| Newsletter 10, October 1995 |
The new 34Mbit/s link to SuperJANET has been installed and undergone testing. We hope to switch the service over to the new link for the start of Semester 1. This will provide much faster access to locations outside of LMU, but please bear in mind that the speed of delivery to your PC will still be limited by the capacity of the internal data network (see " Network Development Strategy" below).
The existing 64kbit/s link to JANET will be retained for some months in case of failure on the new link, and also while X.25-based coloured-book services are phased out.
We are about to commence a three-year project to develop a new "multi-service" Campus Network infrastructure. This will use the very latest network technology, which is called ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode). The first part of this project is to install ATM switching equipment at both City and Beckett Park Campuses, and to commission a 155Mbit/s link between those two primary sites. This stage of the project should be complete for Semester 2.
The new infrastructure will be capable of carrying data, voice and video over the same communications links. Further details and progress reports will appear in the Newsletter as the project proceeds.
Please note that orders for the provision of Network Service should now be accompanied by a correctly-completed pro forma; orders which arrive without a pro forma will no longer be accepted. The pro formas are available from the Network Administrative Assistant on extn 3119, and copies have also recently been sent to Faculty IT Co-ordinators.
All PCs supplied by Computing Services now include a network card as standard. It is therefore no longer necessary to specify one explicitly on orders to the Purchasing Group.
- Nigel R Armfield