[tech] New UWA network interface options

[Bob Adamson]

It seems to me that if the copper link doesn't support gigabit, then this 
whole endeavour is pointless because we'll still have the 100mb bottleneck 
that we've been trying so hard to get around. I say test the link, if it 
doesn't do the speed, then we look at getting it replaced.

Andrew Adamson
UCC President
bob at ucc.asn.au

|"The faster you move, the slower time passes, the longer you live."     |
| ---Peter's Laws                                                        |

On Mon, 17 Oct 2011, David Adam wrote:

> UWA is getting an exciting new core network, which promises to be 
> highly-buzzword compliant. UCC is one of the test groups for the new core 
> network, mostly because apparently we're one of the few groups on campus 
> doing actual service over IPv6.
> 
> To interface with the new network (which will be gigabit fibre to the 
> Cameron Hall comms room), we need to upgrade our current uplink equipment 
> in the Cameron Hall comms room, which is currently simply a 100mbit fibre 
> convertor.
> 
> There are two options immediately available:
> 
> - Install sesame, a Cisco Catalyst 3508G XL donated by [AHC] and 
>   refurbished by me; this has 8 GBIC slots and is currently configured for 
>   dual 1000baseLX (single-mode fibre) and 1000baseTX (copper).
> 
> - Install palm, a Cisco Catalyst 2948G-GE-TX with 48 10/100/1000baseTX
>   ports and 4 SFP slots (the Uni will lend us SFPs on a long-term basis).
> 
> The problem with the first option, which I discovered with a trill of gay 
> laughter after having spent many hours trying to get it working, is that 
> you can't connected any 100 megabit devices to a copper GBIC. However, I'm 
> not convinced that our uplink copper cable will support gigabit traffic. 
> Also I will ask the club for $50 to recoup part of the cost of new fans 
> and GBICs. [*]
> 
> The problem with the second option is that it takes what is currently our 
> LAN switch out of commission and wastes 44 perfectly good copper ports. 
> However, with the new giant Cisco 4507R installed in the rack, we might be 
> migrating off coconut (same model as palm) sometime soon anyway, which 
> would negate this.
> 
> Alternatively, if we can talk [AHC] into selling or donating the Cisco 
> 2948G living in the machine room (which has 48 10/100 ports but two GBIC 
> slots), we could use that if our uplink doesn't support Gigabit speeds.
> 
> Opinions and other alternatives welcome. UWA IS (nee ITS nee UCS) has 
> stipulated against the use of media converters and is very keen to have 
> everything that interfaces with the core network from the Cisco line. 
> Replacing the uplink copper to the Cameron Hall comms room is apparently 
> prohibitively expensive.
> 
> David Adam
> UCC Wheel Member
> zanchey at ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au
> 
> [*]: it also doesn't support PAgP/LACP or load-balancing over aggregation 
> groups using anything other than level 2 addresses. We only have two level 
> 2 address doing any real work on that link, but that's largely irrelevant 
> because our bottleneck is the piece of copper between the Cameron Hall 
> comms room and the UCC machine room.
>