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University of Arizona Increases Flexibility While Reducing Total Cost
of Ownership with Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switches
of Ownership with Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switches
What You Will Learn
IT departments are moving away from expensive monolithic network and server infrastructures to flexible, dynamic
architectures to reduce complexity and cost. This transition includes moving from multiple, parallel networks to one
standards-based low-latency, high-bandwidth network. In mid 2009, the University of Arizona transitioned to a unified
fabric supporting both data and storage traffic. Today the university is experiencing the benefits of reduced total cost
of ownership (TCO), simplified purchasing, management, and network infrastructure maintenance.
architectures to reduce complexity and cost. This transition includes moving from multiple, parallel networks to one
standards-based low-latency, high-bandwidth network. In mid 2009, the University of Arizona transitioned to a unified
fabric supporting both data and storage traffic. Today the university is experiencing the benefits of reduced total cost
of ownership (TCO), simplified purchasing, management, and network infrastructure maintenance.
Located in Tucson, Arizona, the University of Arizona is a public research university. Founded in 1885, it has more
than 35,000 students in undergraduate, graduate, and professional and medical studies. The university’s mission is to
provide a high-quality education that engages its diverse student body in discovery through research, scholarship,
and community service.
than 35,000 students in undergraduate, graduate, and professional and medical studies. The university’s mission is to
provide a high-quality education that engages its diverse student body in discovery through research, scholarship,
and community service.
The University Information Technology Services (UITS) department facilitates and coordinates integration of
technology services for the campus to enhance learning, research, and business. UITS’s mission is to provide
support and enhance the university’s ability to fulfill its objectives through effective and efficient communications and
computing solutions. UITS works collaboratively with the three communities within the University of Arizona campus:
staff, faculty, and students. It provides frontline support services, infrastructure services, and enterprise application
support services.
technology services for the campus to enhance learning, research, and business. UITS’s mission is to provide
support and enhance the university’s ability to fulfill its objectives through effective and efficient communications and
computing solutions. UITS works collaboratively with the three communities within the University of Arizona campus:
staff, faculty, and students. It provides frontline support services, infrastructure services, and enterprise application
support services.
This document discusses how the infrastructure services department within UITS is transitioning to an entirely new
network architecture based on the Cisco Nexus
network architecture based on the Cisco Nexus
®
Family of switches. The combination of 10 Gigabit Ethernet unified
fabric and top-of-rack (ToR) architecture increases flexibility, supports the high server densities required, and
simplifies operations, enabling deployment of Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise and supporting a general and continual
increase in demand for flexible, agile, centralized computing resources.
simplifies operations, enabling deployment of Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise and supporting a general and continual
increase in demand for flexible, agile, centralized computing resources.
The Need to Update Applications Resulted in Modernization of the Data Center
The enterprise solutions at the University of Arizona needed updating. “Our enterprise applications had grown
outdated and our planned replacements required significant new hardware. Basically, we had a lot of expansion
coming down the pipe,” explains Adam Michel, Senior Systems Administrator and the primary SAN administrator for
UITS. The data center’s network architecture was not originally designed to accommodate the server densities now
available. The old model depended on large, monolithic switch chassis that aggregated all server connections in a
central location, making expansion nearly impossible. “We don’t have the bandwidth or port availability to add new
servers, and cable management is a nightmare - we have upwards of a thousand cables and it’s impossible to keep
the cable map up-to-date,” Michel added. In addition, the cables were run under the raised floor and were impeding
airflow, causing cooling problems in some areas. Figure 1 shows the enormity of the cabling challenge of aggregating
all server connections in a single networking device rack.
outdated and our planned replacements required significant new hardware. Basically, we had a lot of expansion
coming down the pipe,” explains Adam Michel, Senior Systems Administrator and the primary SAN administrator for
UITS. The data center’s network architecture was not originally designed to accommodate the server densities now
available. The old model depended on large, monolithic switch chassis that aggregated all server connections in a
central location, making expansion nearly impossible. “We don’t have the bandwidth or port availability to add new
servers, and cable management is a nightmare - we have upwards of a thousand cables and it’s impossible to keep
the cable map up-to-date,” Michel added. In addition, the cables were run under the raised floor and were impeding
airflow, causing cooling problems in some areas. Figure 1 shows the enormity of the cabling challenge of aggregating
all server connections in a single networking device rack.