It is requested that the Board approve the Northern Arizona University s Network Upgrade and Wireless Expansion Project.

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1 Page 1 of 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ACTION ITEM: Network Upgrade and Wireless Expansion Project. ISSUE: Information Technology Services (ITS) proposes a campus-wide data network upgrade and the expansion of our wireless network to enhance the technology infrastructure of the Northern Arizona University s Flagstaff campus. Wireless networking is becoming increasingly popular due to inexpensive networking equipment for home use, built in wireless capability in laptops, commercial hot spots in hotels, coffee shops, and other public areas. It is also becoming common to have broad wireless coverage on university campuses. Our university requires a modern wireless network and an underlying network infrastructure capable of meeting increased capacity in order to satisfy student and faculty expectations, stay competitive, and encourage innovation. The estimated cost of the project over 5 years is $4.64M. BACKGROUND: The wired network has not gone through a major upgrade in 8 years. Data throughput capacity is too low to many buildings and is not capable of supporting wireless access points in all locations. Since a wireless access point requires connecting it to a wired network port, the core network infrastructure must be upgraded before a campus wide deployment of wireless access points can take place. ITS started installing wireless access points on our existing network in Additional buildings were added upon departmental requests and departmental funding. As of October 2006, some 30 buildings on campus have wireless capability, but no residence halls. In today s hightech world, students expect to have wireless in their residence hall rooms and throughout campus. This network upgrade and wireless expansion plan will give Northern Arizona University the IT infrastructure it needs to meet these growing expectations. RECOMENDATION: It is requested that the Board approve the Northern Arizona University s Network Upgrade and Wireless Expansion Project. Contact: Fred Estrella, Chief Information Technology Officer, , Fred.Estrella@nau.edu

2 Project University IT Project Justification SUMMARY SHEET Board of Regents meeting Page 2 of 7 Institution Project Sponsor Name and Phone Northern Arizona University Fred Estrella, College or Unit Date Submitted Information Technology Services November 20, 2006 Complete an upgrade of the data network and expand wireless throughout the Flagstaff campus. Project Overview Introduction: Information Technology Services (ITS) proposes a campus-wide data network upgrade and the expansion of our wireless network to enhance the technology infrastructure of the Northern Arizona University s Flagstaff campus. Wireless networking is becoming increasingly popular due to inexpensive networking equipment for home use, built in wireless capability in laptops, commercial hot spots in hotels, coffee shops, and other public areas. It is also becoming common to have broad wireless coverage on university campuses. Our university requires a modern wireless network and an underlying network infrastructure capable of meeting increased capacity in order to meet student and faculty expectations, stay competitive, and encourage innovation. Wireless networking is convenient and popular for the casual network user. A casual network user surfs the web, checks , and uses a virtual private network (VPN) to securely access applications. Students, faculty and staff are increasingly more familiar and dependent upon wireless networking as they use it at home, traveling and on campus. Universities with wireless networks are finding new and innovative uses such as mobile labs, classroom activities, webcams, and other learning activities. The Flagstaff campus has many guest users including speakers, vendors, citizens, parents, and conference attendees. An easy-to-use wireless network will enhance the guest experience and is a criterion for the expansion of the wireless network. Wireless networking is not a replacement for the wired network and will not be so in the future. Wireless networks inherently have a much lower bandwidth capacity, supports fewer users, is less reliable and is less secure than the existing wired network. Higher bandwidth applications and specialized applications such as video conferencing, GIS, and large file transfers do not function well over a wireless network. The wireless network is dependent upon the wired network as the backbone between wireless access points. The implementation of a campus wireless network should be used as an overlay to enhance the existing wired network.

3 Page 3 of 7 Current status of wireless network: ITS started installing wireless access points on our existing network in The initial pilot covered the University Union and dubois Conference Center. Additional buildings were added upon departmental requests and departmental funding. Additional information on the current wireless network is available at: As of summer 2006, the following buildings have wireless access points installed: University Union, Building 30 Dubois Center, Building 64 Learning Resources Center, Building 61 Information Technology Services Building, 54/54a Eastburn Education Center, Building 27 Engineering and Technology, Building 69 Babbitt Administrative Center, Building 51 Project Management Office, Building 8 Physical Sciences, Building 19 College of Business, Building 81 Southwest Forest Science Complex, Building 82 Wettaw Biology/Biochemistry, Building 88 Institute for Human Development, Building 27A Hotel/Restaurant Management Buildings, 32,33,33A Health Professions, Building 66 Facilities Services, Building 77 Colorado Plateau Studies, Building 24 Riles, Building 15 Biology, Building 21 Ashurst Auditorium, Building 11 Social and Behavioral Sciences, Building 65 North Union, Building 3 Nursing, Building 72 Cline Library, Building 28 Gammage, Building 1 Bookstore, Building 35 Gateway Center, Building 43 Problems with current data and wireless networks: Wired network infrastructure: The wired network has not gone through a major upgrade in 8 years. Data throughput capacity is low to many buildings and is not capable of supporting wireless access points in all locations. Installing a wireless access point requires connecting it to a wired network port. A special feature called a virtual LAN (VLAN) is used to enforce the VPN requirements. Many of the Ethernet switches on campus do not have VLAN capability and must be replaced as we upgrade a building with wireless access points. In addition, the core routers used for all networks on campus do not have the capability to support enough VLANs for access points to be installed everywhere on campus. The core network infrastructure must be upgraded before a campus wide deployment of wireless access points can take place. Security: Security is a concern with every wireless network. In addition, the need to accommodate any type of system with wireless capability with minimal support is very challenging. To accommodate both needs, Northern Arizona University, like many universities, requires the use of a virtual private network (VPN) to encrypt all data transmitted on the network. Northern Arizona University chose to use the Microsoft VPN server which is easy to connect to with many types of machines and is very easy to use with Microsoft PCs. This solution however does not work for visitors who do not have NAU-IDs. The access points currently installed support older protocols b and do not have the full security feature set desired. All currently installed access points should be replaced with one consistent model.

