Progress of the Campus Network Upgrade

Phase 1 network upgrade was successfully completed in January 2002. In this phase a Gigabit network core was set up with full-redundant links between the core layer and distribution layer switches. Apart from that the network switches in most of the wiring closets on the 6/F and 7/F of the Academic Building were also upgraded providing a total of over 2600 10/100 Mbps ports.

Phase 2 network upgrade has just been started right after the Chinese New Year. Another 2700 network ports in the remaining wiring closets will be upgraded in this phase. After this phase all network connections provided by the Computing Services Centre (CSC) will be able to support at least 10/100 Mbps. If everything goes smoothly, this phase would be finished by end of May 2002.

Phase 3 network upgrade, which will start after 1 July 2002, is targeted to enhance the performance of the Gigabit network core as well as to add redundant links between the distribution layer and access layer switches (additional distribution layer switches required for such). Two new core layer switches will be installed to support multiple 10 Gbps Ethernet ports while the existing 2 will be moved down one level to the distribution layer. The number of 10 Gbps links to be installed will depend on the bandwidth requirements as well as the maturity and cost of the technology. After this phase, the campus network will become the most advanced amongst the local universities and all the users will benefit from its high performance, high availability and various advanced features.