For the past two years, trenches flanked by orange mesh have snaked across campus--first on the southern fringe, then heading north toward the central part of campus.
The unearthed ground, streets and sidewalks are necessary disruptions as the University lays the groundwork for a state-of-the-art communications network for students, faculty and staff. This joint effort of the Office of Information Technology, Telecommunications, Physical Plant and University Housing involves three major projects: installing the fiber optic backbone, upgrading or adding networks for academic and administrative buildings, and wiring residence halls.
Plans for the fiber optic project began five years ago, with the initial construction linking buildings from Gravely Building to the Ambulatory Care Center begun in spring 1993. Construction of the fiber backbone--or main artery of the network--and connecting all campus buildings to it should be completed by the end of 1997. A major design for building and residence hall wiring is just getting under way, and construction will depend on available funds.
Improving speed, reliability
Unlike the existing broadband technology, which is essentially an older cable television technology, the new fiber optic backbone will provide greater speed and reliability, thereby increasing computer and, in the future, video capabilities, said Anne Parker, deputy director of the Office of Information Technology.
Speed is measured in megabits per second, Parker said. Now, departmental networks running on copper telelphone wire run at least 10 megabits per second, with the campus backbone--or highway system--running at five megabits per second, she explained.
"That's a little bit like being able to go 60 miles per hour in your neighborhood, then getting out on the super-highway and slowing down to 25 miles per hour," she said. "Traffic is clogged."
The fiber optic network operates at 100 megabits per second. Not only will the new backbone free up traffic, it should solve numerous problems with the old technology, Parker said.
For instance, picking up interference from radio stations is common with the old system, she said. Also, temperature changes create alignment problems, and repairing the system means going to the problem site and making physical adjustments, she said.
In fact, the electronic equipment that connects building data networks to the broadband has not been manufactured for several years, making it increasingly difficult to find replacement parts.
"So if we don't move pretty quickly, we're going to be in trouble if enough equipment goes down," Parker said. "Buildings simply won't be on the campus network anymore."
As necessary repairs to the old system increased, widespread support for the new backbone was garnered, she said. The fiber optic network is completely digital, which makes it more reliable and manageable from a central console in most cases, she said.
"Until things started breaking down, there really wasn't an appreciation of where we needed to be," Parker said. "We are, if not the last, one of the last major research universities to connect via fiber."
System serves many uses
The broadband system, installed about 12 years ago, was designed to carry high-speed terminal traffic, Parker said, not the myriad uses it serves today.
Administratively, the backbone supports such large-scale functions as student registration and Administrative Data Processing operations. It also carries the University's e-mail, which on Office of Information Technology systems alone has increased from 8,000 to 28,000 users in the past 13 months--an increase of about 230 percent, Parker said.
E-mail and the World Wide Web have not only become a vital means of communication, they are valuable resources for teaching and research, she explained. They provide an efficient way for faculty members to communicate with students in their classes as well as colleagues worldwide.
"E-mail is really a link from people in one office to others on campus and throughout the world," she said.
With the increased capabilities of the fiber backbone, e-mail and web use likely will continue to grow, Parker said.
Jim Gogan, director of OIT Systems, said OIT System administrators were working to bring relief for the traffic jam e-mail users now faced. A new system that will provide more capacity and greater reliability should be in place in April, he said.
"As more people come on line, we are planning to accommodate the additional volume," he said.
Where we are now
During the first phase of fiber network construction, UNC Hospitals and the Ambulatory Care Center were connected to the backbone, but it has taken longer than expected to complete construction for the second phase, Parker said.
"The first phase was a prototype," she said, "but the second phase was a much larger project, which took longer during the bid and construction processes."
The backbone's second leg, from the Ambulatory Care Center to Phillips Hall, has been completed. By the end of May, many buildings along Columbia Street from the ACC to Wilson and Coker halls, then north from Venable to Phillips and Peabody halls should be linked to the backbone.
Connections to Peabody and Sitterson halls, the Health Sciences Library and School of Medicine buildings from MacNider to Phillips halls already have been completed.
Gogan said the backbone snaked along main campus arteries, with lines going to designated hubs. Lines from the hubs then connect surrounding buildings, like a star.
For example, he explained, Phillips Hall is a hub. Lines connect Phillips to the Phillips Annex as well as Hanes, Gardner, Memorial and Sitterson halls.
MacNider Hall also serves as a hub. Within the next few months, the surrounding buildings should be connected, which will allow faster and more complex data transmission throughout the School of Medicine.
Eventually, other connections will reach the Giles F. Horney Building and offices at 440 West Franklin St., Gogan said. Almost all University buildings, including the residence halls, should be connected to the backbone by the end of 1997, he said, but at this time, plans do not call for connecting some outlying buildings such as the Friday Center and Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center.
Connecting outlying facilities depends on whether additional funds are appropriated, he said.
Once the backbone reaches a campus building, network electronics provided and maintained by OIT must be installed and tested before those offices can use the fiber optic network, Gogan explained.
"This will happen in phases, with the hub buildings in each phase brought on to the fiber network first," he said. "In addition, most buildings require some construction work to connect the fiber network entrance and the building network."
