1990.11.14 WiscNet Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 10:10 am in the 19th Floor Conference Room, Van Hise Hall, at the University of Wisconsin- Madison by Tad Pinkerton, Chair. The attendees of the meeting are listed in an attachment to the minutes.

(I) Introduction William F. Hogue, Assistant Chancellor for Information Technology at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, was introduced to the Board.

(II) Approval of Minutes of September 26, 1990 Meeting

M/S/P to approve minutes of September 26, 1990 WiscNet Board of Directors meeting.

(III) Network Status Report DOA disallowed the second-level protest from NorLight. The orders for network circuits and equipment will be released shortly. NSF funding for WiscNet is no longer being held due to federal budget deliberations.

UW-Madison is negotiating with AT&T to share a fiber- optic link between the AT&T office and campus that is being established in support of a Bell Laboratories research project with the Computer Science Department. If this link is shared, WiscNet will benefit by having a more secure fiber-optic connection at the same or reduced cost.

A change in the network topology will place two T1 backbone circuits between the CDN hubs in Madison and Waukesha and the UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee campuses, respectively. This permits traffic for all remote campus circuits that connect to Madison or Milwaukee to be backhauled over the T1 lines. It will be easy to subsequently add backbone bandwidth between Madison and Milwaukee without additional equipment.

The completion date of the network is now projected to be February 1, 1990.

The most recent WiscNet/CentersNet Cost Allocation memo (dated 11/5/90, distributed with the agenda) was discussed. The reasons behind locating the routers and multiplexors at the hub campuses rather than at the CDN hubs were given: (1) MACC wants to have free access to the equipment in case of problems; and (2) AT&T has a policy against having equipment purchased elsewhere placed at their locations. The backbone links will generally be either fiber or digital microwave, with the "last mile" local loop between the CDN hub and the hub campus generally being copper.

The logical topology of the network was discussed. While the load on the network cannot yet be determined, it will be possible to send packets over several routes, and it may also be possible to relocate 56K portions of the 224K bandwidth from one circuit to another. Additional 56K circuits could be added at a low price if the current CDN capacity is not exceeded, or a higher price if CDN must add additional T1 circuits to accommodate the growth.

The connection between CICnet and WiscNet will take place at 10MB in a small, external "firewall" network being developed by UW-Madison. From Madison, the traffic will pass over a T1 link to Argonne National Laboratories and then over a T3 link onto NSFnet.

One change was requested to the most recent version of the Memorandum of Understanding with DOA (11/1/90, distributed with the agenda) by DOA. The phrase "and its affiliated private institutions" was removed from the first paragraph since the agreement is solely between the UW System and DOA. The composition and policies of WiscNet are assured via the reference to the By-Laws in the following paragraph. The Memorandum is in the process of being signed by UW System and DOA.

(IV) Discussion with UW System Vice President Bornstein Ronald Bornstein, UW System Vice President for University Relations, met with the Board. The discussion addressed the lines of responsibility between UW System and the Board for the operation of WiscNet. In describing the reasons why UW System President Shaw overturned the selection of network circuit vendor by the Board, Vice President Bornstein indicated that because the NSF grant was made to UW-Madison, the acquisition of communications circuits and equipment must conform to UW System and State of Wisconsin procedures. He also said that a recommendation found in the Ernst and Young consulting report to the State of Wisconsin strongly encouraged the continued development of a state-operated data communications network, and that this recommendation carried significant weight in President Shaw's decision.

Regarding governance issues, Vice President Bornstein described the Board as a working users group, with responsibility for setting protocols and establishing policies and procedures. The only other UW System involvement in the future that can be foreseen would be the acquisition of additional circuits and equipment. Concern was expressed regarding the time invested in making the original choice of the backbone circuit provider; both Vice President Bornstein and Board members expressed the hope that both groups have learned to better address future concerns and establish better communications to avoid similar situations.

