FACULTAT D'INFORMÀTICA
DE BARCELONA

The network

The FIB computer equipment communicates over a local network that runs from building B6 to the computer classrooms in buildings A5, B5 and C6.Through this network you can access the XarxaUPC (the UPC computer network).The UPC computer network is part of the Internet and by extension that of the FIB is too. These networks are also connected to the i2cat research network and XSF (wireless network of the UPC).

The features of this network are:

It is a rapid and homogeneous network

The network has been built with only one brand of equipment (CISCO Systems), which improves performance, avoids incompatibilities and makes maintenance and management much easier.
The whole network uses the same technology (10/100/1000 Ethernet), and all of the devices are managed switches.
The whole backbone of the network uses Gigabit Ethernet (1 Gbps), as do the majority of the servers. The rest of the network points are 10/100 Mbps, which will be updated to 1 Gb over time.

It is a reliable network

In the current network design, all of the switches have a double physical connection. In addition, the router is made up of a stack of two switches. These not only perform load balancing on a routing level but are also each capable of detecting the unavailability of the other and taking full control of the network.

It is a secure network

This is a fully switched network. The switches enable us to detect the presence of unauthorised machines on the network, and they can even block the port where a machine has connected.

Double connection to the backbone

The FIB network has a double physical connection to the UPC backbone. Moreover, these two links go to different routers on the backbone, which guarantees access to the network outside UPC if one of them fails or if there is an electrical outage on the campus. These two links are 1 Gb full duplex and the load is balanced between these two lines. The routing protocol has been updated from RIP to OSPF, which is a more powerful protocol and one that introduces much less traffic onto the network. Another advantage is that the convergence time is a great deal smaller. Furthermore, it enables more routing capabilities with the use of variable length subnet masks (VLSM).

State-of-the-art routers

The backbone of the current network is made up of two level three switches (CISCO 3750G-E) , which are state-of-the-art technology, configured in stack mode. These switches are capable of working as both switches and routers. As a router, either of them is capable of providing the routing service should the other fail. These devices will also enable us to incorporate new technologies such as 10Gb into the network and provide advanced services such as multicast, OSPF, PoE, IPv6 or VoIP.

Physical description of the network

Building B6 Network

The backbone of the computer network is located in the Barcelona School of Informatics building. There are two Catalyst 3750G-E model routers, and five Catalyst 3560G model switches (with 10/100/1000 Mbps ports) for access to both the teaching servers and the administration and services machines of the FIB.

Each of the classroom areas in A5, C6 and B5 is connected to these devices through two Gigabit Ethernet fibre optic links. These double links enable traffic to be split and make the line tolerant to a fault in one of the fibres.

Network of computer classrooms in building A5

The network in basement 1 of the classroom area in A5 is made up of two Catalyst 3560-E switches and three Catalyst 3560G devices. In total they offer 240 switched Ethernet ports configurable to 10, 100 or 1000 Mbps, either half duplex or full duplex. All of these have the PoE (Power over Ethernet) configuration so that they can offer electrical power supply through the same cable. Moreover, the two Catalyst 3560-E devices have two 10 Gbps ports for future extensions to the backbone network. This network was completely updated in September 2008.

Network of computer classrooms in building C6.

The network in basement 3 of the classroom area in C6 is made up of two Catalyst 3560-E switches and two Catalyst 3560G devices. In total they offer 192 switched Ethernet ports configurable to 10, 100 or 1000 Mbps, either half duplex or full duplex. All of these have the PoE (Power over Ethernet) configuration so that they can offer electrical power supply through the same cable. Moreover, the two Catalyst 3560-E devices have two 10 Gbps ports for future extensions to the backbone network. The equipment in this network was completely updated in September 2008.

Network of computer classrooms in building B5

The network in basement 1 and 2 of the classroom area in building B5 is made up of three Catalyst 3560G switches. In total they offer 156 switched Ethernet ports that are configurable to 10, 100 or 1000 Mbps, either half duplex or full duplex, with a switching velocity of up to 2 Gbps. Moreover, one of the devices has the PoE (Power over Ethernet) configuration so that it can offer electrical power supply through the same cable. In this way fewer external sockets are needed to supply Access Points, IP telephones, and so on.

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