1990.06.26 WiscNet Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 10:03 am in the Campus Center of Carroll College, Waukesha by Tad Pinkerton, chair. The attendees of the meeting are listed in an attachment to the minutes.
(I) Welcome
The Board was welcomed by Donald Tappa, Academic Vice President and Dean of the Faculty, Carroll College.
(II) Approval of Minutes
An error in the minutes of May 2, 1990 was noted. At the bottom of the first page, in describing the wording changes made to recommendation (3) of the membership committee, the words "extensions" and "services" were reversed. "Services" should replace "extensions" instead of the other way around. A replacement first page for the May 2, 1990 minutes is distributed with these minutes.
M/S/P to approve minutes of May 2, 1990 meeting as corrected.
(III) Recent Activities
Tad Pinkerton updated the Board on recent activities. An arrangement with Cisco Systems, Inc. has been made to substitute new model routers for the same price as the older models that were originally bid. The newer models permit subsequent upgrading of capacity.
The equipment and communications circuit have been ordered for the test site at UW-Platteville; operation is expected to begin in late July.
Anne Iwata of UW-System Administration has arranged for an initial meeting between WiscNet representatives and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on July 18 to address the issue of K-12 involvement in WiscNet. A letter to WiscNet Directors will be forthcoming.
An announcement regarding additions and upgrades to NSFNET was mailed with the preliminary agenda. Three new sites, including Argonne Laboratories in the Chicago area, were added, and several links were upgraded to T3. CICnet will be given connection to the Argonne Laboratories site, improving the speed and access of CICnet and WiscNet to the national network infrastructure.
IBM representatives met with members of the WiscNet Executive Committee and some University of Wisconsin System Vice Presidents to discuss a proposed new service. A non-disclosure agreement was signed by all attending. While the non-disclosure agreement precluded a complete report, Tad Pinkerton and others attending the meeting made the following comments:
The proposal was not very specific.
The IBM proposal would delay implementation of WiscNet until the first of the year at the earliest.
It would probably be more expensive than the "home grown" structure put together by MACC and the Technical Committee and would probably not provide all services that MACC has agreed to furnish.
It probably would not accommodate CentersNet.
The Executive Committee suggested further study and evaluation.
IBM is expected to solicit technical information on June 29 and return with a proposal in 3-4 weeks.
(IV) Cost Sharing with CentersNet
A memo dated June 25, 1990 was distributed at the meeting, describing a preliminary cost sharing structure between WiscNet and CentersNet if a common network infrastructure were employed. This proposal was submitted by Tad Pinkerton and Mike Dorl, the WiscNet Principal Investigators. An informational discussion took place. The cost sharing covers only those items to be shared: communications circuits and multiplexors. In the memo, the notation "NRC" refers to non-recurring costs, or one-time costs. "MRC" refers to monthly- recurring costs. The WiscNet ratio is computed based on the number of WiscNet lines to the total number of lines required at each LATA point of presence (POP). WiscNet and CentersNet representatives must evaluate and agree to any cost sharing arrangement.
(V) Evaluation of Bid Responses
The equipment proposed in the winning bid for CSU/DSU equipment was determined to be satisfactory.
A memo titled "Estimated Costs of WiscNet" and dated June 25, 1990 was distributed at the meeting. The memo compares the actual costs of the proposed Norlight Shared Net 1 proposal to the amount budgeted. The one time cost is higher than that budgeted, but the annual costs are lower. Two errors in the tables were identified.
(1) The annual multiplexor costs shown are monthly costs instead of annual costs. Multiplying $334.49 by 12 results in an annual cost of $4,013.88. This will increase the annual costs shown by $3,679.39.
(2) The Year 1 annual cost assumes twelve months instead of ten. It will be somewhat lower than shown after the above correction.
A memo titled "Evaluation of Bandwidth Alternatives" and dated June 25, 1990 was distributed at the meeting. The memo compares several communication circuit alternatives. An error in the memo was identified. On the first page, the $1,156,266 cost for an optimized circuit structure should be associated with the WiscNet-2 proposal instead of the WiscNet-3 proposal. The Topology Subcommittee of the Technical Committee proposed either WiscNet-2 or SharedNet-1. The total cost shown for SharedNet-1 would be divided between WiscNet and CentersNet. (VI) CDN Alternative CDN is the State of Wisconsin Data Communications Network operated by the Bureau of Information and Telecommunications Management (BITM) of the Department of Administration. CDN uses AT&T equipment. BITM did not directly bid for the communications lines, but observed the process and prepared a proposal after the bids were opened. A comparison of the NorLight and CDN proposals is found on the third page of the memo titled "Evaluation of Bandwidth Alternatives" described above.
