Changes
→Network Topology: add more info about McLean
== Network Topology ==
In Blacksburg, CNS has redundant fiber uplinks to Ashburn, Virginia , McLean, Virginia, and Atlanta, Georgia. The [[Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corporation]] provides the OC-192 (10 Gigabit) connection connections to Ashburn and McLean from the [[Andrews Information Services Building]], and the OC-192 (10 Gigabit) connection to Atlanta from [[Hillcrest Hall]]. In summer 2015, the OC-192 connection to Ashburn will be upgraded to OC-768 (100 Gigabit).<ref>[https://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2015/04/042115-it-gigabits.html]</ref>
For cost-savings reasons, the university's connectivity is primarily provided through an aggregation network shared by several other universities in Virginia, the [[Mid-Atlantic Research and Education Exchange]] (MREX). MREX , also known as the [[Mid-Atlantic Terascale Partnership]] (MATP)<ref>[https://beta.peeringdb.com/net/4326]</ref>, is operated by Virginia Tech and provides connectivity for the [[Mid-Atlantic Research Infrastructure Alliance]] (MARIAMA1RIA), an alliance of the universities that receive connectivity through MREX.<ref>[http://www.marialliance.net/about-us]</ref>
MREX operates two regional hubs: MREX-ATL , at Telx Atlanta , and MREX-DC , at Equinix Ashburn. MREX-DC was formerly the only regional hub, and was previously part of the predecessor to MARIA, the [[Mid-Atlantic Terascale Partnership]] (MATP). At each hub, MREX operates a Cisco ASR9006 aggregation router. There is another MREX facility at Level3 McLean, connected as part of a fiber ring that also includes the [[Arlington Research Center]] and the [[Northern Virginia Center]].
At Equinix in [[Ashburn]], MREX-DC has a 100 Gigabit connection to [[Internet2]], 10 Gigabit connections to [[ESnet]] and the Equinix Internet Exchange, and 30 Gigabits of commodity Internet connectivity through Cogent. Virginia Tech also has a 10 Gigabit connection to [[Mid-Atlantic Crossroads]] and a 1 Gigabit connection to [[NetworkVirginia]] here.
At another Telx in Atlanta, MREX-DC facility in McLean, connected as part of a fiber ring that includes the ATL has 10 Gigabit connections to [[Arlington Research CenterSouthern Crossroads]] and the , [[Northern Virginia CenterESnet]], there is also a 10 Gigabit connection to the Telia Internet Exchange, and 30 Gigabits of commodity Internet connectivity through Telia.<ref>[[Midhttp://www.cafm.vt.edu/busprac/_docs/bpseminar_2014/2014-BusinessPracticeSeminar-Atlantic Crossroads]Internet.pdf] </ref> MREX-ATL was opened in 2014 and a 1 Gigabit connection to is the first network facility operated by Virginia Tech located outside of Virginia.<ref>[[NetworkVirginiahttps://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2014/03/032114-it-datanetworkexchange.html]].</ref>
At Telx Level3 in AtlantaMcLean, MREX-ATL 's McLean facility, referred to as the National Capital Region (NatCap) Aggregation Facility, has a 10 Gigabit connections connection to [[Southern Mid-Atlantic Crossroads]], and a connection to [[ESnetNetworkVirginia]], the Telia Internet Exchange, and 30 Gigabits of commodity Internet connectivity through Telia.<ref>[http://www.cafmcns.vt.edu/busprac/_docs/bpseminar_2014docs/2014-BusinessPracticeSeminar-InternetNIS_SubcommitteeMinutes07Dec2009.pdf]</ref> MREX-ATL was opened in 2014 and is the first network facility operated by Virginia Tech located outside of Virginia.<ref>[https://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2014/03/032114-it-datanetworkexchange.html]</ref>
From the Andrews Information Systems Building, there are redundant fiber connections to the main campus at both [[Burruss Hall]] and [[Cassell Colliseum]]. [[Owens Hall]], [[Hillcrest Hall]], and [[Shanks Hall]] have intermediate routers for some buildings. Nearly all ethernet portals on campus are capable of 100 Mbps or Gigabit speeds, due to fiber interconnects between buildings; however, intrabuilding wiring varies in age and may not support high speeds. The vast majority of campus IPv4s come from two directly-allocated blocks (128.173.0.0/16 and 198.82.0.0/16).