Case Study

February 23, 2007

High-Performance Networking in the University
Campus
Edwin Hoffman, CSA
Case Summary
1
Case Summary
A university campus can benefit in many areas from high-performance networking
systems. Among these are:
Computer IT departmentsWhere modern technology produces students
with cutting-edge skills
Physics and mathematics departmentsHigh-performance computing
(HPC) in science departments
Campus connectivityHigh-performance campus connectivity requirements
Campus entertainment delivery servicesCost savings or incremental
income from campus entertainment delivery
Extended and distance learningIncremental income and marketability of
the university using technology to expand popular courses both on campus and
off campus
COMPUTER IT DEPARTMENTS The computer IT department must stay current with modern trends of the computing
world, even when the computer department network is the least thought of and
most important of this departments assets. Sun Microsystems' motto used to be the
The Network is the Computer. This is an even more germane statement today.
Following the trends in networking is essential in any computer department, but
even more so in the successful ones to maintain their high standards.
PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS
DEPARTMENTS
Whether it is experimental analysis of material performance, theoretical particle
physics, or massive computing array mathematics, the network that connects HPC
systems together needs to be fast, reliable, and cost effective. The trend is toward
10-Gigabit speeds, but few can afford the technology, therefore compromise is
always the watch word.
CAMPUS CONNECTIVITY In campus networks, the goal is usually to provide the maximum performance with
the maximum resiliency for the lowest cost. Considering that the entire lifeblood of a
university is riding on such a campus network, it is essential to get the best
performance possible.
When linking the university campus together, obtaining the cheapest system that
works can be exactly the wrong approach. State university systems can benefit
from the efficiencies that high-performance campus interconnects can bring.
CAMPUS ENTERTAINMENT
DELIVERY SERVICES
When Northwest University decided to bring cable TV on campus, the price for
running coaxial cable throughout the campus was the deciding factor. The
university decided to deliver their cable TV over an Ethernet network saving over
$12 million in cable costs alone.
Northwest missed the opportunity to offer Video-on-Demand (VoD) services from
campus sources that could have brought a steady stream of income for the
university. Many universities have also implemented cable TV on campus, but have
also missed the same opportunity.
HPC Computing
In the last few years, high-speed
networks have become a dominant
factor in proliferating
High-Performance Computing (HPC)
facilities.
Anonymous.
Raptor Solution
2
EXTENDED AND DISTANCE
LEARNING
Students and their families select universities based on the quality of their courses,
teaching methods, and the fame of their instructors. Usually these popular courses
are fully booked quickly after being opened for selection, and some universities now
have invitation-only courses that are pre-booked.
Using high-performance networks universities can expand these courses to include
students who are not in the auditorium at all, but are in dorm rooms, homes, offices
on or off campus. Correctly placed video and audio pickups in auditoriums can relay
the instructor's words and actions, as well as the audience reactions, questions,
and so on from both auditorium and remote sites. These popular courses can also
be sold to smaller universities close by that may want to join and offer the course.
This is true distance learning.
Given the present state of high-performance networking, the high cost discourages
education establishments from anything but a minor implementation to cover
specific requirements.
Raptor Solution
Raptor Networks Technologies has resolved to change this situation. Raptor
Adaptive Switch Technology (RAST) allows the user to implement
high-performance and high resiliency networks at much lower prices.
Raptor Networks provides 1-Gigabit and 10-Gigabit Layer 2/3/4 switching with
some unique features that allow standards-based Ethernet devices to operate in
unique ways. RAST creates a distributed switch fabric, a virtual chassis, which can
be located in geographically diverse sites and offer a single-switch solution at the
same time. RAST operates at Layer 1/2, providing high levels of redundancy and
resiliency with complete interoperability with other Ethernet-based systems.
EXTENSIBLE VLANS Using RAST, a VLAN can be created that exists in all of the connected RAST-
compatible switches. Other switch systems only create the VLAN in a single switch
and trunk it to the other switches in the network.
Figure 1 shows four buildings connected together with Raptor ER-1010 switches
and a single VLAN, which exists on and is owned by all the switches. With this
configuration, It is possible to create a Layer 2 network dedicated to storage.
FIGURE 1. Four-Building VLAN Configuration
VID
11
VID
11
VID
11
VID
11
VLAN ID 11 can now be used as
a Layer 2 switched LAN extending
over the entire campus/city.
This example shows storage over
IP solutions with mirrored storage
available in each building a
highly redundant and
disaster-tolerant solution!
Raptor Solution
3
TRUE PARALLEL COMPUTING Parallel computing systems such as Oracle Parallel Server (OPS) systems cannot
be used effectively due to network bandwidth limitations. Most networks support
OPS severs only when connected to massive core switches. Parallel systems are
not very resilient systems.
Figure 2 shows the OPS servers in their own VLAN with QoS parameters that they
can really use and are geographically redundant. Even a major disaster such as a
fire or building collapse cannot stop these servers. Inter-VLAN routing allows users
to access the OPS system using Access Control Lists (ACLs) to make them secure.
FIGURE 2. Parallel Server Configuration
If video delivery (unicast/multicast), surveillance, or conferencing is required, it is
easy to assign another system-wide VLAN and apply QoS parameters.
FIGURE 3. Video Delivery, Surveillance, and Conferencing Network
VID
11
VID
11
VID
11
VID
11
VID
21
VID
21
When using a parallel processing
application, a VLAN that exists in
multiple buildings is just so much
easier.
Oracle Parallel Servers operating
in their own VLAN and with
VLAN-based QoS is just simple.
