Dedicated OC-3 pipes extend to each desktop and are customized to specific users' needs, says Bob Johnson, the school's director of telecommunications and network services. For instance, if a professor is conducting a research project that requires significant bandwidth, Johnson's team can quickly make a special connection to his or her desktop.

"Since we now have a 20,000-user account [three individual colleges, the Durham site and public K-12 schools and libraries], we can negotiate deals with vendors amounting up to an average 50 percent savings," Johnson says. The university's largest savings comes from Bell Atlantic, which does not charge the university extra for distance and provides three times more bandwidth than for the average New Hampshire business or organization, Johnson adds.

To carry the university's voice traffic, Johnson's team turned to FORE Systems' ASX-200BX ATM switches and PowerHub 7000 multilayer backbone switches. To make sure that network traffic flows as quickly as possible, the university uses distributed routing with one FORE PowerHub 8000 at each location, rather than the "one-arm router" method. Johnson explains that all voice, data and video traffic is routed at the edge of the network rather than just one central router.

When the university decided to improve its network five years ago, its network services team tested products and their throughput performance in its interoperability lab. By using cell generators, engineers examined how quickly data moved across the network.

The ATM backbone also supports the state's distance-learning initiative, involving PictureTel Corp. and Bell Atlantic. The university operates a pilot program with kindergarten through grade 12 students by running ATM circuits out over DS-1 and OC-3 pipes for video. High school juniors and seniors from different schools take online courses such as Mandarin Chinese taught by a teacher from a single location.

Continuing education courses also get a boost from the university's network; adults can log onto the system at home, a local library or other public facilities.

The university's most innovative venture to date is the Earth Science research satellite system, which allows access to various real-time images from NASA. Visitors can download live images of locations such as the Amazon Basin via an Internet II (vBNS) connection. This MCI link sends data files through a Bay Networks BLN 4500 router and FORE Systems ASX-200BX ATM switch direct to desktops in minutes.

For further information, visit University of New Hampshire's Web site at www.unh.edu.