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George Mason University learns how to provide secure Internet access to a constantly changing group of students and faculty. by Jerry Golick
Business Profile
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
Main campus: Fairfax, VA
Web site: www.gmu.edu/ vcenter/
Technology in focus: Internet/intranet access
Size: Three campuses 10-15 miles apart, with 126 separate buildings and approximately 24,000 students
Project leader: John Hanks, manager of network engineering
Business challenge: Hanks and his team had to rapidly design and implement a new network infrastructure that would replace a set of incompatible technologies. Goals included providing excess capacity to address future needs of the university and meeting the security challenges of a publicly accessible network.
Solution: The network engineering group phased in implementations of high-speed Ethernet switching, ATM backbones, and multiple access points to the Internet and centralized control and management of the network environment. To improve security, network users were made accountable for their network addresses.
What do you do when you have to provide reliable Internet and intranet access to a distributed population in a largely unsecured environment? In the case of George Mason University (GMU), you turn to proven technology, well-established strategic partnerships, and an accountability policy to govern your user population's activities.
Founded in 1957 on 155 acres in the town (now city) of Fairfax, VA, GMU began life as the Northern Virginia branch of the University of Virginia. In 1972 the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia recommended that the college separate from its parent institution. That year, the governor signed the legislation that established GMU as an independent member of the commonwealth's system of colleges and universities.
Today, GMU spreads across three separate campuses. The Fairfax campus, which has grown to over 677 acres, has been joined by the 5.2-acre Arlington campus and the 124-acre Prince William campus in Manassas.
Add to that a student population in excess of 24,000 who all want access to both the campus intranet and to the wider Internet, and you have the makings of a potential distributed networking nightmare.
Of course, networking life was not always quite so complex at GMU. John Hanks, manager of the network engineering group and part Of GMU'S staff for 18 years, remembers the early days. Back then, they had a couple...