(Editor's note: This article was written by LBLnet Services Group Lead Ted G. Sopher Jr.)

Each year at the Lab, the amount of data sent on local computer networks doubles. This pattern has held sinde the first piece of network cable was installed here 15 years ago. This dramatic growth must be taken into consideration when planning how to meet future Local Area Network (LAN) needs.

The LBLnet engineering staff keeps a watchful eye on traffic growth to develop and implement plans to prevent network congestion - the enemy of all network managers. To this end, LBLnet has upgraded its router backbone-the hub of all inter-building and Internet traffic. The upgrade consisted of six major projects of which the sixth was just completed.

The latest upgrade takes the Lab from a router backbone system capable of supporting two gigabits per second to one capable of handling 40 gigabits per second. The upgrade also lays the groundwork for a backbone capable of 256 gigabits per second. It also prepares LBLnet for easily upgrading wide area network connections to 10 gigabits per second.

To understand how the upgrade affects your network connectivity, we need to look at the three components of the project. The elements include the router backbone, the backbone-to-building connections, and the in-building switching equipment, which connects your computer to the network. Now that the backbone is upgraded, LBLnet will be upgrading the backbone-to-building connections, most of which are connected at 100 megabits per second (Mbps). The plan is to increase these connections to the 1 gigabit (1,000 Mbps) level.

However, some buildings with older switching equipment are incapable of connecting to 1 gigabit-per-second Ethernet uplinks, which will require the switching equipment in those buildings to be completely replaced. This is further complicated by buildings with older wiring incapable of connections greater than 10 megabits per second. These buildings must have new wiring infrastructure installed to support 100 Mbps, not to mention 1,000 Mbps. Plans are in the works to make these wiring improvements.

While the LBLnet staff monitors and measures network traffic to try to ensure that future networking needs are being addressed, researchers who foresee projects requiring higher bandwidth connectivity are encouraged to let LBLnet know well in advance. This information will help LBLnet priortize its upgrade activities. The best way to provide this input is by contacting your division's representative on the Computing and Communications Services Advisory Committee (CSAC). You can find your representative on this list.