K-20 Network Technical Steering Committee
Meeting Minutes – December 12, 2007
1:30 – 2:25 PM
Voting Members present:
· SBCTC - Michael Scroggins, Chair
· Council of Presidents – Terry Teale
· ESD Representative - Jeff Andrews
· OSPI – Peter Tamayo
· DIS – Roland Rivera
· HEC Board - David Mitchell
· Industry Representative – Frank Leeds
Voting Members absent:
· None
Others Present:
· WSU – Don Peters, Rick Wegener, Ralph Hogan
· OSPI – Dennis Small
· CIS – Ed Vervoort, Ken Chullickel
· WSL – Gary Bortel
· Timberland Library – Gwen Culp
· UW – Clare Donahue, Steve Paulson
· DIS – Wendy Marrs
· K-20 Staff – Tom Carroll, Michael Evans, Patty Yates
1. Call to Order and Welcome. Chairman Michael Scroggins called the meeting to order at 1:30 PM.
2. Announcements.
a) Chairman Michael Scroggins introduced new NTSC voting member Peter Tamayo, the OSPI Chief Information Officer.
3. Adoption of Consent Agenda. The consent agenda included the minutes from the October 10, 2007 meeting, a list of meeting dates for 2008 and three new K-20 locations:
a) University of Washington – Telemedicine Quinault Nation Clinic – Tahola, WA – Baccalaureate Site
b) University of Washington – Computing & Communications Office, Olympia, WA - Baccalaureate Site
c) Washington State University - Government Relations Office – Olympia, WA - Baccalaureate Site
Approved unanimously. Mike Scroggins commented that the K-20 Board was very pleased with the report on the NGN backbone implementation and the fact that the cutover to the new backbone was completed without outages. Roland Rivera added that the new network has already proven to be resilient and resistant to network outages and has been performing as designed. Tom Carroll mentioned the design chosen offered lower cost, greater flexibility, and higher performance than other approaches that might have been selected. Clare Donahue asked about the frequency of power outages at K-20 locations and the question of whether or not K-20 sites need some sort of UPS system in place. The group discussed the feasibility of powering the K-20 site equipment when the building power is off or providing enough power to complete a local shutdown. Frank Leeds pointed out that backup power – whether provided by generator or battery – is very expensive.
4. Secondary Transport Acquisition Update. Frank Leeds reported the fast Ethernet RFQ process has been completed and the Apparently Successful Vendors for fast Ethernet secondary acquisitions have been identified. Frank added that the responses for the TDM acquisition were due on December 11, 2007, to be followed by the administrative checks and evaluation processes needed to prepare the list of Apparently Successful Vendors. Frank explained that work will be completed as quickly as possible so that DIS Contracts can build the TDM contracts prior to the February due date for E-Rate. Roland Rivera added that there are seven Apparently Successful Vendors for the fast Ethernet secondary transport acquisition, and contracts are currently being finalized. Mike Scroggins asked if the process is almost complete. Frank answered affirmatively, and explained that the next step will be to go through the secondary optimization processes with K-20 and DIS.
5. CTC Technology Transformation Taskforce. Michael Scroggins explained that the community colleges sector is working to re-focus technology improvement efforts on teaching tools and learning applications. Mike added that the taskforce is creating a vision document and one of the pieces of that document focuses on the topic of access, because many of the new learning technologies require good network access from home. Mike commented that one role for the K-20 Board and the K-20 community might be in terms of encouraging the improvement of connectivity across the state and providing advice regarding technologies such as wireless and broadband. Roland Rivera mentioned that the term broadband means different things to different people, and commented that at some point the state has to define the term. Clare Donahue mentioned that providing broadband to homes is very expensive and it is hard to articulate a convincing business case to justify the resources required to build the infrastructure. Mike Scroggins encouraged members of the group to be thinking about initiatives K-20 may want to support in order to help the state.
6. KOCO Report. Steve Paulson seconded Roland Rivera’s comments on the robustness of the new NGN backbone, and noted that while several outages have occurred on segments of the Northerly and Southerly routes, no sites experienced outages as a result of these issues. Mike Scroggins suggested information about the improved backbone network should be sent out to the K-20 community. Tom Carroll commented that the staff will put together a communication and then upon review and approval from the sector representatives will distribute the information as directed. Steve Paulson noted that 45 K-20 sites went down during the storm, and the last one to be brought back online came up on December 11th. Tom Carroll mentioned that right after the holidays he will begin working with the K-20 community to create the budget for the next biennium. Tom added that the budget needs to be completed in time to present it to the K-20 Board for approval in June and meet the August deadline for OFM. