a tale of two fiber networks bonnie baranowski, colleges of the fenway donna baron, five colleges,...
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A Tale of Two Fiber Networks
Bonnie Baranowski, Colleges of the Fenway
Donna Baron, Five Colleges, Incorporated
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
A Tale of Two Fiber Networks.
Copyright Bonnie Baranowski and Donna Baron, 2005
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Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
Five Colleges, Incorporated
• Established 1965 – to offer more for less– Amherst College– Hampshire College– Mount Holyoke College– Smith College– University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Close Proximity in Rural Western Mass• 25,000 undergraduates, 2,000 faculty• http://www.fivecolleges.edu
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
Major Features of Cooperation
• Student Interchange• Faculty and Curricular Development• Libraries and Information Technology• Administrative Collaboration• Transportation
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
History of Fiber Build
• January 2001 – Top Campus IT Priorities:– Bandwidth– Staffing
• January 2002 – Infrastructure Report– Current networking, future bandwidth
requirements, Internet connectivity strategies, technology, management and governance options
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
Study Recommendations:Solve the Local Loop Problem
• Fiber infrastructure connecting campuses to carrier-neutral long haul facility in Springfield
• Centralized telecom support structure• Internet2 for all five schools• Bandwidth management tools• Northern CrossRoads (NOX)
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
Governance and Cost Sharing
• Decision by Consensus – Time, Tending, Trust• Philosophically 5ths Formula• Structure
– Five Colleges, Inc. Board of Directors - MOU– Five College Net, LLC – Manager– Academic Deans, Principal Business Officers– Information Technology Governing Board– Technical Advisory Committee – SLA with University of Massachusetts Amherst
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
All That Fiber . . .
• Joint Data Network - GigE to start • MESH - connecting every possible
combination of the schools for ad-hoc research and experimentation
• Individual campus connections to Springfield• Joint excess dark fiber for future growth
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
The Benefits
• Vastly Increase Bandwidth, Services, Flexibility• Add Redundant Links• Avoid New Costs• Research, Education, Collaboration
– Enhance Five College Collaboration– Internet2, NEREN, National LambdaRail
• Economic Development Potential
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
Request For Bids (RFB)Dark Optical Fiber Network
• Lease, lease-to-own, design and build• RFB at 30% design – looking for bids to bring
project to 60% design • Pathway Selection, Licensing, Permitting• Engineering• Construction• Technical Requirements• Unit Rates for Everything!
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
RFB Process
• Review Team• Bidder’s Conference• Vendor Negotiations – Budget Development!• Contract Negotiations
– Permitting, spans, testing, retainer– Schedule, liquidated damages– Unit rates for adds and deducts– Purchase of materials
• Project Management
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
One-time and Recurring Budgets
• One-Time Budget– Legal– Fiber Optic Cable– Engineering– Consulting/Project Mgmt– Utility Applications– Make-Ready and
Permitting– Police– Construction– Contingency
• Recurring Budget– Network Maintenance– Equipment Replacement– Equipment Maintenance– FOC Maintenance– Attachment/Conduit Fees– Emergency Restoration– Dig Safe Mark-outs– Miscellaneous
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
Where Are We Now?
• Licensing and Right-of-Way– Seven Towns– Five Utilities– Numerous State Agencies
• Pioneer Valley Connect• State Representatives
• Make-Ready released this month• Lighting Segments Summer 05 – January 06
Lessons Learned
Donna Baron
Director, Information Technology
Five Colleges, Incorporated
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
Colleges of the Fenway - 1996- Emmanuel - Simmons- The Massachusetts College of Art- The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health
Sciences - Wheelock- Wentworth Institute of Technology
- 11,500 students (12% of Boston student population)
Goal: add value to student academic and social life while seeking innovative methods of investing in new services and containing the costs of higher education
http://www.colleges-fenway.org
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
Major Features of CooperationAcademic
– Cross registration– Joint Environmental Sciences Major– Global Educational Opportunities Center – Annual Teaching and Learning Conference
Students Activities– COF Orchestra– Intramural program– Fall opening week program, spring weekend and other social
events
Administrative– Guidance Counselor Tours – Joint insurance programs: student health, property and liability– Contracts: vending, payroll processing, Temp Agency
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
History of COFAN• 1998 – Study by Technical Development Corp.• 1999 – IT Planning Committee
– Network, training, helpdesk, distance learning, common administrative applications
• 2000 – IBM/Blackwell Study• 2001 – applied for $2.1 million grant to build network• 2002 – Grant received
– develop network design and issue RPF (not covered by the grant)
• 2003 – RFP issued and contract awarded• 2004 – Network live in July
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
Why Build a network?
• Geography• Backbone and foundation for other initiatives• Enhanced Internet connectivity (capacity and
redundancy) at lower cost• Potential for Internet 2• Potential for joint contracts for voice and cable TV• Evidence of IT collaboration and momentum for other
projects• Increase technical knowledge and support on the
campuses
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
COFAN
• 12 pairs of fiber to each college• Redundant core (CISCO 6509s)• CISCO 3550 at each college• Lease Dark Fiber from RCN for physical redundancy• COF employees: Director for IT Initiatives and
Network Manager • Internet Access – ISP for Colleges
– Registered with ARIN for AS number and IP block– 200 mgs, 2 providers
• 3 times individual contracts at ½ cost
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
Governance and Cost Sharing
• Creation of the IT Executive Advisory Board (2002)– 2 members from each college: 2 Presidents, 2 CAOs, 5 CFOs, 3 IT Directors
• Incorporation of Colleges of the Fenway, Inc. as a 501 (c)3 (2003)
• Agreements between Colleges and COF, Inc.• Fixed costs: split by six• Variable: by usage
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
One-time and Recurring Budgets
• One-Time Budget (Grant)
– Construction– Fiber Optic Cable– Electronics– Project Mgmt– Legal– NOC construction– Offices– Back Up strategy– Campus Upgrades
• Operating Budget– Salaries – Maintenance
• Fiber & electronics
– Depreciation – 24 x 7 monitoring– Rent (NOCs & Offices)– Contingency– Misc., office supplies– Legal
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
Benefits and other outcomes
• Internet capacity• Building culture of collaboration
– “We are Colleges of the Fenway”
• Monthly meeting: IT Directors, Network Managers, Help Desk Managers
• Task Forces: – Common Course Management System– One Card System– Shared Administrative System– Joint End User training– Shared Help Desk Services
Five Colleges, Incorporated Colleges of the Fenway
Benefits and other outcomes (cont)
• Benefits to colleges:– Increased internet capacity – potential to spike to
200 mgs, the previous maximum was 3mgs for one college
– Development of community among IT groups– Simmons: connect main and residence campuses,
eliminate T1s– Wheelock: connect Riverway and Brookline
campuses, eliminate T1s
Lessons Learned
Bonnie Baranowski
Director, Information Technology Initiatives
Colleges of the Fenway, Inc.