ITC Tour Topics
The following are some topics that were brought up during the tour of the ITC
facilities last week about which people expressed interest, and some questions
that were raised:
- What is Internet2? How heavily is that connection used? How does the
routing work?
- Packet shaper - limiting bandwidth
- Upgrade to SONET connections - OC48 (2.488 Gbps). (DS3 has less
bandwidth, 44.7 Mbps, than OC1, 51.84 Mbps)
- Aruba wireless network and the security of the network. Where are the
WAPs located?
- Network security - firewalls (or the lack of them), blocking IP addresses
at routers
- Skype
- SNMP
- Backup for DS3 backbones?
- ResNet - why a separate network? How is it isolated?
- Protection of the Banner database machines
- F5 Application switches, load balancing
- Single-mode vs. multimode fiber - see
this link for a description
- VPNs (Virtual Private Networks)
- IDFs (Intermeditate Distribution Facilities) vs. BDFs (Building
Distribution Facilities)
- BGP (border gateway protocol) - routing protocol
- Switches and how they work - level 2 vs. level 3 switching/routing
- Server room - need for AC, UPS, backup generators, redundant equipment
- Network utilization - how much excess capacity is there on the campus
network?
- How do the CS and COE networks fit into the picture?
- How did the campus network evolve into its current configuration? Why
are some links 10 Mbps, some 100 Mbps, and some 1 Gbps?
PacketShaper
I'm not positive that this is the packet shaping device in use at ITC, but it
might be - the PacketShaper by
packeteer.com.
Internet2
Info available at www.internet2.edu.
The stated primary goals of Internet2 are to:
- Create a leading edge network capability for the national research
community
- Enable revolutionary Internet applications
- Ensure the rapid transfer of new network services and applications to
the broader Internet community.
Through Internet2
Working Groups, Internet2 members are collaborating on:
For more information about Internet2 see: