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Internet2: Project Description
The California State University (CSU) is currently involved with the California Community Colleges (CCC) Telecommunications Technology Infrastructure Program (TTIP) as the major provider of data connectivity for all 106 CCC campuses and 19 administrative centers. Enabling legislation for TTIP mandated the establishment of the necessary infrastructure capability for connection to the Internet, video conferencing, and satellite downlink. CSUnet was identified as the provider for Internet services. To implement this mandate, the CSU and CCC established a collaborative relationship to create 4CNet, the California State University and California Community Colleges Network. 4CNet is an expansion of CSUnet, which was established in 1984 by the California State University (CSU) system as a dedicated data network linking each of the campuses of the CSU. The network was created as one of several efforts to meet the increasing information technology demands of the University system and its campuses throughout the state. The addition of the Community Colleges to the network will afford both systems a resource to serve their academic and administrative mission, goals, and objectives in ways that capitalize on centralized and distributed information resources. 4CNet will provide a T-1 data connection from each community college site to a node on the 4CNet backbone. The 4CNet backbone is designed using ATM and DS-3 connections among each of 10 network nodes placed at CSU campuses and administrative centers throughout the state. The planning and design of the new network includes the interconnection of high speed circuits throughout the state from Pacific Bell, GTE, Sprint, MCI, and TCG. The primary telecommunications equipment is from FORE for the Asynchronous Transfer Mode switches at the hub sites and from Cisco for the hub and individual site routers. Installation of 4CNet sites began the first week in April 1997, and it is expected that all participating Community College sites will be completed as early as the end of the 1997 calendar year. The preliminary model for connection of community college sites called for individual connections to 4CNet for each campus. As the planning for the project progressed, many of the 19 multisite community college districts expressed a desire to serve as hubs for their constituent campuses in order to better fit with districtwide technology plans. Consequently, many of those 19 districts have been identified as 4CNet hub sites and are being provided with a higher level of service, such as multiple T-1 connections and larger routers. The districts will in turn provide connections to their constituent campuses. Such a model not only provides Internet connection for campuses, but, of equal importance, utilizes and enhances the intra-district communications network. By September 30, 1997, 59 out of 92 Community College sites were already connected to 4CNet. Installations have proceeded for the most part on schedule. As with any project of this size, there have been some delays and schedule shuffling usually due to circuit availability either for the backbone or for local campuses. Networking at the service level guaranteed by 4CNet throughout the state has provided some difficult provisioning problems for our providers in many areas. This is due to both the high demand for circuits and the limited availability of circuits in many areas. Overall, the providers have proven to be strong partners in this networking effort. They have done everything possible to meet 4CNet's aggressive installation schedules. Even with the expected delays, it is anticipated that all Community Colleges will be connected to 4CNet by the end of the 1997 calendar year, well ahead of the CCC Chancellor's Office target of April 1, 1998. |
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