.
Action 53. The University should begin the production deployment of streaming media services such as videoconferencing and video and audio stores. It should ensure that support is provided for quality of service on the University networks to ensure that emerging instructional and research applications relying on interactive or streaming media (including digital libraries and distributed education) can have consistent and acceptable performance.
Streaming Media
Hardware has been acquired to move the UITS Real streaming server out of pilot mode and into full production. The streaming server has been used to support introductory classes on microcomputers at IPFW (EET/CT 114, taught by Harold Broberg) and Web writing at IUPUI (English W315, taught by Helen Schwartz). It also supports various undertakings of the Office of Communication and Marketing, including archival of live-streamed events and the IU Update basketball half-time spots (broadcast.iu.edu). A Strategic Plan-funded staff position to support video and streaming media activities on the Bloomington campus has been filled, and an acting candidate is participating on the IUPUI campus. Planning is being undertaken with the UITS WebTech group to devise a method for storage and management of streaming assets in conjunction with institutional Web server accounts. Planning is also being undertaken with the UITS Distributed Storage Services Group to plan for use of Massive Data Storage System service as backend storage for media assets.
A number of projects in this area saw activity and results in 2000. These include:
VI. Information Systems | Table of Contents | VIII. Support for Student Computing
March 2001
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