U. to update Internet technology

The need to expand Internet connections to meet new technology perpetually increases -- and the University is taking steps to meet that need. As Internet use becomes increasingly popular and more students learn to access its networks, the University has been forced to consider the implications of this ever-growing industry. "What is happening is that use of the net has grown dramatically and consistently since its conception," said George McKenna, director of network operations at the University. "New things are becoming available," he added. "More people are playing with [the net] and exploring it." In December, 60 new modems were added to the University's high speed modem pool of 120. In two or three weeks, 60 more will be added, McKenna said. According to a New York Times report, Internet capabilities are ever-increasing, and commercial services, such as on-line newspapers and magazines, are slowly becoming available. The result of this progress is that "what was previously instantaneous is now becoming more sustained," McKenna said. "There are a variety of things coming down the road," McKenna said. "We are basically making the architecture that we have now with faster pieces." But whether or not this new architecture is fast enough to meet its increasing demand remains to be seen. "There are a couple of things in our favor," said Dan Updegrove, executive director of the University's Data Communications and Computing Services. "There is a furious amount of research and development," he added. "We have technology on our side." According to Updegrove, there is a budget in place for updating the network infrastructure. "The monthly service charges [on ResNet] contributes to a replacement fund for technology," he said. But as new technology is produced, its installation is becoming progressively less expensive, Updegrove said. "We don't want to put too much infrastructure in place too soon. It would be a lot more expensive than if we wait a year," he added. While personal modems create minor slowdowns for Internet users, new ResNet connections --which are approximately 50 times faster than modems -- are creating even more problems. "We're beginning to identify the [problems]," McKenna said. "We hope to have some [corrections] in place for next September." Possible solutions include a restructuring of PennNet on campus and an increase in the speed of the EtherNet, McKenna added. "We are attempting to increase the capacity of the gateway between PennNet and the Internet," Updegrove said. "There are plans to upgrade the building networks." Until recently, though, new technology has mainly been a government venture. "The reality is essentially that? it's got to move into the commercial world," McKenna said. "[There,] it grows twice as fast and the revenue stream increases." Locally, the University is working to make PennNet more consistent. "We work very hard to make sure that the campus network is reliable," McKenna said. "There are, of course, momentary discontinuities." But these discontinuities are being corrected. "The problem is that of the 20,000 University students, at least half are learning about the net," Updegrove said. "Our goal is to grow everything gracefully and in harmony."