Scientific
Applications:
UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE DEPLOYS
10 GIGABIT NETWORK
Foundry Networks, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance enterprise
and service provider switching, routing and Web traffic management solutions,
announced The University of Strathclyde has become the first European
university to install a new 10 Gigabit Ethernet network. This installation was
signed with the support of partner Total Network Solutions.
The new 10 Gigabit network provides enhanced capacity for The University of
Strathclyde's 50,000 students and faculty who send increasingly large amounts
of data and applications over the network, which serves 67 buildings across
its 500 acre campus. Founded in 1796, the university is the third largest in
Scotland and it teaches full-time, part time and distance learning students in
five faculties as well as being the UK's largest provider of postgraduate and
professional education.
The installation of BigIron 8000 and BigIron 15000 Layer 3 backbone
switches across the whole campus, is the first phase of the project being
implemented by Total Network Solutions. The 10 Gigabit Ethernet link provides
intelligent, high performance connectivity between the two main data centres,
which are more than 1Km apart and will assist with important research projects
including the Strathclyde Institute for Drug Research and the Institute of
Photonics. The second and third phases of the project will see the replacement
of the remaining poorly performing legacy network switches from other data
centres with Foundry switches and implementing Foundry ServerIron Layer 4-7
switches for intelligent web server optimisation and content distribution.
Dr Stuart Brough, director of Information Technology at the University of
Strathclyde said: "Network content, covering a huge variety of research
activities, teaching material and corporate data is now being transported by
the new network with greater ease and reliability than previously. We have
seen a dramatic uptake in network performance, availability and connectivity
with the new 10 Gigabit network which is a 180 degree turnaround from our
previous experience with network redundancy and failover. The network is also
easily handling much larger files for key sections of the user community. In
particular, University design students and researchers will be able to use the
network to handle much larger datasets than previously."
The previous legacy network consisted of switches lacking the high
performance
and scalable Layer 2 and Layer 3 intelligence to handle the University's
increased workload, upgrade requirements and target availability levels. The
project was put out to tender through the Official Journal of the European
Communities (OJEC).
A key tender condition was that network vendors could offer a complete
end-to-
end solution with scalable interfaces and total resiliency whilst
demonstrating sound financial performance to ensure long-term network support.
Both Foundry and Total Network Solutions easily met these stringent
requirements.
Simon Haydn-Lee, account manager, Total Network Solutions, said, "In
determining its network strategy over the next three years, the University
sought a partnership with a vendor and value added supplier that closely
matched its strategic objectives. Total Network Solutions and Foundry
presented a 'best in class' partnership to meet these objectives for the new
network rollout."
The University of Strathclyde is in the early stages of using Foundry's
JetCore technology to accurately monitor network traffic and enable
departments to be billed for use of the network. Real time network monitoring
and billing down to byte level will be achieved through Foundry's sFlow
technology, which also enables the creation of a system-wide performance
window of application traffic to pinpoint performance-impacting areas
throughout the network. This will be augmented by IronWare network
management software.
Building An Intelligent Network For Today's Classroom And Future Proofing
For
Tomorrow
Installation of nine Foundry Networks Layer 3 BigIron 8000 and 15000
switches
make up the first phase of the University's new network backbone, and they
concurrently access all of the main data-centres across the 67 building, 500-
acre site. These intelligent layer 3 switches offer a mesh of multi-Gigabit
links, enabling the University to increase network capacity and resilience for
students, faculties, researchers and other users. The 10 Gigabit network link
is provisioned using two Layer 3 BigIron 15000 switches between the
University's two main data centres to enhance deployment of core systems and
assist with its research projects.
To ensure compatibility with the existing infrastructure and provide
long-term
investment protection, the BigIron architecture supports a full range of
interfaces including 10/100/1000 Megabit right up to 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
Total Network Solutions is providing a comprehensive support package including
onsite service, support and maintenance over a three-year period with locally
based engineers and spares.
Foundry has been shipping its standards-based 10 Gigabit Ethernet solution
since December 2001. Bobby Johnson, Foundry's president and CEO explained, "As
a technological leader in delivering the first standards-based 10 Gigabit
Ethernet solutions, Foundry has emerged as the 10 Gigabit Ethernet vendor of
choice offering the best price/performance, reliability and easy
upgradability. With the 10 Gigabit deployment at the Strathclyde University,
Foundry continues to further extend its leadership with key 10 Gigabit
deployments at The London Internet Exchange, The Amsterdam Internet Exchange,
the University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute and the
Japanese Internet Exchange."
About Total Network Solutions
Formed in 1991, Total Network Solutions is a leading provider of
communications solutions and services and has recently been acknowledged by
Dun & Bradstreet as being the 59th fastest growing company in the UK. Its
'best of breed' communications solutions are backed up by a wide range of
professional support solutions, which have been provided to clients operating
in many different markets in the UK and offshore.
About Foundry Networks
Foundry Networks, Inc. is a leading provider of high-performance enterprise
and service provider switching, routing and Web traffic management solutions
including Layer 2/3 LAN switches, Layer 3 Backbone switches, Layer 4 - 7 Web
switches and Metro Routers. Foundry's 5,500 customers include the world's
premier ISPs, Metro service providers, and enterprises including e-commerce
sites, universities, entertainment, health and wellness, government,
financial, and manufacturing companies. Some of these customers include: AOL,
EarthLink, China Telecom, MSN, Verio, Cable & Wireless, Yahoo!, Incyte
Genomics, Deutsche Bank, The University of Washington, University of Miami,
Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA) of
France, The British Library, U.S. Army, Air Force and Navy, NASA and the
National Space Development Agency of Japan.
Web site: www.tns.co.uk
Web site: www.foundrynetworks.com
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