Communicators complete computer network upgrade

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Steve Marciniak
  • 436th AW Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  The reliability of Dover's computer network took a giant leap forward recently with the completion of a $6.5 million, two-year project.

According to Robert Baird, 436th Communications Squadron chief of network operations, the project included replacing copper wires throughout the base with 180,000 feet of fiber optic cable, as well as installing new routers and switches at more than 150 locations base wide.

"This project's goal is to increase the reliability and survivability of the network while reducing unauthorized service outages," Mr. Baird said.

While the average network user on base won't notice many differences from the upgrades, the project has allowed the base to convert from cable television to the Internet-protocol television system now in use on televisions and computer systems across the base.

More importantly, the upgrades will allow business to continue without interruption.

"There are so many applications that are going to the web now, and it's imperative that work can proceed on the internal network as well as the pipes going outside the base," Mr. Baird said. "We essentially replaced the entire backbone and brought it up to one gigabyte per second. We only use five percent of that at any one time. Now, if there's a bottleneck, it will be on the outside pipes and not on the base."

In order to accomplish that goal, Mr. Baird said upgrades included installing redundant routers that will keep data flowing even if one or more routers are inoperative.

Communications specialists faced many challenges while replacing the infrastructure of more than 135 buildings across the base.

The coordination to get into almost every communications room on base became overwhelming at times, said. Tech Sgt. John Fies, 436th CS system project manager.

"The other huge challenge was cutting over from the old equipment/fiber to the new," said the sergeant who has been working on the project since December 2007. "That meant taking a building's LAN down and sometimes phones for a couple of hours. As we know, no one likes to have their LAN disconnected."

Building custodians really helped coordinate the LAN blackouts for their buildings, said Sergeant Fies. "They really alleviated the challenges that we faced."

The project also included upgrades to computer hardware to allow for better network management over various servers that provide access to vital applications like e-mail, Enterprise Information Management, the Air Force Portal and Leaveweb. Additionally, the upgrades include an automated security management suite that aims to reduce network vulnerabilities.

"It's accepted that 80 percent of the vulnerabilities in the network are from internal sources, including the users," said Mr. Baird, who was responsible for building the first computer network on the base in 1989. "The new security management system includes an intrusion detection system, Web site filtering and an improved interface with the firewalls that will allow us to better protect our resources."