University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

The University data network has become a critical resource for the UB community. The network is relied upon daily by faculty, staff, students, and researchers. The network provides communication capabilities for a multitude of services, including Internet access, email communication, HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Cooling) building controls, cash registers in dining halls, security cameras, time clocks, ticket sales for campus events, WBFO radio station broadcasting, campus police data retrieval, and many others. The network is being continually relied upon for increasingly more critical services. For example, there are currently initiatives underway to deploy as many as 10,000 telephones that will use the data network, rather than the traditional telephone network (VoIP - Voice over IP). Due to the increased importance of the network, it is now more crucial than ever that we make the network as reliable and robust as we can.

As of January 2005 we had quite a wide range of network hardware supporting the ports that feed the users' connections, also known as "edge ports". The hardware ranged in age from more than 15 years old, to gear that was brand new. As one would expect, an environment such as that results in very different levels of functionality and reliability for the users. It also makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for us to deploy many of the features that would make our network more reliable and secure.

UB*NET is a centrally-funded multi-year initiative to upgrade all of the devices that serve the "edge" of the network, as well as make some other network design enhancements and improvements. We are replacing all of the edge devices with 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet switches, which support Power Over Ethernet (POE), and various other cutting edge features that will enable us to enhance network reliability and security, while providing better service to our customers.

Please refer to this Network Enhancements and Improvements document for a more comprehensive list of all of the work that is being done under this initiative.

This initiative encompasses more than 530 telecommunications closets, 700 network switches, 570 network hubs, and 20,000 network ports. This initiative does not include public computing sites, nor Resnet, although they may be covered under similar initiatives in the future. [1]

The initial proposals and discussions regarding this initiative began in January of 2005. Once the project plan went through revisions and was approved we began the process of defining the technical requirements in more detail and evaluating equipment from various manufacturers. In May of 2005 we put a list of equipment requirements out to bid. In late June of 2005 the order was awarded to Cisco Systems. We started receiving equipment approximately 1 month later, at which time we began designing and testing the equipment configurations that we would use. We also spent considerable time designing the processes and procedures that would be used to carry out this initiative. Since we would be visiting every communications closet in every building this was an opportunity to address many outstanding issues and make many improvements. We also spent considerable time on staff training since most of our staff was completely unfamiliar with the new equipment. In February of 2006 we began the process of converting a number of "pilot" buildings. During these conversions we continued to revise and improve our design and our procedures. We also developed estimates of how long it would take us to convert all University buildings, depending on the amount of funding and labor resources devoted to the initiative. Resource allocations were agreed upon and we made arrangements to dedicate additional UB labor to our UBNET team and also supplement that labor with some outsourced labor. By October of 2006 we had completed the conversion of 5 buildings, and were in full swing. By March of 2008 we had completed approximately 45 buildings and upgraded more than 11,000 connections. At that rate and level of resource allocation, we predict that we can complete the 90 buildings on the tentative schedule (see below) by the first quarter of 2009.

The original building order (published in April of 2006) was determined by taking numerous factors into consideration, including the number of existing hub connections and the network bandwidth utilization of the buildings. In February of 2007 the UBNET
order was changed in order to be consistent with the University Voice over IP (VoIP) initiative. This UBNET initiative must visit and complete a given building before the VoIP initiative can convert the telephone service within the building. The building order for the VoIP initiative was determined based on "telephone system needs", and the UBNET schedule simply mirrors that order. It is important to note that the tentative schedule (see below) is only tentative, and the building order could change due to various circumstances.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the initiative or the proposed schedule, please feel free to contact the UB*NET Project Manager, Joe Pautler pautler@buffalo.edu.

[1] The upgrade of the public computing sites was approved in May of 2008 and they were added to the UBNET schedule for June of 2008. The upgrade of the public sites added approximately 1 month to the overall project time line.