Cisco Products and Support Aid in Building of Statewide Internetwork
Collaborative engineering research, academic and industry partnerships, distance-learning courses, and telemedicine services are among many activities made possible by the new Network for Engineering and Research in Oregon (NERO) project. A regional internetwork using Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology, the NERO network links users in universities, research centers, elementary and secondary schools, medical facilities, and high-technology companies across the state.
The high bandwidth offered by ATM accommodates a variety of applications, including video, audio, and multimedia presentations for distance-learning courses; collaboration and concurrent engineering for research, design, and development of new products; a shared computing environment with distributed software tools and supercomputer access; scientific and medical imaging for telemedicine services; and greater bandwidth for access to the Internet. A connection to the National Research and Education Network (NREN), a US federal research internetwork, gives NERO users access to computing resources and research programs around the country.
The NERO network was developed by the six members of the Oregon Joint Graduate Schools of Engineering (OJGSE). By combining the resources and efforts of the schools, the NERO network creates a "virtual" engineering college with more than 200 faculty members. While the joint schools have done collaborative work before, it has been at a much lower level than what can be supported by the NERO network. For example, distance-learning courses, previously delivered on videotape, can now be presented as live broadcasts over the network links. "The network lets us reach large audiences -- even outside of the universities," says David Meyer, Senior Network Engineer at the University of Oregon.
Today, the infrastructure for the NERO network is largely in place, linking the OJGSE institutions as well as two "K-12" school districts, a community hospital, the University of Oregon's Pine Mountain Observatory, and Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Sciences Center.
Oregon is split between north and south into two Local Access Transport Areas (LATAs). As a result, the NERO network is configured into two Optical Carrier 3 (OC-3) rings running at 155 megabits per second (Mbps), connected by a DS3 (45-Mbps) link. Other participants are linked to the network by T1 (1.544 Mbps) connections. ATM service is provided as part of a technology trial by the two local carriers, GTE and US West.
The NERO network uses Cisco 7000 routers equipped with the ATM Interface Processor (AIP) card at six major sites. Remote sites are connected to the network via Cisco 4500, Cisco 2501, and IGS routers. The Cisco HyperSwitch[tm] A100 supports an ATM campus backbone at the University of Oregon campus. One port on the HyperSwitch connects to the WAN and one connects to the Cisco 7000 router. Other ports are used by students, faculty, and researchers who need ATM switching for their desktop applications.
The NERO network provides high-speed ATM communication among students, faculty, and researchers in both higher education and business.
Meyer cites the value of Cisco's high level of support during the implementation stages of the project. Because the NERO network was a beta test site for Cisco's ATM equipment, this activity included communication between Meyer and members of Cisco's engineering staff. "As a customer it's nice to be invested in a strategic vendor in this way, and it's nice for Cisco to be able to test on a live customer network. Everybody wins here," Meyer says.
Additionally, Meyer notes, "Our association with Cisco helped to place us ahead of the technology curve and gave us benefits at the project level, such as our ability to interact with other project participants."
With the first phase of NERO implementation complete, future phases will focus on expanding participation by large industry, small business, and local schools. By transporting a variety of high-powered, multimedia applications over ATM, the network is advancing the state of the art for engineering collaboration among its participants. The NERO project is also building a communications infrastructure that supporters expect will improve both business and education at all levels throughout Oregon.
