Colorado College | Network Upgrade | Frequently Asked Questions

Q: When will the network upgrade be happening?
A: The work will primarily happen between February-August, 2007. More specifically, the wired portion of the network will go in first, from roughly February-May, and then the wireless portion of the network can go into place, taking roughly June-August to complete.

Q: Why do we need to upgrade the network now (and not at a quieter time, like summer)?
A: While we might have otherwise preferred to implement the new network during a relatively quiet time, there are two primary reasons for doing it now, in the spring semester. First, we need to have a realistic “load” (of people using the network) for the final design and configuration. Second, we need to install the new wired infrastructure before we can move on to the installation of the new wireless infrastructure. Given the desire of the campus community to have the entire new network (wired and wireless) in place for the start of the 2007-08 academic year, we worked backward from September 2007 in order to develop a suitable timeline.

We'd also like to point out that there is never a “good” time – for all constituencies – to undertake such a project, but we are committed to maintaining the old network while implementing the new one, and we will absolutely strive to minimize the impact to the campus community in terms of network outages.

Q: What interruptions to network service should I expect?
A: Most network interruptions should be quite minimal in duration, and any planned interruptions will be timed to be as non-disruptive as possible.

Much of the work of implementing this new network comes in the form of delivering electronics to the roughly 130 closets around campus, preparing and configuring the devices, and learning how to use the network management and monitoring tools. Thus, early phases of work will include vendors and CC technical staff unboxing and configuring and delivering devices all over campus, but nothing will actually be turned off or moved (so no intended interruptions during this phase).

At the time of actual “cutover” (turning off the old network device and turning on the new one to ensure that the users can successfully connect once again), there will be a planned network interruption. But this is phased building by building and wing/section to wing/section of a building, so there will not be a time when the entire network “goes down.” Rather, a group of users in Armstrong or Mathias might lose network services during the cutover, estimated to take no more than 4 hours (and probably less time). This would be the amount of time needed, in the worst case scenario, to physically unplug users from the old network devices, remove the devices and better organize the cabling, and then install the new network devices, reconnect the users, and test that everything is working (or troubleshoot if something is not working). These cutovers have been scheduled for spring break (a specific building by building schedule will be forthcoming), and if needed will happen after 4:00 p.m. for minimal perturbations during the work day.

Q: How will I find out about interruptions to network service?
A: We will use multiple methods to notify the campus about any planned interruptions to network service.
• Building denizens will be notified by email and/or paper announcements.
• Departmental liaisons (e.g., staff assistants) will be emailed with information to post in departmental main offices.
• Green posters/fliers will be affixed to the doors of a building for the 3 days leading up to a planned network outage.
• This special website (http://www.coloradocollege.edu/networkupgrade) will be updated regularly for users who might want to check back for more detailed information.
• Users can email networkupgrade@ColoradoCollege.edu for more specific information.
• If you are in a building during the cutover window, you will also be able to talk with IT staff – we are developing “teams” of technologists (from the network & systems group, from the Help Desk, and in academic buildings, from the Academic Technology Services team) who can be available to test connectivity and assist users with questions.
• And finally, as always, the Help Desk will serve as the primary hub of information, so you can call (x6449) or otherwise contact them for the latest updates.

Q: What will I first notice when my building is brought onto the new network?
A: First, we will post green posters/fliers on the doors of a building after we have completed the cutover and brought it onto the new network. So watch for that update as your first important clue that your building has been upgraded, particularly if you are away during Spring Break.

In terms of your computer, you will have a brief registration process to complete the migration from old network to new. We use a tool called Bradford Campus Manager to track campus computers and be sure that all computers (CC-owned or personally-owned) are up-to-date in terms of security patches and virus protection. You will get a screen asking you to input your name, your phone number, and your office or room number. You will then run through a few quick and simple scans to make sure your computer has updated security and antivirus components. If you do not pass the scans, you will be directed to the proper websites to download and run the updates. This one-time registration process usually takes between 5-10 minutes, and as noted above, we will have technical staff available to assist you if you run into any problems.

Q: Who should I call if I notice problems with the network?
A: Please call the Help Desk at x6449 if you notice problems with the network. Whether an outage is planned or unplanned, we want to know right away so that we can troubleshoot the issue as expediently as possible.

