DoIT Plans Upgrades for Higher-Speed Network

The Division of Information Technology and its advisory group, the Information Technology Committee (ITC), have been considering ways to improve the campus computer network while keeping costs down.

On the recommendation of Chancellor David Ward, the ITC set up a Dial-In-Access subcommittee, composed of faculty, academic staff and students, to recommend ways to address increasing demand. The subcommittee found that growth of dial-in use appears to be moderating. Other aspects of network use, however — including frequency of use, number of users and size of data transfers — have kept the pressure on capacity.

To remedy the short-term problem, DoIT will continue to upgrade the speed and capacity of the network. DoIT plans to add another 192 modems this summer, bringing the total to 1,300, one modem for every 16 current customers. DoIT will also replace the remaining 14.4 kbps modems with faster 33.6 kbps models.

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) service, which provides a faster, more direct network connection, is now being introduced to departments to relieve some of the pressure on the dial pool. DoIT is also offering all-digital Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) service to departments, enabling higher-speed connections for services such as videoconferencing.

Funding for the improvements will come from a reallocation of DoIT’s internal revenue for 1997-98, as well as a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The university will provide funds matching the NSF grant. Those sources will allow DoIT to make improvements without raising rates for computing services.

Recommendations from the dial-in subcommittee were accepted by the ITC and have been forwarded to the chancellor.

Meanwhile, DoIT will continue to evaluate long-term alternative models of funding the campus network, such as the ITC recommendation that DoIT consider charging for dial-in use in excess of a large number of total “prime-time” hours per month. The manner by which departments are charged for network access may also be changed to more equitably distribute the cost.