New server to help alleviate Internet woes

In response to saturated Internet connections on campus, work has been fast tracked on a new server to ease bandwidth concerns in residence halls.
Gary Roberts, director of Information Technology Services, says he anticipates the new hardware to be in-place by mid to late September.
“During the last decade, Internet use exploded on-campus, and we have managed to respond. However, the last three years have experienced exponential growth in the use of Internet,” Roberts said.
In other words, demand began to out-grow the supply.
Everything from traditional entertainment like television programming to utilities such as land-line telephone services demanded delivery over broadband connections and AU students, being centrally located in the middle of nowhere, found themselves significantly disadvantaged.
The server will efficiently allocate bandwidth based on the number of users accessing the Internet at the time. While this will aid several concerns with slower to non-existent connection rates, the new server is not a permanent solution for the Internet problems experienced on campus.
“I do not believe that it will solve our bandwidth issues, which are fundamentally a problem of saturation and scarcity based on usage. Still, I have reason to believe it could alleviate the problem and keep things moving until the connection with ION is established,” Roberts said.
Last November, Roberts and his staff at ITS secured a partnership with ION, a company who received $40 million in Federal broadband stimulus grants to increase Internet Connectivity throughout New York State.
As a result of AU relocating and upgrading its own data center to the current state-of-the-art facility, ION decided to locate an Internet Point of Presence, or hub, on AU campus.
ION estimates connectivity could be provided by December 2011.
Currently, options for service are limited to a single provider, which in turn affects the amount of broadband capacity available.
"There is also a lack of redundancy important in maintaining service in the event of a break in a single line," Roberts said.
For example, an accident that damaged a utility pole carrying fiber to campus left the entire community without broadband access for a number of hours last year.
ION’s over-lapping fiber rings throughout the state will prevent a single break from shutting down the entire area.
In addition, once ION connection is established, it will triple AU’s connection from 100 to 300 MBps.
“Once established, I am hopeful it will solve our bandwidth issues for a number of years, and overall will provide a market that is favorable to commodification and decreasing the broadband prices for Alfred University,” Roberts said.
Roberts hopes that the immediate construction of the new server will help ease tensions caused by saturated Internet connection and bridge the student population to December, when ION should be up and running.
Roberts added, “I apologize for the problems that this is causing for our students and it deeply and personally troubles me that this is affecting the quality of life in the residence halls and the wider campus. I continue to explore every reasonable and potential solution.”