Q: Will wireless coverage improve?
A: Yes! It will be late in the summer of 2007 before the wireless portion of the network is installed and tested, but we expect this most popular and visible aspect of the CC network to be drastically enhanced. Not only will we be upgrading to a better wireless technology (802.11a/b/g instead of 802.11b) that will provide faster bandwidth and dynamic response to the changing environment, but we will be quadrupling our coverage of wireless access points across the campus to better serve users everywhere. And finally, while wireless security remains an important consideration, we will be phasing out the complicated LEAP authentication process for a more streamlined WPA authentication process. Wireless users will be able to connect to the CC wireless network more quickly and easily once the network upgrade project is complete.

Q: Are we going to use 802.11n wireless?
A: No - we aren't migrating to802.11n at the present time because it hasn't passed through the standards committee; it is available on a consumer level, but it is not standardized; no one is offering it on an enterprise level quite yet.

Aruba, our wireless vendor, has a roadmap in place for how they will upgrade to 802.11n once the standards are completed and approved. Once that is done, bugs are worked out, and more people have n-capable wireless cards, we will look at migrating.

Q: Will the wired network connection be faster in the dorms?
A: Yes, there will be an enormous improvement and dramatic speed increases.

Currently all occupants of most major dorms (i.e. Loomis, Mathias) share one 10mbps "pipe" (so upwards of 100 people are all sending traffic through that same section of bandwidth). The new network will be set up so that every individual port gets its own 10 mbps uplink (approximately triple the speed of a cable modem, for reference).

Q: Will the new network make it easier for campus visitors to get temporary access to the wireless network?
A: It depends. Theoretically, the answer would be a wholehearted “yes!” because as we phase out the current and very complicated LEAP authentication procedures, most visitors who bring their own laptop to campus would have an easier time connecting through non-LEAP means (e.g., via WPA authentication).

However, we are busily studying the ramifications of new governmental network monitoring requirements that may impact whether or not we can provide visitors with guest Internet access, and if so, how we would do that in a technical sense. The new network monitoring requirements stem from a 2007 update to CALEA, a 1994 “Communications And Law Enforcement Act” bill that required telecommunications (phone) providers to offer wire-tapping capabilities with the right legal paperwork for cause.

Our campus network exists to support our primary academic mission of teaching, learning, research, scholarship, and the core business processes of the College. All primary users of the campus network – faculty, students, and staff – are “registered” with their own username and password. We, along with other institutions of higher education, may be challenged to rethink if, and how, we provide “guest” and “visitor” access. We know that this is an important issue for many constituencies – alumni, parents of current students, summer session students from area high schools, library patrons from the community, conference attendees, attendees for campus presentations and activities, Board of Trustee members and other friends of the College, etc. Please stay tuned as we work on these issues, and we’ll update you as we learn more, hear back from our Legal Counsel, etc.

As with such matters, it is important to balance ease of use with security, to balance privacy with accountability of shared resources, and to balance support for the core users and mission with support for the many occasional visitors.

Q: What are some of the key features and enhancements of this new network?
A: Beyond moving from a poor and hard-to-maintain network to a new and modern network, we are excited about many new capabilities. For example, a more robust wireless infrastructure will make mobile computing easier and more viable (whether it’s for entire classes or small group work or individual work and study). We expect to see people better able to utilize streaming audio and video content, videoconferencing, and the use of multimedia and digital repositories. Databases and Web-based resources will perform better, and users of Banner will notice faster queries and transactions. We will have better options for secure remote access (e.g., improved VPN technologies). We can better support our computer labs and classroom/loaner laptop fleets using a powerful network feature called multi-casting (this allows us to update computer software and “images” on many computers at once, a feature that debilitates our current network).

An overall improvement to the ubiquity, speed, and reliability of network services will be evident to all users, and probably none more so than the students in the residence halls (the oldest network equipment is housed there, and currently all dorm traffic must filter through a sluggish and small “bridge” in order to be processed). Click here to view our current network layout, and then compare it with our new network design; particularly notice the unfortunate historical bottleneck for the current residential network. And finally, a big part of our excitement about the new network is that we believe that it will be able to support new things that we don’t even know about yet! Whether it’s emerging technology or creative uses of existing technology, together with our users we will be more responsive and more able to experiment. Together we will discover relevant new capabilities and benefits of this network infrastructure.

