August-2000 MichNet Backbone status report (fwd)

[Mark Szidik - MLC]

Some of you on the list (mainly Merit members) may find this information
interesting.

______________________________________________________________________
Mark Szidik
System Administrator           Ph: 517.694.4242 x17  Fax: 517.694.9303 
Michigan Library Consortium    http://www.mlc.lib.mi.us

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 09:06:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: Mike Mosher <mmosher@merit.edu>
To: Merit Joint Technical Staff Email List <mjts@merit.edu>
Subject: August-2000 MichNet Backbone status report 


All the staff at Merit Network, Inc., hope you are enjoying 
a wonderful summer.

This memo summarizes the last few months of work to upgrade the MichNet
Backbone.  There is a _tremendous_ amount of work in progress, as you'll
see from the length of this document.  All the circuits discussed are
displayed on the Proposed MichNet Backbone maps located at:

	http://www.merit.edu/michnet/maps/

--Mike Mosher - MichNet Dedicated Connections Product Manager
--Brian Cashman - MichNet Backbone Manager

  -----<><><>-----
Key:	T1	1.5M bps
	T3	45M bps
	OC3	155M bps
	OC12	622M bps
	POP	Point of Presence
	NAP	Network Access Point
  -----<><><>-----

T3 installed in Berrien Springs

In June, MichNet Operations completed work to replace the four T1s 
(6.0M bps total) between Berrien Springs and Kalamazoo with T3 (45M bps)
frame relay service.  This is actually two T3s into Ameritech's frame
relay cloud in the Grand Rapids LATA, one from Berrien Springs, and
another from Kalamazoo.

T3 installed in Big Rapids

On August 10th, MichNet Operations completed work to upgrade the bandwidth
between Grand Rapids and Big Rapids from four T1s (6.0M bps total) to a
T3.  Merit chose an (MCI-)WorldCom circuit for this link.

OC12 - Ann Arbor <--> East Lansing

On August 15th, MichNet Operations completed work to upgrade the
bandwdith between Ann Arbor and East Lansing from OC3 to OC12.  This
service is contracted with McLeodUSA. 

Connectivity to GTE Frame Relay in Muskegon

In August, Merit should complete planned work to switch our MichNet
connection in Muskegon to GTE's Frame Relay cloud from OC3 to T3.  The
decision to downgrade this link was based on a year of evaluation of the
connectivity needs, costs, and GTE's service availability in the Grand
Rapids LATA.

Why would anyone ever downgrade their Internet service?  When Merit signed
up for the OC3, GTE was just rolling out their ATM service.  It was a
chance to test ATM, and the price was attractive.  Still, OC3 at this site
was serious overkill.  The T3 is still a ton of bandwidth.  Merit is
confident that the T3 will handle the current demand and anticipated
growth of this link by MichNet-connected sites.  (If we should realize
unanticipated bandwidth demands, Merit will immediately order service over
and above the T3.)

Upper Peninsula 

Several new T1 frame relay links at Sault Ste. Marie are complete.  
Sault Ste. Marie now has 7.5M bps of frame relay connectivity.

Several new T1 frame relay links at Houghton are complete.  Houghton now
has 9.0M bps of frame relay connectivity.

These upgrades provide increased capacity between Sault Ste. Marie and
Houghton, as well as increased capacity for other U.P. sites connected to
MichNet with Ameritech's frame relay service.  These new T1s are actually
a stop-gap to support the bandwidth load until new T3s are in place (see
below.)

A related result of this U.P. work will be the removal of a Point-to-Point
T1 between Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie.

<><><><><><> Other Upgrades in the Works <><><><><><>

Upper Peninsula 

Merit has ordered a second T3 between Houghton and Chicago.  We expect
completion of this circuit in August.  The first T3 is nearing capacity.
(Merit only just installed the first T3 in August '99!)

We've also ordered a frame relay T3 to replace the multiple frame relay
T1s between Houghton and Sault Ste. Marie.  This is actually 2 T3s into
Ameritech's frame relay cloud in the U.P. LATA.  We expect completion of
these circuits in August.

Norlight Services -- Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Chicago

Merit will be co-locating MichNet backbone equipment at Norlight's Portage
POP (a stone's throw South of Kalamazoo.)  Bundled with this co-location
effort, Merit has on order:

<> a "local-loop" T3 between WMICH and the Norlight Portage POP,
<> an OC12 between Chicago and the Norlight Portage POP,
<> an OC12 between Lansing and the Norlight Portage POP, and 
<> an OC3 between Ann Arbor and the Norlight Portage POP.  

The OC3 above was originally designed to go from Ann Arbor to Chicago,
but the co-location agreement and other factors led us to this more
comprehensive design.

Jackson <--> East Lansing

The four T1s (6.0M bps total) between Jackson and East Lansing are slated
to be replaced with T3 frame relay service.  This is actually two T3s into
Ameritech's frame relay cloud in the Lansing LATA.  We expect completion
of these circuits in August.  A related result of this work will be the
removal of the 3 T1s between Jackson and Ann Arbor.

Mt. Pleasant <--> East Lansing

We've ordered an OC3 to replace the existing T3 between Mt. Pleasant
and East Lansing.  We expect completion of this circuit in the third or
fourth quarter.

Dearborn <--> ATM T3

We've ordered an Ameritech ATM T3 to replace the existing multiple T1s
(6.0M bps) between Dearborn and Detroit, as well as the T1 between
Dearborn and Ypsilanti.

UM-Flint <--> FLPOP

We've ordered an additional T1 between UM-Flint and FLPOP, in
Flint, increasing the available bandwidth there from 6.0M bps to 7.5M bps.
Completion of this circuit is expected in 1-2 months.

<><><> Commodity Internet Access <> In The Works <><><>

Merit has contracted with Qwest to receive an additional T3s worth of
commodity bandwidth in Ann Arbor (this is in addition to the existing
Qwest T3 link in Detroit). Qwest will use a portion of the existing OC12
local access circuit to Abilene to carry this traffic to Qwest's commodity
national backbone.

Merit has a contract for two T3s (90M bps total) of commodity bandwidth
from Ann Arbor to Cable & Wireless.  We've renegotiated this service and
have ordered replacement of the two T3s, with an OC3.

The installation of the OC12 link from Kalamazoo to Chicago will
allow Merit to do increased non-transit peering at the Ameritech NAP
and possibly other peering points in Chicago.  Non-transit peering is
often an excellant strategy for garnering additional bandwidth access to
the greater Internet without increased costs.


Send questions and comments on this report to me, or to your MichNet
Support Team (http://www.merit.edu/merit/m&a.services.html).

--{-~"~-} {-~"~-} {-~"~-} {-~"~-} {-~"~-} {-~"~-} {-~"~-} {-~"~-}--
Mike Mosher                                  |e > mmosher@merit.edu
MichNet Dedicated Connections Product Manager|    ph > 734.936.0287
Merit Network, Inc.                          |    f >  734.647.3185 
4251 Plymouth Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48105-2785   |    w > www.merit.edu