University Business - November 2012 - (Page 12)

sponsored web seminar digest Upgrading to the next generation of campus networks A University Business Web Seminar Digest • Originally Presented on September 20, 2012 From BYOD environments to high bandwidth applications, there is intense pressure on network infrastructures. Upgrading is a high priority for higher education technology leaders. Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts faced those challenges head on when it embarked on a fourth-generation upgrade and redesign of its network to meet the changing demands of its users. Improvements included upgraded firewalls, added redundancy and improved user profile management to maintain a secure and reliable network while meeting demand for more high-bandwidth applications, content and services in an increasingly BYOD environment. Russell Leathe Director of Network and Computer Operations Gordon College My title is Director of Network and Computer Operations, but I like to call myself “Director of Really Cool Technology. ” This is a great time to be in technology. Fifteen years ago when I first started at Gordon College, we had 3 NT servers, a fractional T-1 and all local disks. Today we have more than 100 virtual servers, 300 MB of bandwidth, IPTV, VoIP IP cameras for security and energy manage, ment technology. It’s been a tremendous 15 years and we’re continuing to evolve. Part of that evolution is changing our attitudes toward IT. Our primary goal isn’t just new technology, but keeping and retaining students. It’s making sure that we give our faculty and staff the technology they need to work with the students. Today’s students are very sophisticated. They grew up with the internet, with iPods and mobile tech. Students don’t know there was anything before wireless. I met a student recently who didn’t know what an Ethernet cable was. It’s important that we understand where they are coming from and what their needs and expectations are to serve them on campus. Gordon’s campus is so technology-rich that IT is at the center of everything the college wants to do. We are going through an evolution and beefing up our infrastructure. We are eventually going to a 100GB backbone. When you have these sophisticated students and faculty, and use video conferencing and teleconferencing, you need an infrastructure with more bandwidth. We have four redundant cores, so if anything goes wrong with one, another will pick up the slack. Increasingly, students demand wireless everywhere they go. Our wireless network includes 500 wireless access points, broadcasting 802.11 b/g/n. That breaks down to roughly 20 access points per building and a ratio of seven students to each access point. The majority of students brings at least two devices, usually a laptop and smartphone. Some will also bring a tablet of some kind. And we’re planning for that. With roughly 1,600 students, we have about 3,000 devices on our network at any one time. We have three data centers across campus, each with 10 terabytes of storage. They are connected through an iSCSi infrastructure. We can replicate data in real time throughout the day without downtime. The three centers are redundant, so if we lose one, the others will be available. We are always thinking about how to innovate and protect our data better. Our next step may be an off campus storage location. To get to where we are now, we really beefed up the hardware foundation of our network, using all Alcatel-Lucent equipment, which is the bedrock of our entire system. Migration to a virtual network was a two-year project. In the past, every new application demanded its own server. Over time, we grew to more than 100 servers,

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - November 2012

University Business - November 2012
Contents
Editor’s Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Financial Aid
Viewpoint
Internet Technology
Security: Show and Tell?
P byo Dasvidt Gieenr g a Threat
Inside Look: Residence Halls
Education Innovators
12 Options for IT Project Funding
What’s New
End Note

University Business - November 2012