Attendees:
Kevin Barron,
Steve Francis,
Ben Humphrey,
Elise Meyer,
Kevin Schmidt, and
Jason Simpson
Unable to Attend:
Nathan Freitas,
Jim Frew,
Larry Murdock,
Steven Pope, and
Vince Sefcik
Fiber Ring Location
Steve Francis is waiting for David Chapman to return in order to get
information about the fiber ring topology and fiber availability.
Product Research – Backbone Issues
The first item that we discussed was the availability and pricing of
interfaces for the existing Cisco 7530 router SBGW.
An OC-3 interface to connect SBGW to the campus Backbone ATM switch would
cost $22,000 less 40%. Earlier
diagrams had included a connection between SBGW and the CENIC ATM
switch called the "Undernet" to provide a path around the Gigaswitch Router
(GSR),
but we decided that that functionality could be provided via the SBGW -->
Backbone ATM switch -->CENIC ATM switch path.
Also, in earlier diagrams we
had indicated that there would be an OC-12 sonet connection between
SBGW, and the GSR. The cost of that interface on SBGW
would be $17,000 less 40%. We decided that we didn't want that interface either.
The connection from SBGW and the Backbone ATM Switch is limited to OC-3
(OC-12 is not available until 6/98, and it is not recommended for the 7530
at all.) This means that on-campus CalREN-2 traffic between different VLAN's
is forced to go through SBGW at a maximum speed of OC-3. We want to use
SBGW as a "One arm router" for the VLANs, and to bounce off-campus CalREN-2
traffic up to the GSR via the campus Backbone ATM Switch --> CENIC ATM Switch
--> GSR. If we had a direct connection between SBGW and the GSR we couldn't
do that.
The other issue we discussed was the benefits of MPOA, MPLS, and
tag-switching, which would make the on-campus inter-VLAN connections faster
instead of
sending every packet through SBGW. A final option was discussed about getting
a new campus router that was capable of doing 0C-12 ATM – e.g., Ascend – and have
that act as the "one arm" router to route between emulated LANs (VLANS).
A final discussion was about whether we needed a GSR at each CalREN-2 campus,
or whether it would be better (and cheaper) to have just one GSR per gigapop.
Steve Francis said that he had brought the same issue up with the CalREN-2
technical advisory group in the first place, but that the group decided to
do it anyway. Steve was going to be meeting with that group again on August
21, so maybe he can lobby that issue some more.
Product Research – Research Group Options
Jason Simpson discussed the availability of an OC-3 interface for his 2500
LanPlex router. Kevin Barron discussed several of the FORE products, i.e.,
ASX-1000, ASX 200VX (limited to 1 0C-12), and the ForeRunner LE (4 port OC-3
card = $3,495 and a 1 port 0C-12 card = $7,995) a chassis for either the
200VX or Forerunner costs $15,950 (Kevin is that right?) The Fore prices may
receive a 30% discount. Elise distributed a chart comparing the features and
standards supported by 8 different edge switches.
Product Research – Future Tasks
We discussed two other resources for product research. Kevin Schmidt had
ordered a $500 book, titled Taking ATM To Task, that contains detailed
information about the state of ATM standards and vendor and product profiles.
Kevin also mentioned that he has access to the Gartner Group, so we decided
that he should formulate a question to ask regarding the most critical
standards and features that we should be considering.
Action Items for Next Meeting: August 28, 1997
-
Once the Taking ATM To Task book has arrived we will pass it around to
all the committee members to read.
-
Kevin Schmidt will submit a question to the Gartner Group.
-
Elise will find out if we need to do a RFI, RFQ or Sole Source purchase
for the backbone equipment.
-
Everyone else will continue to research products and vendors.
Back to Main CalREN-2 Page
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