The Office of Information Technology Services is pleased to announce a major new upgrade in the campus internet connection, effective April 17, 2006. The new service is the result of a detailed review process of the college's connectivity needs, which began at the beginning of the school year and culminated in a successful proposal from Level3 communications, a Tier 1 internet carrier, to provide the new service.

The new connection inceases ENC's internet data-carrying capacity over 500% from less than 4mbps (megabits per second) to 20mbps, without siginificant additional budgetary strain. It also introduces into the ENC network exciting, cutting edge technology that will allow us to grow far into the future.

Some Questions and Answers:

Q: What type of connection did ENC have before?
A: ENC previously had a 1.54mbps T1 link from Verizon (formerly UUNET) and a 2.5mbps radio link from Towerstream.

Q: What's different about the new connection?
A: The new link from Level3 is a 20mbps "fractional" DS3, or T3. Aside from being faster and more cost effective, the connection is supported by a new fiber optic infrastructure, which is more resilient and better performing than ENC's older copper cabling.

Q: Is 20mbps really enough bandwidth for a whole college?
A: For now, yes. A 20mbps internet link puts ENC far ahead of the averages for colleges with less than 1000 students. Our initial usage reports show an average inbound utilization (that is, of those on the inside downloading content) of less than 10mbps, with only occasional spikes to 20mbps. Most importantly, ENC's outbound capacity - our ability to serve content to the internet at large - is greatly improved.

Q: How much bandwidth do I get personally?
A: ITS utilizes technologies to monitor and enforce equitable bandwidth for all individuals active on the internet at a given time. However, the exact meaning of  "equitable" will depend on the network load at that time. In short, if many users are vying for bandwidth, an equitable portion will amount to very little, while in periods of light usage - typically 12am-6am - users will be allotted a large portion of the total bandwidth.

Q: Does ITS limit or block certain types of internet traffic?
A: Yes. We employ several technologies to ensure compliance with established usage policies. These include website blocking, as well as blocking certain types of non-HTTP internet traffic (e.g. P2P). We also limit other types of traffic (e.g. IM, video and audio streaming) to ensure optimal performance for our most critical traffic - regular web browsing. For the policy that informs these methods, please see the Acceptable Use Policy.

Please see the new article on bandwidth management at ENC for a more detailed explanation of the "why"s and "wherefore"s of our policies and technologies.