March 14, 2003--The Ohio State University will deploy Nortel Networks Optical Ethernet equipment, through a Nortel Networks "channel partner," to create a high-speed, converged campus network for faster and more convenient delivery of distance learning, course "content-on-demand," and other services to university students and educators.
Expected to be deployed in April 2003, the new equipment will allow Ohio State to deliver voice, data, and video on a single streamlined campus network. It will also provide Ohio State with the bandwidth and enhanced network performance required to enable learning applications previously too expensive or too difficult to implement over legacy networking infrastructures.
As one of the nation's preeminent research universities, Ohio State requires an extremely fast, reliable, and secure network that meets the university's growing bandwidth demands.
"Optical Ethernet is the catalyst that will enable Ohio State to fundamentally change the way students learn by providing innovative tools and services that can be customized to each student's educational needs," said Bob Corbin, director of telecommunications, The Ohio State University.
Ohio State plans to deploy the OPTera Metro 3500 Multiservice Platform -- Nortel's next-generation SONET product -- with Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) technology to build a network backbone that will connect the university's more than 40 multidisciplinary research centers on campus. The added protection of RPR technology will enable Ohio State to create a dual path for network traffic and enable "instant" switchover in the event of a fiber cut or equipment failure.
Ohio State also plans to upgrade its existing legacy "hub-and-spoke" network to an OC-48 SONET ring that will support voice, Gigabit Ethernet, and Fibre Channel.
"Optical Ethernet gives universities like Ohio State the flexibility to not only meet their current networking needs, but also to truly create an educational environment in which students and faculty are not bound by limitations when it comes to learning," said Marco Pagani, president, Optical Ethernet and Storage Solutions, Nortel Networks. "Optical Ethernet is an innovative networking foundation with endless possibilities. We have not yet begun to realize the full potential of Optical Ethernet as a building block for the new service offerings and applications that are expected to change the way people learn."