A discussion of the two alternatives followed. A number of areas of concern were voiced by members of the Board, including:
the assignment of WiscNet traffic to CDN backup circuits which could be preempted in the case of outages on the primary circuits;
the additional one-time cost of the CDN proposal;
the cost of increasing bandwidth to T1 levels for individual campuses is likely to be higher in the CDN proposal due to the lack of additional capacity in the current infrastructure.
(VII) Decisions/Timetable
Tad Pinkerton distributed a memo titled "Possible Board Actions Today." Discussion followed relating to the potential IBM proposal and the Norlight and CDN proposals.
Positive and negative considerations of the IBM proposal were discussed. These included that the IBM network would provide better and faster access to NSFNET, it would provide access to commercial services that are not permitted over the Internet, and that the exposure associated with becoming a member of the network would be valuable, especially for private schools. Alternatively, there is no cost advantage to becoming a beta site, there may be other commercial networks to choose from in the future, and it is not yet clear that this network will come into being. Several Board members suggested that creating a "home grown" solution might not preclude WiscNet membership and connection to an IBM national network, and that this should be pursued.
Discussion on the Norlight and CDN alternatives continued. The question was raised whether BITM would permit WiscNet to accept a non-CDN alternative. The growth scenarios regarding the need to be able to easily and cost-effectively increase selected circuits to higher bandwidths as traffic increases were considered to be very important. The separate Norlight connection to UW-Madison could provide greater bandwidth and reduce costs further in the existing proposals.
Four areas needing resolution were identified:
CentersNet cost sharing. It was decided that this would not be a major concern and could be deferred until after the other decisions were made.
CDN/Norlight growth scenarios need to be explored and evaluated.
The possibility of further negotiation with CDN regarding costs and service must be considered.
The potential IBM proposal must be considered.
M/S/ to proceed on the communications circuit decision without waiting for the IBM proposal.
M/S/P to table the preceding motion until after discussion of the CDN/Norlight proposals.
M/S/ to pursue the Norlight communications solution, pending continuing negotiation with CDN and analysis of the costs of the growth projections of the network. The Board shall vote on the final decision within three weeks by telephone, mail ballot, or formal Board meeting.
M/S/F to substitute a motion for the preceding motion. The substitute motion reads to have a full board meeting in no more than four weeks to make a final decision on the network provider.
M/S/P to amend the motion so that the decision will take place at a formal Board meeting.
M/S/P to amend the motion so that the meeting will take place in no more than four weeks.
The motion passed as amended. The new wording follows:
M/S/P to pursue the Norlight communications solution, pending continuing negotiations with CDN and analysis of the costs of the growth projections of the network. The Board shall vote on the final decision at a full-board meeting that shall take place no later than four weeks from the date of this meeting.
It was suggested that this motion be made known to BITM and IBM.
(VIII) Articles of Association
A copy of the revised Articles of Association was mailed with the preliminary agenda.
M/S/P to accept the Articles of Association.
(IX) Policy for Acceptable Use of the Network
A copy of the revised Policy for Acceptable Use of the Network was mailed with the preliminary agenda.
M/S/P to accept the Policy for Acceptable Use of the Network.
(X) Remainder of Agenda
M/S/P to refer the remainder of the agenda to the next meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:40 pm.
The next meeting will take place on or before July 24, 1990. Also distributed at the meeting were a Finance Committee Report on Membership Fees, and an updated draft of the Site Planning Guide.
Respectfully Submitted,
John L. Beck Secretary
Attendees - WiscNet Board of Directors Meeting - June 26, 1990
John Beck, UW-La Crosse
Philip Charest, UW-Parkside
Michael Dorl, UW-Madison
Manly Draper, UW-Madison
James Evans, Lawrence University
Michael Ford, BITM, Dept. of Administration
Carla Garnham, Medical College of Wisconsin
Fran George, UW-System Administration
Chris Hackbart, Edgewood College
Roger Hodek, UW-Green Bay
Richard Holtzman, UW-Oshkosh
Gerald Isaacs, Carroll College
Anne Iwata, UW-System Administration
James Johnson, UW-Platteville
Dave Kaun, UW-Stout
George Keulks, UW-Milwaukee
C. Edward Mathay, Marquette University
John Nierengarten, UW-River Falls
Tad Pinkerton, UW-Madison
Roi Prueher, UW-Eau Claire
James Schurter, UW-Stevens Point
Norman Stoner, UW-Whitewater
John Sutton, St. Norbert College
Charles R. Williams, Beloit College