DRAFT
DCD Design Note 140.0
CDF Run-II Off-line Network Upgrade
by
David Tang
6/9/99
Abstract: This Design Note describes a proposed network upgrade for the CDF Run-II Off-line Computing LAN. This upgrade includes both wiring infrastructure and the LAN equipment in the CDF Portacamps. For Run-II, CDF will require a higher performance, higher bandwidth network infrastructure in the CDF Portakamps. The goal of the upgrade for the CDF Off-line computer LAN is to make available a 100-megabit connection in each office of the CDF Portakamps. A Cisco Catalyst 6509 switch, with an aggregated 32Gb/s switching fabric, is capable of providing gigabit ethernet and fast ethernet connections for CDF host systems at its location, as well as gigabit uplinks into CDF On-line and the facility LAN. The new switch is necessary, as the Catalyst 5500 & Catalyst 1202 will not have the capacity and bandwidth to support all the systems for the CDF Run-II Off-line analysis if the goal of 100Mb/s to the desktop is to be met.
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I. Current CDF Off-line Resource LAN Configuration:
The current network configuration for CDF Run-II Off-line Computing LAN is shown in figure 1.
Figure 1.
Currently in the CDF Portakamps, a 3.6Gb/s backplane Cisco Catalyst 5500 and a Catalyst 1202 (configured at its maximum capacity)
serves as the core switching fabric for the CDF LAN in the Portakamps. Most of these systems are connected at 10Mb/s with a small number of 100Mb/s systems. The majority of these systems are either connected via fiber or UTP, though there still are systems connected to legacy thin-wire cables. Systems are either directly attached to the 5500 using 10Mb/s UTP cable, or attached to 10Mb/s fiber port via a media converter. Only five servers are connected to the 100Mb/s fiber port via the media converter. The 5500 have 12 modules. The 1202 which has eight 10Mb/s ports. Following is a break down of how these ports are being used:Catalyst 5500
Module Number of Ports Number of ports in use
10/100B-TX 24 23
100B-FX 14 7
FDDI 1 1
10B-FL 72 72
10B-TX 120 90
Catalyst 1202
Module Number of Ports Number of ports in use
FDDI 1 1
10B-TX 8 8
The 10Mb/s port supports CDF Off-line general computing resource systems (and hubs…) located in CDF Portakamps. The 100B-FX ports supports several file servers that need dedicated 100Mb/s network connections. The FDDI module provides uplinks to the CDF On-line LAN and the general site LAN (for off-site access).
II. Current CDF Off-line Wiring Infrastructure:
The CDF Portakamps has approximately 200 offices, all of the 200 offices in the CDF Portakamps have a single cell Air Blown tube installed. For the purposes of discussing existing wiring for these 200 offices can be thought of in 2 groups – The older Portakamps which have a mixture of thin-wire and fiber cabling and the new Portakamps (60 offices) which have UTP wiring. Of the 140 offices in the Older Portakamps, 104 offices have fiber installed. An additional 34-fiber installation would provide a direct fiber connection for all offices in the Older Portakamps. The new Portakamps all have Category 5 wiring but are connected using Category 3 data jacks and patch panels, which will not support 100Mb/s LAN.
III. Proposed CDF Run II Off-line Wiring Infrastructure Upgrade:
The proposed upgrade for the CDF Run-II Off-line wiring infrastructure is also very straightforward. The 34 offices in the older Portacamps without fiber will have Air Blown fiber installed in them, these systems will be connected via a 2-port switch with one (1) 100Mb/s fiber port, and four (4) 10/100Mb/s UTP port to support multiple systems in the same office. The 60 offices in the new Portakamps will require the replacement of all data jacks and patch panels to comply with Category 5 standard. Upgrade of the Category 3 data jacks rather than blowing in fiber at this point is recommended to reduce cost in switch ports and media converters.
III. Justification for CDF Equipment Upgrade:
The requirement for higher bandwidth to CDF Portakamps offices drives the proposed upgrade. This upgrade has a goal of providing 100-megabit connectivity to every office for the CDF Off-line LAN. Thus a Catalyst 6509 switch is proposed, as it will provide:
IV. Proposed CDF Run-II Off-line Switch Upgrade:
The proposed upgrade for the CDF Run-II Off-line LAN is fairly straightforward. Initially, the existing CDF Run-II Off-line LAN switch, a Catalyst 5500, would co-exist with the new Catalyst 6509 switch (32 Gb/s switch fabric). The Catalyst 5500 will continue to support systems that only require 10Mb/s connections, and the Catalyst 6509 will provide systems that require higher bandwidth such as 100Mb/s and gigabit ethernet connection. The Catalyst 5500 could be de-installed in the future, and reused at other location when all connections have moved onto the Catalyst 6509. Figure 2 depicts the new CDF Run-II Off-line LAN configuration, with the 6509 serving as its core switching fabric.
Figure 2.
The new 6509 switch would be equipped with sufficient LAN ports to support 100Mb/s and 1000Mb/s systems, also provide 1000Mb/s uplinks to the rest of the site, while the 5500 will continue to support legacy systems that can only utilize 10Mb/s connections.
V. Procurement Specifications & Issues:
The Catalyst 6509 would be procured with sufficient LAN ports to accommodate existing port requirements for the CDF Run-II Off-line LAN. The proposed initial procurement configuration is shown below:
Module Type Number Ports/module Total # of ports
10/100B-TX (RJ21) 2 48 96
100B-FX 5 24 120
1000B-SX 1 8 8
The cost of the Catalyst 6509 equipped as described above is $98.6k, with supervisor (main processor…) module and redundant power supplies. The Catalyst 5500 currently supporting the 10Mb/s systems would be redeployed elsewhere in the future, where it would be used to support additional office connections.
The cost for the 34 Air Blown fiber installation in the old Portakamps will be approximately $24K, and the cost for upgrading data jacks and patch panels in the new Portakamps will be approximately $12K for a total of $36K.
VI. Implementation Issues:
The proposed upgrade for CDF Portakamps may exceed the funding for this fiscal year’s budget, we then will proceed both of the wiring upgrade in the Portakamps, and order the Cisco Catalyst 6509 with minimum configuration to support the immediately system need. Remainder switch configuration will be order in the next fiscal year, when funding becomes available.
The new Catalyst 6509 (CDF PKMPS) would be installed within 30 days of delivery, and made available for the various tests scheduled as part of the preparations for Run-II computing support.