Case Studies

The Challenge CDE had an aging network infrastructure connec ng its six downtown loca ons, and the network was star ng to experience hardware failures. Much of CDE's networking equipment was at the end of its useful life. Furthermore, the network had grown organically, leading to subop mal design and poor performance, and network management had become more challenging as the infrastructure con nued to expand. CDE also was increasingly relying on wireless networking to support mobile users. However, in addi on to the unreliable network hardware, users were experiencing poor RF coverage and wireless dead spots. And there was no central access control for the wireless network, which the CDE IT team described as the "wild west" with limited rules and no enforcement. It was clear that CDE's networking infrastructure was due for a refresh. CDE had already been working with OneNeck® IT Solu ons for different types of network support. In fact, in the last two-and-a-half years, OneNeck had become the "go to" service provider to address pressing networking issues. When CDE realized it was me to upgrade its enterprise network, they partnered with OneNeck to help them solve their connec vity problems. The OneNeck IT Solutions Answer A er performing a two-week network assessment, the OneNeck team ascertained that a network overhaul was clearly in order. The assessment highlighted the specific areas that required a en on, and the team went to work, mee ng regularly with CDE's IT team to address upgrade details, determining which systems had to be replaced and which systems could be repurposed. The most pressing problem was stabilizing the network and increasing available bandwidth. "The assessment involved a lot of discovery with OneNeck, which lead to us iden fying the choke points," said Steve Berryman, Infrastructure Manager, IMS- Network Services for CDE. "The infrastructure was over 12 years old. We couldn't get support, and latency was becoming a big issue." To solve these problems, it was decided to modify the en re infrastructure to conform to both industry and Cisco-recommended best prac ces. The systems refresh would span the campus core, user access and data center core/access pads. OneNeck also would create a central Cisco Prime Infrastructure that would include management of the wireless network. It was clear that CDE needed more data capacity and be er bandwidth management, including support for Ethernet networking speeds at 1 Gbps and 10 Gpbs. Fiber was planned for all appropriate switches at the EDF/MDF (intermediate distribu on frame/main distribu on frame), but the real problem was that the switch network had con nued to expand with li le or no management. As a result, the spanning-tree protocol was disconnec ng vital network links, thus was ng network bandwidth. Due to the organic growth of the network over me, there also was limited separa on of failure domains. In essence, the en re CDE campus and data center were connected to share the same resources. If a single switch failed, it would bring down the en re network. The Company The Colorado Department of Educa on (CDE) is responsible for Colorado's 178 school districts and 1,836 schools, as well as nearly 900,000 public school students. CDE employs 56,000 teachers and 2,800 school administrators and is responsible for providing services to coopera ve educa ons services, early learning centers, state correc onal schools, state libraries and other educa onal programs. To support statewide educa onal services, CDE houses its divisions and offices in six loca ons in Denver. All of these loca ons are connected into a single network infrastructure using a combina on of WAN and wireless networks. Customer Case Study Colorado Department of Education Partnering with OneNeck to upgrade its network

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