Greensboro paper creates newsworthy data network - networking helps Greensboro News and Record's business

Communications News, March, 1994 by Barclay A. Williams

Networking helps our business in three ways: iT brings together all of our internal resources, places our services closer to our customers, and provides its services 24 hour a day.

Initially, our network consisted of two thick Ethernet segments with a pair of Sun 3/120s routing between them. We needed more capacity, further segmentation, wider integration, reliability and manageability--a modest request! Our network has grown to include four local segments and three remote segments with the aid of one 3Cm NETBuilder II, three NETBuilder Remote Control routers and nine LinkBuilder FMS hubs. The thick segments have been all but phased out in favor of twisted-pair cabling. The NETBuilder II Ethernet and High Speed Serial modules can be hot-swapped, and we have a replacement for each different module we use.

In the event of a component failure, the failed component can be replaced (hot-swapped) without bringing down the entire network. Additionally, we use SunNet Manager and SNMP to monitor the individual components, and with port-level management, we are able to isolate faults to individual runs of cable.

A unified information exchange network is now possible by bringing together the Macintosh computers from the desks of our artists, photographers and copy editors, along with the Sun SPARCstations that drive our ad production, our proprietary scanners and typesettersm and our small Windows network to form a unified information exchange.

The Suns and the Macs access Sun file servers to transfer news copy, photographs, and composed ads and pages to our typesetters. The Macs can also retrieve images form our broadcast and tabloid scanners. The PCs can access the Sun file servers to use CD ROMs, quarter-inch tape drives, file systems and NeWSprint printers.

In order to enhance our soned editions, we hace placed ad production workstations in our two most active bureaus. In the past, advertisers who worked with those bureaus were not able to see proofs of their ads prior to publication, and the sales reps had no idea of who would build the ad or when.

Now, with workstations and printers in the bureaus, those advertisers can receive proofs, and the sales reps are in direct contact with the ad builders.

By shortening the ad production cycle, we have greatly reduced the number of errors and corresponding billing adjustments, and we provide our customers with a higher level of service. Because we have boundary routing system architecture routers in the bureaus, there is no need to train any of the bureau personnel in the art of networkEng; all configuration and management occurs in the home office. With the msin router configured, the NETBuilder Remote Control was absolutely plug and play--no additional configuration was required.

Not only can we bring our production facilities closer to our customers, we can aslo incorporate our customers' production facilities into our own. We provide direct access to one of our commercial customers through a boundary router on the customer's site. This connection allows them to output their product directly to our typesetters, and they do not have to endure a three-hour delay in typesetting and delivering their last-minute pages to us.

Editors can make changes and additions minutes before deadline, which greatly enhances their ability to report breaking news.

In the coming year, we are planning several significant upgrades to our network. The most significant step will be to provide redundant paths to each of our local hubs. We are installing an FDDI backbone to connect our existing units to two additional NETBuilder IIs. By using the 2-port Ethernet modules, we can increase wur port density with minimal additional investment.

We will also provide direct FDDI to our servers so that the multiple Ethernet segments can have simultaneous full-bandwidth access. By adding 3-port high-speed serial modules to the NETBuilder IIs, we will also have sufficient serial capacity to withstand a single NETBuilder II's failure.

Furthermore, with a star topology and the vendor's upgrade strategy, ouR current units and acable plant will allow us to move easily to ATM when it is standardized.

In addition to the redundant paths and FDDI backbone, we will be expanding our WAN by increasing bandwidth to our bureaus, and by adding advertisers and commercial printing customers to our network. Currently, all connections are made via leased lines, but we are investigating other means of communication, including frame relay, SMDS and radio transmission.