4 Page 4 of 7 Staffing: ITS does not have adequate staffing to install and support a full campus deployment of wireless access points. Additional staff will be required to install and maintain over 600 access points and the network infrastructure supporting a campuswide wireless network. This includes the physical installation, continual monitoring, and user support. As the wireless network becomes more popular and people become dependent upon it, the reliability of the network is critical. There must be enough human resources to sustain the network once it is implemented. Financing Financial support for this project will come from State and Local funding, with the bulk of the funding coming from the Student IT Fee. Deliverables The following solution addresses the problems previously outlined. All work will comform to the Tri-University Information Technology Architecture Standards document. Wired and Wireless network infrastructure: The first phase of implementation will be to expand and upgrade the wired network infrastructure. The benefits of this network upgrade will be to add the required features for the wireless network, increase the capacity from each building from 100 Mb to Gigabit speeds (10x increase), add needed security features in the core routers, increase redundancy and reliability, decrease planned network downtime, better support the ITV and video conferencing, and add ability to support future networked applications. Parallel to the network upgrade for each building will be the installation of the wireless network within the building. Our plan will be to start with Residence Halls, since many academic buildings have some capacity for wireless right now. Security: The wireless network will be configured to only allow TCP/IP ports 80, 443 & VPN protocols, which means that Northern Arizona University users and Guest users will be able to use a Guest login for routine connections. This service will be very easy to use a wireless enabled PC will just work. However, to run other applications such as an client like Outlook, or to log onto the Northern Arizona University domain, or share files, users will need to run VPN software. The majority of users will be able to use the network without needing support or the VPN software. A critical component in implementing this security structure is the use of a technology from Oracle Clean Access. ITS currently has deployed Oracle Clean Access security for the residence halls and has a site license for the software. This site license will be leveraged for the wireless network. Additional custom software will be written for logging and tracking users. Staffing: Additional staffing required includes 2 outside plant technicians, and 1 Network Operations Specialist. Specialized training is needed for current Outside Plant staff and the Network Operations Center staff. Current ITS staff will also be utilized

5 Page 5 of 7 during the installation and for operating and maintaining the network. Additional staffing will decrease the amount of time required for installation. Service and Economic Benefits A totally ubiquitous wireless network will aid students and faculty by supplying an always connected capability, thus enhancing the learning experience for students. Others visiting campus will also benefit from the Northern Arizona University s wireless system by its ease of use. A campus wide wireless network will be attractive to potential students, parents, conferees, and others visiting the Flagstaff campus. The network upgrade to a 1 Gigabit backbone is necessary to support the wireless network and to add the necessary data capacity to keep Northern Arizona University competitive in today s high tech world. Project Roles and Responsibilities Sponsor: Northern Arizona University s Chief Information Technology Officer is responsible for the appropriate Northern Arizona University project funding and resource support. University project manager: Northern Arizona University will assign the ITS Director for Computing and Communications Services as the project manager to control and coordinate the project. Project Management Timeline January-April 2007 Core Network Upgrade, Pilot for Residence Halls May-August 2007 Add Wireless Access Points to Residence Halls and Family Housing Units Sep 2007-Dec 2008 Add Wireless Access Points to Academic Buildings and Administrative Buildings Summary of Proposed Costs (All Funds) Five Year Total ($000) Description FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 Total Implementation Cost 883 1, $4,172 Operating Cost $469 Total Cost 923 1, , $4,641

6 Page 6 of 7 Opportunities for Collaboration No tri-university collaboration is possible on this project since this is a Northern Arizona University internal infrastructure project. Recommendation Northern Arizona University requests the Board approve its network upgrade and wireless expansion project.

7 Implementation Costs and Marginal Operating Costs in Thousands Board of Regents meeting Page 7 of 7 Development / Operating Costs in thousands ($000) Description FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 Total Personnel Number of existing IT FTE Number of new Project IT FTE Personnel Cost Existing IT FTE Salary Cost (Include ERE) $1,118 New IT FTE Salary Cost (Include ERE) $529 IT Services Cost (Professional and Outside Consultants ) Hardware Cost $2,465 Software Cost $10 Communications Cost Facilities Cost $40 Licensing and Maintenance Fees $469 Other Costs Training & Travel $10 TOTAL $923 $1,326 $985 $1,024 $383 $4,641 Notes: