NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL LAUNCHES IT-21
Compliant ATM Multimedia Network Based on Scalable 3Com Systems
Prestigious Armed Forces Learning Institution Implements
Advanced Educational Services Using High-Speed 3Com Solutions
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 25, 1999--3Com Corporation
(Nasdaq: COMS) today announced that Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), the U.S. Navy's
highly regarded academic institution in Monterey, Calif., has standardized its new $5 million multimedia
network on 3Com(R) ATM (asynchronous transfer mode)-to-Ethernet systems.
The redundant network runs on a 622 megabits-per-second (Mbps) OC-12 ATM backbone and 155 Mbps
ATM edge devices to connect the school's 18-building campus. In addition to providing fast throughput for
classroom learning centers serving 1,500 students, the network will enable NPS to offer distance learning
and videoconferencing. The new network also is among the first to comply with the Navy's IT-21
(Information Technology for the 21st Century) initiative, a massive program designed to upgrade
networked communications and data delivery in the military branch's ships and shore-based facilities.
Located 120 miles south of San Francisco, NPS is the armed forces' premier center for graduate study and
offers a curriculum tailored to the interests of the Navy and the Department of Defense. Students at the
627-acre campus, home to NPS since 1947, are uniformed officers from all five branches of the U.S.
military as well as from 45 countries. Selection is based on outstanding performance and promotion
potential. NPS awards graduate degrees in a broad range of studies including computer science,
meteorology, oceanography, and political science. Its highly rated programs are competitive with those at
top learning institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The new network is rapidly improving NPS's educational and administrative services. Chief among these is
the Microsoft NetShow Theater Server, a high-speed video streaming application that enables NPS to
capture, store and distribute classroom lectures to students' PCs. The network is also expediting
Classroom computer laboratories' access to online data on a wide range of academic disciplines as well as
research conducted at six NPS learning resource centers.
NPS is additionally benefiting from an expanded intranet, which provides school rules and regulations,
superintendents' calendars and minutes of departmental meetings. The 3Com network is further
accelerating campus-wide use of Microsoft Exchange email as well as administrators' access to the
school's financial and student records systems.
More key enhancements are expected, such as the installation of desktop videoconferencing. In addition,
campus housing units will be outfitted with 3Com cable modems so students can continue their studies and
thesis research from home via cable TV connections. "NPS's mission is to increase the combat
effectiveness of U.S. and allied armed forces and enhance our nation's security using advanced education
and research programs focused on technical, analytical and managerial tools," said Tom Halwachs, CIO for
NPS. "Using our network, our officer students now can freely share and retrieve the information they need
to better achieve this objective. Eventually, the network will enable us to provide refresher courses to
these officers and promote use and discussion of the school's research by remote users." IT-21
Performance at a Low Cost of Ownership
NPS's network emerged from the school's need for a higher-speed architecture to support expanding
applications. Having previously relied on fragmented legacy solutions and unstructured wiring, NPS was
burdened by a high cost of ownership and declining network performance. "The support and upkeep
requirements were becoming extremely burdensome in terms of people and costs," Halwachs recalled. The
pre-existing network also failed to meet the Navy's IT-21 mandate for "advanced commercially available"
technologies. "IT-21 dictated that we all speak the same language from a managerial standpoint, and that
was very difficult with our legacy network," said Halwachs.
For assistance, NPS contracted International Automation Associates (IAA - www.iaanet.com), a
California-based networking solutions provider. IAA surveyed and baselined NPS's network and then
designed and implemented a turnkey system to replace it, including equipment, cabling, fiber and
maintenance. To start this process, IAA issued a request for information to Cisco Systems, Fore, Digital,
Cabletron, Bay Networks and 3Com. The RFI called for an ATM backbone linking NPS's 18 buildings,
distributed routing, and Ethernet connections to NPS desktops. It also stipulated that each vendor's
equipment conform to IT-21 specifications. "3Com clearly exceeded our design requirements and had the
best price/performance of any of the competing vendors," said Doug Picard, president of IAA, which also
maintains and supports the NPS network. "3Com provided the speed and scalability NPS required using
proven systems that made them a confident choice for our client."
NPS's new network architecture rests on a complex Tiered Star ATM topology that permitted IAA to build
a high-speed, fault tolerant network with a mesh of active links to maximize backbone throughput. The top
tier of the network consists of three switching centers, each equipped with two 3Com CoreBuilder(R)
7000HD ATM-to Ethernet switches. The CoreBuilder 7000 systems at the three centers are linked at
high-capacity OC-12 speed.
The network's second tier is based on CoreBuilder 7000HD switches stationed at 10 campus buildings, each
of which supports more than 150 users. The CoreBuilder 7000 systems each have redundant 155 Mbps
OC-3 links to the switching centers and Fast Ethernet switch connections to 200 Microsoft Windows NT
servers. The third tier is within the buildings, where other CoreBuilder 7000HD switches connect via
OC-3 to wiring closets. Thirteen CoreBuilder 3500 Layer 3 switches installed in the switching centers and
campus buildings provide distributed routing at the edge of the ATM fabric. The wiring closets also feature
70 SuperStack(R) II 3300 Ethernet switches, which provide dedicated Fast Ethernet connections to NPS
desktops, most of which utilize 3Com FastEtherLink(R) network interface cards.
NPS is gaining additional performance advantages by using 3Com's Transcend(R) network management
software to configure and manage the network from a single management console. The software's
Transcend Traffix(tm) Manager application augments this network management solution by integrating
remote monitoring (RMON2) data into enterprise-wide graphical views of network utilization.
For NPS, the network's purpose is clear. "We must position ourselves to take full advantage of the
potential efficiencies new technologies offer the academic world," said Halwachs. "The status quo is no
longer an option, and 3Com gives us the networking power we need to move well beyond the status quo."
About 3Com Corporation
With more than 200 million customers worldwide, 3Com Corporation connects more people to information
in more ways than any other networking company. 3Com delivers innovative information access products
and network system solutions to large, medium and small enterprises; carriers and network service
providers; PC OEMs; and consumers. 3Com. More connected.(tm) For further information, visit 3Com's
World Wide Web site at www.3com.com or the press site at www.3com.com/pressbox.
3Com, Transcend Enterprise Manager, SuperStack, CoreBuilder and EtherLink are registered trademarks
and Traffix and More connected. are trademarks of 3Com Corporation. All other company and product
names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
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