China: H3C Constructs Advanced-Structure High-Performance Campus Network for Yantai University

Yantai University owns one of the first campus networks constructed in China, which has adopted the ATM technologies for its 155M campus backbone. But the rise of network demands and the advance of the technologies have dramatically changed the scale and capacity of the campus network. Today to construct a campus network that will meet the forever increasing network demands, we have to think about not only the maturity of the technologies but also the scalability and the service-bearing capability of the network.

In the construction of the Yantai University campus network, we have observed the principle of building a high-performance network cost-effectively by leveraging the existing network resources. The equipment we adopted are three models of H3C's switch products S9512 10Gbps core switch, S7506R and S3000 series Ethernet switches.

The core layer of the network is constructed by three S9512 core switches, with two of the 10GE switches combined in the old campus to compose the backbone switch platform of the 10GE broadband campus network. At the convergence layer, the high-performance S7506R GE switch is used to provide high-density user access. 10GE interfaces can also be deployed for interconnection with the core equipment to further improve the quality of the campus network.

Based on the "flat" network design concept, the access means for important users are directly provided by the core switches while in areas where users are more densely populated, convergence network access is provided instead, thus further enhancing the switching efficiency of the network. The equipment adopted at the access layer are the S2000 and S3000 switches, which provide the most comprehensive access control and extensive network services.

The switching platform constructed for Yantai University is to serve a TBits campus network. In addition to the 1.8T backplane switching capability and 450Mpps packet forwarding capacity, S9512 has enhanced service-bearing capability by implementing hardware-based distributed service processing on its line cards, which all have a Packets Engine built in to provide such a powerful processing capability that they can forward Layer2, IPv4, MPLSNPN and IPv6 packets at wire speed. It is a perfect combination of services and performances with extraordinary service processing and support capabilities. What's more important, this device is based on a brand-new architecture specially developed to afford 10GE switching capability, rather than a merely enhanced gigabit switch. The campus network of Yantai University is not just built up to offer high-performance network services to meet today's network demands. It is also to meet the high-quality service demands of tomorrow's network and deliver good performance in a long term.

A 10GE application is unnecessarily too good to be practical. H3C's 10GE campus network solution does more than meeting the increasing demands for backbone bandwidth, it supports a wide variety of services with high-performance and satisfies the requirements on network reliability. It meets, in particular, the users' demand for lowest Total Cost Of Owner (TCO). The 1.8T backplane switching capability of the S9512 can be expanded to 3.6T. And its 720G switching capability can also be upgraded to 2.88T. It provides high-density service interfaces and gives extensive service support: Services like IPV6 and WEBSWITCH or even IPS and NAT are all fully supported. In a word, S9512 can satisfy the service demands, users' demands and bandwidth demands of the campus network in a long term and can upgrade its network processing capability in a highly efficient and convenient way while protecting the existing investment.

With the construction of the 10GE campus network, Yantai University no longer needs to worry about its network bandwidth, in particular, the bandwidth of its core network. The solution offers QoS guarantee to services that have to consume massive network bandwidth for a long time, like uninterrupted FTP applications, scientific research activities and online video, and at the same time, bolsters the application of online education and E-Learning, thus paving the way for information development of the college education in Yantai University.