While the generator room will not be ready until later this year, HawTel is able to provide DS3 services to all current subscribers, Keck and CFHT, using the new fibers with the existing equipment at HP. However, HawTel will not be able to provide OC-12 service for Subaru without new equipment to be housed at the generator room.
Development is also underway for the MKOCN FDDI network. IfA is contracting with HawTel to pull fibers to Subaru and SMA.
Notes:
As far as vendor selection is concerned, no strong opinions have been expressed. Certainly we will need to go with a single vendor if we want to share hot spare units and expertise. Interoperability is becoming less of a concern.
As far as the implementation schedule is concerned, Pui Hin Rhoads has done an analysis of the cost of supporting both ATM and FDDI. If participants of the ATM network were to share hardware maintenance and hot spare units as we do now with the FDDI, the cost per participant will decrease with anincreasing number of participants. With one or two participants, that cost would be very high. Maintenance cost for the FDDI users will also go up a little with the departure of some participants. Therefore the timing of the project is important. Pui Hin Rhoads asked the representative of each observatory to tell us about their intentions and schedule.
Bernt Grundseth told us that CFHT has signed up for the DS3 service from HawTel and has purchased a Cisco 7200 series router. They will be ready to switch from FDDI to ATM whenever the public ATM equipment is in place. All they need is an ATM card for their router.
Jim Wright told us that Gemini will have their network in place between January and March of 1998. He also told us that Gemini no longer has a strong preference for ATM over FDDI between the summit and HP since they are not planning on activities at HP that will require more than what FDDI can offer.
Ryusuke Ogasawara told us that Subaru is negotiating with HawTel for OC-12 service between the summit and University Park but has no immediate plan for ATM between the summit and HP.
Jonathan Chock, who was not at the meeting, told Pui Hin Rhoads that Keck has no performance requirement for ATM between the summit and HP. However, they are in the process of deciding which vendor to go with for the equipment for the DS3 service. Once that is purchased, it will not cost them too much to get the additional ATM equipment.
The rest of the observatories have no immediate plan for an upgrade.
With the above information, the group agreed that we should keep June 1998 as a tentative date to have the public equipment in place. However, more discussion is needed between now and then to pick an implementation strategy and schedule that will keep the annual cost at a acceptable level.