October 2004
GTAnet reaches key milestone - network build nearly comlete
GTAnet - Canada's newest community-based research and education network - is virtually completed and members are now in the final test mode for their connection to ORION and the global research grid.
With 180 kilometres of fibre for the actual segment runs, and 640 kilometres of fibre when multiple strands of fibre on some routes are included, the network – a consortium of 12 institutions scattered throughout the GTA, is one of the largest regional R&E networks in the country.
"We are in the very final stages of our fibre build with 11 of 12 institutions now having received GTAnet fibre. We expect the final link to be completed and tested by mid-November," says GTAnet Chair Bob Gagne, York University CIO.
GTAnet, created primarily to connect its members to ORION and to the CA*net 4 national backbone, connects its members using fibre acquired from Group Telecom/360 Networks to one of two connection points - one at the University of Toronto in the south or at York University in the north.
The new network reached its first major milestone on October 7, when the University of Toronto established the first production link with GTAnet, and the network began transitioning all members. The Ontario College of Art and Design was connected on October 15, and Ryerson University is going live October 26.
Other members are either still awaiting delivery of upgrades to their networking equipment to accommodate the gigabit bandwidth of the GTAnet connection, reconfiguring their network gear or are testing, says Eugene Siciunas - the University of Toronto's Director Computing and Network Systems. "GTAnet is striving to assist its members to get connected and hopes to have this complete by the end of the year," he says.
York University, which hosts an ORION PoP, has been connected to ORION and thus to CA*net 4 since early last year. Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre are connected to ORION via the gigapop at UofT, and thereby have access to CA*net 4 as well.
"With the network complete, the attention of all members is going to turn to promoting the potential for the network within their institutions," says Gagne. "For GTAnet the near term priority will be to create processes and opportunities to bring in new members to grow the reach of GTAnet and ORION.”
Along with the five institutions mentioned (Sunnybrook, UofT, Ryerson, OCAD and York) the other seven founding members of GTAnet include Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Centennial College, George Brown College, Hospital for Sick Children, the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Seneca College and the University Health Network.
With $2.5 million in funding from ORION toward acquisition of the fibre and equipment for the network, the overall value of the project exceeds $5 million. ORION’s contribution to GTAnet is part of a $5.8 million investment by ORION and the government of Ontario to post-secondary and research institutions to allow them to connect to the new network.
GTAnet, which held its second Annual General Meeting earlier this month, reappointed Gagne as Chair, Ryerson's Assistant Director, Communications Services, Ken Woo as Vice-Chair, Siciunas as Treasurer, and Humber’s Bob Botham as Secretary.
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