ARCHIVED: Completed project: IUPUI machine room 10 Gbps update

Project name: IUPUI machine room 10 Gbps update

Primary UITS contact: David B. Hunter

Completed: June 15, 2010

Description: During the first quarter of 2010, we will be working toward updating the switching infrastructure within the IUPUI machine room to support 10 Gbps switch-to-switch links. We will also be installing newer Juniper Netscreen firewalls that support 10 Gbps, replacing the current pair of 1 Gbps firewalls. These Netscreens also have the newer M3 management cards with faster processors.

Each individual switch within the IUPUI machine room will have 10 Gbps redundant connectivity back to ICTC core switches, and then redundant connectivity back to the routed core at ICTC and UL.

This update does not yet bring us into parity with the design used at the IUB Data Center. It is, however, a step in that direction as we prepare for a core upgrade in 2011 that will complete the changes necessary for parity.

Outcome: All 1 Gbps links from IUPUI machine room access switches, back to the ICTC core, will now have a 10 Gbps path back to both the ICTC and UL cores. Additionally, newer firewalls with faster processors will be installed to support increased number of sessions as more users move behind the firewalls and higher throughput at 10 Gbps.

Milestones and status:

• February 9, 2010 - Project planning meetings were begun, headed by Jason Mueller of Matt Davy's group, and attended by CNI members, David Hunter, Damon Beals, Jon Cox, James Dickerson, and Cheryl Kile. These are weekly Tuesday meetings until the project is complete.
• February 17, 2010 - IUPUI decommissioning of the IUB WCC machine room 8212 was presented to Change Management. This HP 8212 switch is needed at IUPUI for the machine room update. Also presented was an interim step at IUPUI of aggregating links on the existing Juniper Netscreen firewalls to facilitate 2 Gbps of throughput. This is to temporarily serve the increased bandwidth needs of users moving behind the firewall in preparation for the final upgrade to 10 Gbps connectivity in April.
• February 19, 2010 - HP 5412 switches decommissioned from the WCC machine room at IUB were transported to IUPUI for use in replacing the older HP 4100 switches in the IUPUI machine room, and to provide 10 Gbps uplinks.
• Week of February 22 through April 18 - The installation of the HP 5412 switches from the 8212, and the early migration of some users off of the older HP 4100 switches, will begin this week and continue through April 18th.
• March 14, 2010 - The large HP 8212 in the WCC machine room will be decommissioned from that site and moved to IUPUI to participate in the distribution layer switching for the IUPUI machine room. Also on this day at IUPUI, the existing firewalls will be configured to aggregate ports for 2 Gbps of bandwidth, temporarily serving the increased needs behind the firewall until the upgrade to 10 Gbps in April.
• April 18, 2010 (tentative) - Complete the upgrade to the machine room at IUPUI by installing a second HP 8212 from WCC, interconnecting the new Juniper Netscreen firewalls, and upgrading the remaining HP 4100 switches to the larger and 10 Gbps capable HP 5412s. (This will be presented to Change Management several weeks ahead).

Benefits:

• Multiple high-bandwidth users on a single switch will benefit from 10 Gbps uplinks back to the core. (Individual users will only receive 1 Gbps links).
• There will no longer be a firewalled or non-firewalled designation for switches as any switch will be able to provide firewalled or non-firewalled access after the upgrade, simplifying wiring and server placement.
• The HP 5412 access switches serving customers in the IUPUI machine room will be dual-fed providing link-redundancy in the event of cable failure.

Risks: Due to the hierarchical changes in connectivity from the core all the way to the access switches in the machine room itself, there is a possibility of link outages, equipment failure, or other unforeseen events during the day of the cutover. In this event, each issue will be addressed and resolved as expeditiously as possible.

Primary client: All system administrators who maintain machines within the IUPUI machine room and the users of their systems

Client impact: System administrators will notice less latency due to high bandwidth events. End users should have a more consistent experience when accessing systems in the IUPUI machine room. There will be a downtime associated with this event that will be minimized as much as possible. The communication for this has been presented through Change Management, and a secondary notification was sent to the LSP community via LSP services.

Project team:

• Jason Mueller
• David B. Hunter
• Cheryl Kile
• Jon cox
• Damon Beals
• James Dickerson

Governance:

• Dennis Cromwell
• Mike Lucas
• Kirt Guinn