IT Collaboration Hive

A Washington state higher ed consortia called ICCL is working seriously on a proposal to gain funding for a DOR-type system, among other related systems. This may involve a request for new funding from the state leg., as well as contributions from local member institutions. Evergreen is a member, and if this goes forward, we would presumably have good access to the DOR, even if hosted elsewhere. This is long term though -- it would be part of 09/11 budget, so would not be finalized until early 2009, and implementation would be even later than that. Still, any local efforts should keep this possibility in mind.

Locally, there is a grant-funded project that may be in need of some sort of DOR-type system as early as this summer. They have discussed teh possibility of ContentDM. It is not clear whether or not their grant money can or will be used for a DOR. It is also unclear whether or not they absolutely need to have something like it soon in order to complete their grant. Other than that, there is perhaps no project hinging on a DOR. Still, several of us are discussing the benefits of having one, and beginning discussion of the options.

We are currently delivering 45Mbs on the internet connection, the maximum our equipment can handle.  The actual usage is less, with an average inbound connection rate of 20-25Mbs, peaking at the line limit of 45Mbs on occasion.  It appears, however, that a limit of 30Mbs will be adequate to avoid the saturation conditions which result in frequent user complaints.

 Keep in mind, however, that we are managing traffic, limiting, for example, the maximum bandwidth in the wireless and public network, permitting them no more than 15% of the campus bandwidth each.  We do this in a manner that spreads the bandwidth equitably among the users, so no one user can monopolize the connection (one PC can easily generate 10Mbs or more of traffic).  The goal is not to give individual users the experience of their own high-speed internet service, but to provide shared bandwidth to the 2000 or so users on line during a typical day.  In other words, you will be able to get higher performance on your home cable or dsl connection.