Information Technology Infrastructure & Systems

Appalachian State University

Network and Computing Infrastructure – what is it?

Middleware (Identity Mgmt., Netreg, Address Management)

Storage and Backup Systems

Server Systems

Security Systems

Data Center

Network Equipment

Fiber Plant

Fiber Plant Capacity

Current fiber plant built in early 1990s ~72 pair of Single Mode, long distance &

high speed 24 pair of Multimode, outdated, little value

Design connects Data Centers and Distribution buildings via redundant paths

Distribution buildings to others is single path

New 144 pair paths are being pulled to tie Raley to StateFarm DC

Network Capacity

Wired Connections ~40000 ports Wireless Connections

98% of internal space is covered by wireless canopy 1759 access points: 915 ResNet + 844 Admin &

Academic 7000 average users/day with peaks to 12,000 30% of our bandwidth with peaks to 60%

Registered Clients 48,016 registered devices on the network 24,494 student devices 412 Servers providing services to the world (272

Central & 141 Distributed)

Data Center Capacity

Primary Data Center – Raley Hall▪ ~2200 SqFt / Very near capacity ▪ (8) Server racks - 272 rack units ▪ (6) Storage racks – 252 rack units ▪ (6) Network racks – 252 rack units ▪ 360KW Back up generator▪ (3) 10 ton Air handler units ▪ (3) UPS – 220Kw battery backup

Secondary Data Center – Anne Belk Hall▪ ~600 SqFt / Capacity exhausted

Bond growth taxed our Data Center capacities▪ More computers -> More power -> More cooling REPEAT

Security Capacity

Firewalls: Internet edge and between Border and Core

VPN: Protect and provide remote access to protected services such as INB Banner and Ustor

Intrusion Detection: Monitor traffic signatures for threats to the network and/or clients

Virus Protection and Quarantine Process: Manage stability and integrity of network, infected devices removed from the network until cleaned and stabilized. Average deleting and cleaning >100 virus infections/month

Spam Filters: Filter >70% of the email that hits our servers

Systems Capacity

~132 Physical Servers 13 of these provide virtualization service

for 308 VMs Operating Systems distribution

256 Windows Servers 141 Linux Servers 30 SUN/Oracle Solaris

Storage and Backup Capacity Storage and Backup Services

Two storage architectures▪ Banner/Email – 27Tb total 17 Tb used▪ EMC Disk-based backup - 87% Data reduction thru

compression and deduplication

▪ Other Enterprise App. Storage and Departmental/User▪ 21.9 Tb total 16.3 Tb used (80% usable limit)

▪ NetApp Disk-based backup – 65 Tb total 44.8 Tb used

Tape library – 219 tapes ~500 Tb of data

How we got here.

2000 – NC Infrastructure Bond. (2000-2007) 4+ Million dollar infusion in to IT

infrastructure and Capital Building projects. One time money primarily earmarked for▪ IT Infrastructure▪ Building Infrastructure▪ Network Infrastructure ▪ Security Infrastructure▪ Systems Infrastructure ▪ Data Center Infrastructure

▪ Capital Building Projects

What we did with the money (cont.)

Building & Fiber Infrastructure upgrade Built additional capacity into campus fiber

plant Upgraded building wiring to cat 5

specification Network Upgrade

Forklift upgrade of all Network electronics▪ Core and Distribution routers – 1 GB connectivity▪ Edge switches - 10/100 MB port for every office

Expanded Wireless to near 100% campus coverage for convenience use

What we did with the money (cont.)

Data Center Upgrades Established 2nd Data Center in Belk Began building High Availability services New HVAC Units providing more cooling New UPS units to power more equipment New generator for Belk for backup power

What we did with the money (cont.)

Security Upgrade Implemented Intrusion Prevention Implemented & Upgrade Firewalls

Systems Upgrade Purchase Sun E2900 Server in 2003 for

Banner Upgrade to Email and Portal

Infrastructure Storage Area Network

Purchased Initial SAN storage in ~2003

What have we done since then?

2000-2007: Tremendous growth, no refresh plan and realization of managing enterprise resources and data center capacity

2008: Banner and Email Storage to SAN ($525K), upgraded storage drives, split Banner out to SUN Storage.

2009: Upgraded NetApp controllers and added storage shelves

2010: Implemented Intrusion Detection technology

What have we done since then?

2011: Replace Banner servers ($250K)

2012: Upgraded Core, Border, and Distribution routers to 10+ gig ~$1.2 mil (operational lease), Invested ~$400,000 in wireless infrastructure

2013: Rebuilt/upgraded campus edge/firewall hardware to 10Gig. ~$225k, Upgraded network bandwidth from 1 gig to unlimited - $155k/year, Upgrade IDS to accommodate 10 Gig 2013

Addressing the Gap

End of life – Much of what we purchased in 2000-2007 has reached its vendor supported end-of-life.

Security & Feature Updates are no longer developed

Rely on 3rd party support for much of our Enterprise services

Addressing the Gap

Network edge - Self Support maintenance model since 2010▪ Next Gen Technology identified, refreshing as funds

become available.

Security - Encryption, policy, data loss prevention, PCI, scanning tools

Several services/applications and their systems are showing age. Portal and Email technologies are 8+ years old.

Most storage on the SAN will reach EOL in 12-24 months. Consolidating storage strategies and developing the use of cloud storage will create efficiencies in management and budgeting

Evaluate our service catalog and refresh technologies where necessary

Addressing the Gap

Proposed Data Center – State Farm Warehouse▪ ~3000 SqFt▪ Capacity will be initially 1.5 times Raley▪ Growth to ~3 times Raley▪ Will become Primary & potentially our only DC▪ Implements current technologies to optimize

environmental efficiencies▪ Funded primarily through Energy Performance

contracts

Budget and Strategic Planning Governance Portfolios to assess, manage

and set strategy for technology services

Master plan for network and computing infrastructure investments Fiber plant strategy consultation Network and Telecom convergence model Security program and strategy Put vendors head to head on server solutions Developing storage plan focusing on cloud

Budget and Strategic Planning Budget Sustainability

IT budget was originally divided between operation costs and growth(refresh) costs.

Bond and subsequent investments created imbalance – Maintenance consumes greatest percentage of operating budget

Need to work toward budget model that supports strategic investment AND refresh cycle