Network Engineering Takes on Ambitious Agenda

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The IT Services network engineering team took on an ambitious agenda to upgrade network over the summer.

The University of Arkansas network looks nothing like it did in 1987 when one researcher and two staff members accessed the Internet on a single connection using an MS-DOS computer in the ADSB machine room.

Today the campus network seamlessly pushes over a billion packets an hour and links tens of thousands of computers, laptops, tablets and phones to each other and the Internet every hour of every day. A million emails a day are delivered over the network, while usernames and passwords for over 60,000 accounts successfully log into everything from Blackboard to wireless to the parking portal.

The Information Technology Services network engineering team (NET) is a tight-knit team of passionate and experienced engineers who design and maintain the constantly growing campus network. For example, last year, wireless capacity across campus increased by 50 percent and the number of wired connections increased by 10 percent. Working in such a demanding environment allows NET engineers to acquire a high level of technical expertise and experience, and past engineers have gone on to work for Google, Facebook and Pinterest. Highly qualified University of Arkansas students also work for NET.

Because technology is always in a constant state of change, managing the complexity of the network also requires constant change. Over the summer, NET took on an ambitious agenda to upgrade the network to provide faster and more consistent access. Doing so required network engineers to perform scheduled maintenance in the wee hours of the morning almost every weekend. Watch the short Upgrading the Network video at http://youtu.be/bQjL_zbatVw to see exactly how the network was improved.

At the start of the semester, the network engineering team faced an even more ambitious task, however, of fighting off a denial of service attack to the core router that caused a number of network outages on campus.

"It was a difficult week," David Bruce, associate CIO for campus networks, said. "Our overarching goal is to continue to improve and protect the network while avoiding outages. But the complexity of the system requires that we address each problem on the network deliberately and cautiously, because sometimes a fix can cause additional downtime by introducing new issues."

For example, 19 variables or systems have to be working correctly in order for users to access the university's wireless networks. As demand for instant and continuous Wi-Fi access for smartphones, tablets and laptops increases, some users have begun to equate wireless availability with overall network stability. However, the wired network can be functioning at 100 percent and users still may not be able to access a wireless network because of their location, their device or an outage in a system that affects only wireless networks.

IT Services recommends users verify possible network outages by trying to access the Internet from a wired computer, checking the Network Monitor at http://itstatus.uark.edu/network, and making sure their computers are up-to-date by completing the checklist at https://techarticles.uark.edu/172. Suspected network outages should be reported to the Help Desk at 479-575-2905.

Managing highly dependent technical systems in an environment where network and wireless demand is 24/7 requires proactive planning and a 24/7 response from the network engineering team.

"Sometimes we have to break things to fix them," Bruce said, "but it's all part of constantly analyzing risk in relation to maximizing network availability. We work within available resources to build and maintain a network that can support a world class, top 50 public research institution, and we are very proud of that."

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