Q: Will you still be using traffic shapers? Are there certain kinds of files that will be throttled (music or video downloads, BitTorrent, etc.)?
A: Yes, we will still be using traffic shaping, as needed, in order to protect the integrity of our bandwidth to the Internet for academic and administrative work. The College’s top priority is the academic mission; however we realize that this is a residential campus, and therefore, unlike many colleges & universities, we will not block sites such as BitTorrent or music/video download. They will be given a lower priority, with academic traffic gaining top priority.

Q: Will you be blocking us from visiting certain websites and/or other network-based utilities?
A: No, we do not block any outgoing traffic! So while you may see slower response times on certain Web resources due to the throttling process we mentioned above, we do not block you from any Internet resources. Further, Information Management does not collect or maintain any information about how you as an individual use the Internet. We analyze our traffic statistics as a whole, but we do not track your browsing as an individual. We currently do not block any Internet sites or Internet services, and will not in the new network.

Q: Will I be able to stream music and video without feeling guilty on the new network?
A: Yes and no. Our new network will be able to handle internal (on-campus) streaming music and video without any problem. The catch is that our Internet bandwidth can carry only so much traffic, and streaming music and video tends to greedily eat this bandwidth up. Therefore, if you stream off-campus radio or video, it may slow down Internet – not internal network – performance for others. However, we will be able to prioritize different types of traffic as related in the question above, so you still should not feel guilt!

Q: Will there still be “maintenance days” with the new network?
A: Unfortunately yes. Not only haven’t they invented the network equivalent of a self-cleaning oven yet, but we need to provide updates and security patches to servers and not just network electronics. Many of our maintenance windows are designed to allow us to take down servers and databases (such as email, Web, fileservers, Banner, and c3po). These are all important network-based resources, but it’s actually not the network that is “down” in most cases when we schedule a “maintenance day.”

We work very hard to minimize the number of times that we must interrupt these services, and we orchestrate the schedule around the primacy of the academic calendar. We generally aim for alternating block break Friday mornings, and we work very hard to perform the maintenance and restore services more quickly than the advertised 4-hour window. We only schedule the outages during working hours because of the nature of our vendor support – if we took down a key server after hours and experienced a major problem, we’d have no support (or no affordable support, in many cases) and we would be more likely to experience longer and more serious outages as a consequence (e.g., while waiting for technical support to open, or while waiting for a replacement piece of hardware to be delivered).

Q: Which vendor was chosen?
A: Foundry Networks (http://www.foundrynet.com/) was chosen for the high quality of its technical design, for its competitive academic pricing, and for its superb service (from staff to network management tools). Foundry will provide hundreds of network electronics (e.g., switches, routers, and firewalls) for the wired portion of the CC network. Aruba Networks (http://www.arubanetworks.com/) was chosen, for similarly strong reasons of technology, pricing, and support, for the wireless portion of the CC network.

Both Foundry and Aruba work in partnership with other vendors to deliver and install their components. In the case of Foundry, staff from Illumen will assist with certain aspects of the project (e.g., firewall and UPS integration), and in the case of Aruba, staff from Accuvant will coordinate certain aspects of the project (e.g., wireless site survey).

Q: Will there be new data drops and cabling around campus as part of this project?
A: Not really. In order to save on expenses and maximize our re-use of existing wiring and data jacks on campus, we are installing very little new cabling. Interestingly, the primary reason that we will add some additional cabling will be to support the quadrupling of our wireless access points around campus. In order that users may benefit from an enhanced wireless network, we must ensure that we have enough cabling running through buildings in order to connect more wireless access points to the wired network switches. It’s easy to forget that “wireless” networking really relies on a strong wired infrastructure!

We will be providing additional fiber optic cable to make our connections between campus buildings more redundant, and we are improving the power capabilities to a few important telecommunications closets, but we are otherwise minimizing the amount of new physical wiring. With the improvement of our wireless capabilities, we believe that most users will be quite satisfied with better wireless coverage and they won’t miss the potential for more data jacks for hard-wired connections.

Have a question that is not addressed above? Please send it to Helpdesk@coloradocollege.edu and we will be happy to answer it.

This page last revised on March 14, 2007.

Send questions or comments to: HelpDesk@ColoradoCollege.edu