(V) MACC Report Manly Draper discussed the MACC report (11/12/90, distributed at the meeting), including the timetable for implementation of WiscNet. Concern was expressed about establishing a formal date when 1990/91 membership fees are due. UW-Madison will retain Bitnet membership and linkage. The link will initially remain at CUNY, but will eventually change to the appropriate regional hub as the Bitnet topology adjustments take place. WiscNet members who are also Bitnet members may route Bitnet traffic over WiscNet to UW-Madison either via DECnet or TCP/IP.

(VI) Finance Committee Report Randy Williams discussed the Finance Committee report (11/8/90, mailed directly to the Board). In proposing new member fees, the Finance Committee limited consideration to institutions within Wisconsin that would require a network node. The Committee recommended that the issues of out-of-state members and non-node members be referred back to the Membership Committee.

M/S/P to refer the issues of out-of-state members and non-node members to the Membership Committee.

The Expense Budget (1991-92) was discussed. Several corrections were noted: (1) maintenance costs for the routers will be partially covered by the warranty period and will be adjusted in the budget when the routers arrive; (2) the annual NOC fee for additional members was inadvertently omitted; and (3) the line labeled "Depreciation" was determined to be better described as "Equipment Replacement Fund."

The Income Budget (1991-92) was discussed. The income from new members assumes each will defer payment of their one-time fees over a three-year period in three annual installments.

An updated charter member cost allocation table was included in the report. This must be revised again with updated budget and student FTE figures. The $90,000 and $100,000 contributions projected to come from UW System in the 1992-93 and 1993-94 years may not become available. A charter member cost table will be produced without those two contributions to assist members in preparing worst-case budget requests.

(VII) New Member Fees The new member fees recommended by the Finance Committee are:

Academic $12,000 one-time $14,500 annual

Commercial $17,000 one-time $22,400 annual

New members would be permitted to defer payments of the one-time fees over a three-year period. The academic fees are perceived to be high by potential new members who have expressed interest in membership so far. By comparison, however, a 9,600 baud dedicated line to another site would cost between $4,000 and $6,000 per year and would result in substantially lower performance and support. Academic institutions are encouraged to consider applying for NSF grants to assist in getting started.

Some Board members consider the commercial fees to be too low. A discussion followed of what commercial members would be joining and what their use of the network would be. The possibility of a two-tier structure, with a lower cost for commercial firms who established research partnerships with academic institutions, was suggested.

M/S/P to approve the academic fees as proposed by the Finance Committee, including the three-year payment plan, and to refer the commercial fees to the Finance and Membership Committees.

(VIII) Marketing Plan Tad Pinkerton distributed a packet of marketing information. When a prospective new member makes contact with Pinkerton, he will write a letter in response, detailing membership information and a list of the current Board members, and will send a copy to nearby Board members for subsequent follow-up.

(IX) User Services Committee John Beck reported on the formation of a User Services Committee. The first meeting will take place on November 19, 1990. The first task of the committee will be to develop a template network usage document that can be distributed to all members with appropriate places for campus-specific information to be inserted. Board members were encouraged to suggest other activities for the committee to consider.

(X) Next Meeting The proposed date of the next meeting is Thursday, January 17, 1991.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:05 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

John L. Beck Secretary Attendees - WiscNet Board of Directors Meeting - November 14, 1990                                 

Directors

Charles R. Williams, Beloit College
Gerald Isaacs, Carroll College
Chris J. Hackbart, Edgewood College
James S. Evans, Lawrence University
C. Edward Mathay, Marquette University
Carla Garnham, Medical College of Wisconsin
Robert Taylor, Ripon College
Thomas H. Schneider, UW Centers
Anne Iwata, UW System Administration
Roi Prueher, UW-Eau Claire
William Meyer, UW-Extension
Roger Hodek, UW-Green Bay
John L. Beck, UW-La Crosse
Michael Dorl, UW-Madison
Tad Pinkerton, UW-Madison
George Keulks, UW-Milwaukee
Richard C. Holtzman, UW-Oshkosh
Philip G. Charest, UW-Parkside
James Johnson, UW-Platteville
John Nierengarten, UW-River Falls
Gordon Jones, UW-Stout
Norman Stoner, UW-Whitewater

Staff

Manly Draper, UW-Madison

Visitors and Guests

Fran George, UW System AdministrationBill Hogue, UW-Eau Claire