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Fiber-to-the-Desktop at
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Phil Staff

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire has a strong tradition of academic excellence. Ranked third in the Midwest in the best public regional universities category by U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges, the university attracts students from around the country and serves the needs of its 10,500 undergraduate and graduate students in an attractive learning environment 90 miles east of St. Paul/Minneapolis.

The faculty and staff at UW-Eau Claire work hard to ensure that capital investments deliver long-term benefits. When the University’s College of Business sought a way to future-proof the new state-of-the-art Cargill Technology Center for collaborative and video applications, networking experts recommended an advanced fiber optic cabling system.

Permanent Cabling System for UW-Eau Claire College of Business

The UW-Eau Claire College of Business prides itself in the fact that it students are in demand -- 92 percent of its graduates find jobs in their major area of interest. The AACSB accredited business college positions its 2,000 students for success in the business world by focusing its curriculum on the competencies employers demand in their employees: the ability to think and problem solve cross-functionally, to use technology for competitive advantage, to effectively communicate thoughts and ideas orally and in writing, and to work productively in teams.

One way UW-Eau Claire business students hone problem-solving and decision-making skills is in the Cargill Technology Center, a new conference-style environment where teamwork and communication skill development is supported by the latest technologies. The Center hosts both groupware (Ventana GroupSystems, Lotus Notes) and application development tools (Oracle 2000, Visual Basic  and Computer Assisted Systems Engineering --CASE). Business students use the Center for such activities as strategic planning, collaborative writing, survey design and focus group research, and systems development.

Students use the collaborative suite of software on any of the lab’s 24 450Mhz. IBM Intellistation PCs, which run Windows NT and 15-inch active-matrix displays. Asynchronous transfer mode network adapters from Fore Systems, Inc. link each PC to the Volition fiber optic LAN from 3M.

The Cargill Technology Center’s advanced technical capabilities stemmed from several years of effort and fund raising by the College of Business. We wanted to future-proof the business college’s lab. We knew there would not be another chance to build a new lab for five years and wanted to do this right.

I was concerned about buying the right cabling system. We spend a lot of money on copper and are constantly upgrading copper. It’s expensive. We wanted something with a life longer than two years. That’s why UW-Eau Claire turned to fiber-to-the-desktop.

Networking Staff’s Previous Experience with Fiber-to-the-Desktop

My department had previous positive experience using optical fiber. UW-Eau Claire connects all campus buildings with an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)-based OC-12 fiber backbone and Cisco Systems, Inc. electronics. The 1,200 faculty and staff in those 20 buildings tap into a central farm of about 25 servers, as do student lab users. Most servers run Microsoft Corp. Windows NT. A few servers use IBM Corp. AIX, Linux or Control Data Corp.’s mail hub software. Eventually, UW-Eau Claire plans to simplify systems and application management by phasing out several servers to just a few powerful Alpha-based servers with disk subsystems. According to staff, about 70% of the University’s servers have direct ATM OC-3 connections,.

To meet the requirements of running switched Fast Ethernet, UW-Eau Claire has used Enhanced Category 5 copper wiring since the summer of 1997. But even that medium is starting to run out of gas. Some faculty in the science building were leery about using copper, so about 40 now have traditional fiber-to-the-desktop connections, along with 16 Silicon Graphics, Inc. lab workstations.

My team recommended fiber-to-the-desktop in Spring 1998 during initial discussions about future-proofing the Cargill Technology Center. We felt comfortable suggesting fiber after lab organizers mentioned using video and multimedia applications. We gave the lab people every opportunity to try something else, but the committee stuck with the fiber-to-the-desktop recommendation.

Fiber-to-the-Desktop Cost Less than Alternative Cabling Systems

The networking staff investigated new offerings in fiber-to-the-desktop, looked into the Volition^TM system from 3M and invited a reseller to present a quote. The biggest issue, in my view, was the cost of using optical fiber. As long as the money added up right, using fiber-to-the-desktop with Volition was not a big risk.

The quotation included the cost of wiring media, outlets, wallplates, backboxes, passive port panels and jacks, patch cords and labor cost of installation. Volition system cost UW-Eau Claire 25% less than using fiber-to-the-desktop with standard fiber connectors, and 6% less than using Category 6 unshielded twisted-pair copper wiring. Based on these numbers, the University chose to install the Volition system.

In addition to its lower price, the Volition system provides UW-Eau Claire with substantially more benefits compared to high-speed copper wiring. It offers nearly unlimited bandwidth and transmits data over longer distances. Copper is limited to 100 meters from a wiring closet, while Volition fiber easily transmits 100 megabits per second up to 2,000 meters. This extra distance allows UW-Eau Claire to fully implement its centralized wiring infrastructure for data networking. By locating active networking electronics in a central location, the University further cuts the cost of maintaining its network and applications.

Finally, installing Volition fiber was much easier than using traditional fiber connectors. UW-Eau Claire finished the two-week installation process in December 1998. We used the same person who pulled our 12-strand fiber terminated on an ST patch panel. The installer said using Volition was much simpler.

Fiber System Improves Performance

With the Volition system, people using the new Cargill Technology Center have noticed a marked improvement in network and application performance. For example, timed transfers of a 117-megabyte file on non-fiber Fast Ethernet LANs averages 30-40 seconds. In the Volition system lab, the same transfer takes 12 seconds -- roughly three times faster.

The Volition system will provide UW-Eau Claire with cost-effective, high-speed LAN connections that will last for years to come. The University updates one or more of its labs every summer and this fiber system will be a strong contender for those network upgrades. I’ve installed and thrown away enough copper cabling over the years, so if putting in fiber will last, we’ll look very seriously at that.

Update: The Cargill Technology Center is being remodeled in the summer of 2002 and will support both CAT5 copper and Volition fiber to the desktop. A second lab, the Cargill Telecommunications Lab completed in the summer of 2000, was cabled with both CAT5 cable and Volition fiber to the desktop.

For more information contact 3M Telecom Systems Division, 3M Austin Center, Building A130-5N-07, 6801 River Place Blvd, Austin, TX 78726. Phone: 800-695-0447. Internet: www.3m.com/volition

About the Author

Phil Staff, BBA/MBA/CDP, Information Systems Specialist, has been employed at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1970. Mr. Staff is experienced in mainframe applications development, campus-wide email systems, centralized servers, structured wiring and network electronics.