CENIC CalREN-2 Designs
May 22, 1998

This page is linked to final designs for the initial (Phase 1) CalREN-2 network. The interconnect topology is defined by the optimal routing (and cost) of carrier facilities. Please direct comments on these designs either to Russ Hobby, Chair of the CalREN-2 Technical Advisory Council (TAC), to the TAC mailing list, or to David Wasley, CENIC Director of Projects.

The overall topology of the CENIC/CalREN-2 network and GigaPOPs are shown below.

Circuits are provided primarily by Pacific*Bell as our SONET technology partner. Additional circuits are provided by GTE, Qwest, and MCI.

The CENIC Technical Advisory Council has recommended that the primary IP transport within the "rings" be "IP packet over SONET" (PoS) rather than IP over ATM virtual circuits (IPoA). Branch nodes, which are served by a single OC-12c circuit, will interface via ATM and carry both primary IP and other traffic over ATM virtual circuits.

Within the "rings", the second OC-12 channel is used for ATM services. Access to the vBNS will be provided over this facility via OC-3 bandwidth UBR virtual circuits. These will be aggregated onto an OC-12 ATM link into the vBNS POPs. Provision has been made to route between the primary PoS infrastructure and the ATM infrastructure at each routing node.

The ATM switch at each node also includes a 4 port OC-3 line card or a single port OC-12 line card so that campuses can make use of this ATM facility for testbeds and other experiments. The administrative policies under which these can be reserved has yet to be determined. All UC node sites also will have a 4-port T1 circuit emulation card installed in support of video conferencing.

The Cisco GSR routers were configured to include redundant Route Processors at the three most critical routing nodes: Berkeley, USC, and San Diego. In addition, all nodes that support external connectivity were configured to have at least 2 empty slots for future expansion. The result of these requirements is an 8 slot configuration at all routing nodes except for a 12 slot configuration at Berkeley. No router is shown at branch node sites where there are no routing decisions to be made (UCSB, UCSC). Cisco 7507 routers have been provided at 2 points on each ring in order to attach lower speed transit networks such as IPS's or Urban Area Networks. The locations were chosen with the criterion that good facilities exist there for bringing in circuits from a variety of CAPs and LECs. Each ISP router can accommodate 2 T3 connections and 4 T1 connections. More can be added, of course, as needed.

All equipment will be powered by either -48V DC or AC as requested by the site. A complete set of spare components will be provided in the North (at Berkeley) and in the South (at USC). Maintenance contracts for all equipment will provide for factory replacement of defective components.

The designs referenced below are based on the CalREN-2 physical topology, peering relationships, and individual campus needs.

DLW 5/22/98