Junos Enterprise Routing, 2nd Edition

Campus Architecture

University campuses have not been immune to the changes in Internet use. Social networking, file sharing, and peer-to-peer networking are all aspects of a university campus’s internal network, and the days of using the Internet solely for research and development are long gone. One campus security administrator stated that he had two untrusted networks to deal with: the campus and the Internet. Security and bandwidth concerns are such that universities and corporations have deployed standalone R&D networks, such as the Internet2.

The challenges facing campuses today are similar to those faced by enterprises, but with the addition of tens of thousands of users who often have free time on their hands and an affinity for social networking. The challenges can be divided into security, classes of service, and availability. The case that is presented here is for a large university.

Legacy Campus Backbone

Our campus network is divided into three areas: the common backbone network, the departmental networks, and the inter-university backbone. Each department maintains its own data center and office connectivity. Some departments maintain Internet and extranet access and firewalls for protection (an enterprise within the campus). Other departments use the services of the backbone network for outside access (Internet and inter-university).

There are 80 departments on the campus and some 20,000 students in dormitories. The legacy network, as shown in Figure 2-11, was designed ...