Digital Information Network

Technical Details

Comparison of old and new networks
 

  Old network New network
Locations served 90 90
Routers  94  94 
T1 circuits 14  84
56 Kb circuits 80 0
T3 circuits 3 1
OC-12 circuits 0 12
Backbone switches 1 6
Typical branch library circuit speed 56 Kb T1 (1.544 Mb)
Typical research library circuit speed T1 OC-12 (622 Mb)

Project Description

An OC-12 (622 Mb) SONET (Synchronous Optical NETwork) ring connects the four research libraries (Center for the Humanities, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and Science, Industry and Business Library), the Mid-Manhattan Library, and the Donnell Library Center in Manhattan. This part of the network is the service source for The New York Public Library. The network runs over fiber optic cable leased by the Library from Metromedia Fiber Network, Inc., terminating within Library facilities, and using Cisco Systems, Inc., equipment (LightStream 1010) to connect voice (PBX) and data equipment to the ring.

Switched LAN backbones within the four research libraries, Mid-Manhattan Library, and Donnell Library Center provide dedicated 10 Mb or 100 Mb connections to host computers and groups of patron and staff workstations. This was the first step to providing enough bandwidth to every computer at these sites for real-time multimedia applications. Cisco provided the LAN switches (Catalyst 5500s).

An OC-3 (155 Mb) SONET ring connects the branch libraries in northern Manhattan and the Bronx to the Donnell Library Center on 53rd Street in Manhattan. A channelized T3 circuit will connect the branch libraries in southern Manhattan and Staten Island to the Donnell Library Center. Each branch will have a T1 (1.544 Mb) connection to either the OC-3 ring or the T3 circuit. This serves to distribute servicesto the branches. Bell Atlantic is the vendor for the SONET ring and T3 and T1 circuits; Cisco for the routers (Cisco 2501s and Cisco 7507) that connect the T1 to the local network at each site.

A Lucent PBX at Donnell Library Center has been upgraded to current standards so that features such as voice mail and automatic call distribution (ACD) are utilized by the entire switched voice network, which currently includes the four research libraries and Mid-Manhattan Library. Cisco Circuit Emulation Services on the LightStream 1010 will be used to connect the PBXs directly over the ATM network, eliminating the T1s currently used to carry internal voice traffic.
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Vendors

Cisco Systems, Inc., is providing :

  • Equipment to upgrade the existing Cisco 2501 routers at each of the branch libraries to existing hardware and software standards
  • LightStream 1010 ATM switches connect the LAN switches and voice PBXs at the major sites to the OC-12 ring
  • Catalyst 5500 LAN switches replace the existing backbone at the major sites and connect the existing networks and hosts
  • Cisco 7507 Routers at Donnell Library Center direct traffic between the ATM switches, LAN switches, branch libraries, and the Internet


Bell Atlantic is providing :

  • OC-3 SONET ring
  • Channelized T3 circuit
  • T1s connecting the branches to the SONET rings


Metromedia Fiber Network, Inc., is providing :

  • A two-pair dark-fiber ring that circles from 34th Street up to 135th Street and back, tying in the four research libraries, Mid-Manhattan Library, and Donnell Library Center


Lucent Technologies is providing :

  • Upgrades to the System 75 PBX at Donnell Library Center
  • Reconfiguration services for the System 75 PBXs at the four research libraries and Mid-Manhattan Library


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pro: th: 9-16-98

thoerenz: pro: 9-17-98