Building wiring
Before a building can take advantage of the new fiber backbone, it must have its own internal network, Parker said. Some buildings already have networks, but they may need to be upgraded if the network has problems or departments want to add additional services.
"If a building network is problematic, the fiber will probably not improve performance for building occupants unless it is rewired," she explained. "Nor will older building networks support services such as intensive graphics and digital video."
For instance, she said, previous technology for wiring computer networks was similar to a daisy chain, where one computer was connected to another in sequence.
"With this type of wiring, if anything goes wrong with one machine, every machine downstream also has a problem," she said.
That problem is eliminated by following the University's Uniform Wiring Plan, Parker said, because each computer is linked separately to a network hub in a wiring closet.
"This gives us much more flexibility and reliability, while eliminating many problems we had with the old technology," she said. "Now, when a problem occurs with one computer, it doesn't create a chain reaction of problems."
Departments also not only have to consider their building wiring, but the computer that will be plugged into the backbone, Parker said.
"And that's a real problem, because much of the equipment is very old, isn't capable of running a graphics interface and may not support being networked," she said.
Paying for the job
Getting the University positioned for the information economy is an expensive project. Estimated cost to complete the three projects is more than $30 million and that doesn't include either ongoing maintenance or the life-cycle costs of the equipment, Parker said.
With no state appropriations earmarked for information technology, the University sought other ways to fund its fiber optic backbone, she said. A variety of sources was used, including a Telecommunications trust fund, pan-University funds, the School of Medicine and Administrative Data Processing.
This year, the University used $2 million of funding from the repair and renovation state appropriations to cover the cost of designing networks for eligible campus buildings as well as construction and part of the electronic equipment for a few buildings. Funding for maintenance of the system or construction costs for most buildings has not been identified, Parker said.
"But we are encouraged because more people are recognizing how critical technology is to higher education and to North Carolina," she said. The UNC system is presenting a supplemental budget request for technology during this year's short session of the General Assembly, she noted.
Historically, Parker said, departments have been responsible for much of the cost of wiring their buildings. OIT has offered grants of $100 to $300,000 per year to help defray wiring costs, but the total cost to wire academic and administrative buildings has been estimated as high as $22 million.
"If departments relied solely on the OIT grants, this would be a 50-year project," Parker said, "and even at $2 million a year, it's still a very long project. We would like to see building wiring progress much faster than that."
Parker said only a handful of buildings had been wired completely. These include Peabody, Abernethy (but no video capabilities), Dey (which has been wired but not yet connected to the backbone), Van Hecke-Wettach and new buildings such as Thurston-Bowles and Tate-Turner-Kuralt.
This is due in part to a shortage of staff, Parker said.
"Our plans for contracting the design and construction of major building wiring projects should help alleviate the problem somewhat, but not entirely," she said, "since the state's contracting procedures themselves have a rather long lead time, and the projects require staff to manage and coordinate the various activities."
Where we're going
As the campus is connected to the fiber optic backbone, capabilities for current and future computer uses should expand enormously, Parker said, but it's important to remember that the University is playing catch-up.
"When the fiber optic has reached every part of campus in another year, we will be where we should have been five years ago in terms of technological ability," she said. "It's vital for the University, as a major research and teaching institution, to keep pace with changes in technology and to have funds appropriated to keep the University up-to-date in the 21st century.
"But the point isn't the technology, it's what the technology enables us to accomplish as an educational institution and in service to North Carolina."
The Department of Computer Science in Sitterson Hall was linked to the fiber optic backbone last month. Already, changes in reliability and speed are evident, said Ken Weaver, computer network manager for the department.
"The biggest difference I see with the fiber optic network is speed," Weaver said. "Before, it took a while to download a web site, now it's almost immediate.
"The broadband network, which operated at 5 megabits per second, was like a standard secondary road in Chatham County. But the fiber optic network at 100 megabits per second is like the Raleigh beltline. There's no comparison in operating speed."
The School of Education, also connected to the new backbone last month, is working to upgrade its internal networking equipment, such as the hubs and network cards in the desktop computers, said Marjorie DeWert, assistant professor and director of information technology
"We've been implementing technology into our curriculum very seriously for the last couple of years," she said. "We've gone from having nothing [in terms of technology] two-and-a-half years ago to a fully networked facility."
Once the school's equipment has been upgraded, DeWert said, they expect a tenfold increase in performance, which will enhance one of the school's first goals--to create a statewide network for helping students and teachers use technology in the classroom.
"Now, most of the relevant information is in analog form--for example, print material, cassettes, film reels, microfiche and videotape," she said. "With the increased bandwidth of our fiber-based network, we will be able to convert this knowledge into a digital format, which easily can be distributed to classrooms statewide.
"Thanks to legislative and University leadership, we now have the infrastructure needed to carry the latest knowledge to people across North Carolina."
Workmen connect a fiber optic conduit.
Thanks to legislative and University leadership, we now have the infrastructure needed to carry the latest knowledge to people across North Carolina.
Marjorie DeWert, School of Education
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