Oracle Parallel
Oracle Parallel Server
Server
VID
11
VID
11
VID
11
VID
11
VID
21
VID
21
Oracle Parallel Server
Oracle Parallel Server
VID
31
VID
31
VID
31
VID
31
192.168.1.x
192.168.18.x
172.168.18.x
192.168.1.x
172.168.18.x
192.168.1.x
192.168.1.x
192.168.18.x
172.168.18.x
192.168.18.x
192.168.18.x
172.168.18.x
The video VLAN allows secure
access to video resources via
ACLs, while also ensuring delivery
by applying correct QoS
parameters to the video streams.
Raptor Solution
4
Finally, all the clients and their attendant mail, print, application servers as well as
other system-wide VLAN and control access to all the other VLANs via ACLs are
added to the configuration.
FIGURE 4. Complete Configuration
RAST provides for the switching or routing of traffic depending on where the VLANs
meet in the system. Figure 4 shows all the VLANs that are available in any switch.
In Building A, if a client needed to route to VLAN (21), the switch directs the
traffic to Building B where it then routes into VLAN 21.
In Building B, if a client (23.8.1.x) needs to access the same OPS VLAN, it
routes in Building B.
In Building D, if a client in subnet 23.8.4.x needs to access the mail server in
Building A in subnet 23.8.1.x, the traffic switches over the shortest distance
between sites and routes in Building A.
RAST actually allows what many other systems attempt to accomplish (and fail) to
do by allowing VLANs to operate natively over long links and allowing subnets to
exist in any or all sites. Resilient Packet Ring (RPR), Q-in-Q (VMAN), VLAN
stacking, or even VPLS were introduced to try and create this holy grail and allow
a VLAN to exist on multiple sites.
When any of these attempts to create a transportable VLAN are made, it causes a
major issue that these technologies cannot address. When a VLAN is created the
switch it was created on owns the VLAN.
If the VLAN is transported to another switch, the VLAN is trunked over using
802.1Q and 801.p tagging so that the remote switch can join the VLAN. The
problem with this structure is that when routing between VLANs, the only switch
that can route the VLAN is the owner of the VLAN (the creator). Expensive
bandwidth is wasted because data is transported back to the VLAN creator to be
routed, and perhaps over the same link to the egress point.
Note
All subnets actually exist in all four buildings.
VID
21
VID
11
VID
31
VID
33
VID
33
192.168.1.x
172.168.18.x
23.8.4.x
192.168.18.x
23.8.1.x
VID
21
VID
11
VID
31
VID
33
VID
33
192.168.1.x
172.168.18.x
23.8.4.x
192.168.18.x
23.8.1.x
192.168.1.x
172.168.18.x
23.8.4.x
23.8.1.x
VID
11
VID
31
VID
33
VID
33
VID
11
VID
31
VID
33
VID
33
192.168.1.x
172.168.18.x
23.8.4.x
23.8.1.x
Building A
Building B
Building D Building C
Traffic flows are highly efficient in a
Raptor Adaptive Switch Technology
(RAST) network configuration.
Raptor Solution
5
If VLANs really existed on both sides of the network, then the routing function would
occur at both sides.
FIGURE 5. VLAN Limitations Without RAST
With Raptor Networks RAST, the VLAN does exist on both sides of the network,
therefore the subnet exists on both sides of the network, and any routing
requirement is carried out locally and does not waste bandwidth. More importantly it
does not increase latency. Imagine that happens to latency when data is
transported from side to side just to route it!
FIGURE 6. RAST VLAN
Metro Network
VID10
VID10
VID11
VID12
VID13
VID11
VID12
VID13
VLAN Creator
VLAN trunk
Terminator
VID11
VID12
Route Path
VID11
VID12
VID13
These subnets can only exits here !
Subnet 192.168.1.x =VID11
Subnet 23.108. 54.x=VI D12
When a system on the terminator side needs to route to another system on the
terminator side, but in a different VLAN, the path data MUST take is to ride over
the Q-in-Q network to the switch that created the VLANs (remember Q-in-Q simply
allows tagged VLAN packets to tunnel through another VLAN) and perform the
route at that point. This is costly because each routed packet uses exactly twice
the bandwidth (2 times over the metro link) when it should use none!
VID11
VID12
VID13
ER-1010 unit 2
VID11
VID12
Route Path
VID11
VID12
VID13
ER-1010 unit 1
With a RAST network over dark fiber or managed fiber, the VLANs exist
completely in both sites. Therefore when ER-1010 unit 2 is asked to route
between VID11 and VID12, the route happens in ER-1010 unit 2. No wasted
bandwidth occurs, latencies remain low, routing happens only where it must.
Case Conclusion
Corporate Headquarters: 1241 E. Dyer Road, Suite 150 Santa Ana, CA 92705
Phone: 949-623-9300 /Fax: 949-623-9400 / Web: www.raptor-networks.com / E-mail: info@raptor-networks.com
Raptor Networks Technology, Inc. reserves the right to make changes without further notice to any products or data herein to improve reliability, function, or
design. Information furnished by Raptor Networks Technology, Inc. is believed to be accurate and reliable. However, Raptor Networks Technology, Inc. does
not assume any liability arising out of the application or use of this information, nor the application or use of any product or circuit described herein, neither does
it convey any license under its patent rights nor the rights of others.
Raptor Networks Technology, Inc. is a registered trademark and RAST is a trademark of Raptor Networks Technology, Inc. All other trademarks are the property
of their respective owners.
CS701 02/23/2007
Case Conclusion
RAST allows 10-Gigabit speed across distances up to 120 km at prices that are a
fraction of the 10-Gigabit Ethernet prices offered by other vendors. RAST provides
the most efficient and resilient high-performance network possible. This technology
allows a university to implement all the smart applications as needed to provide the
broadest possible range of services for the campus.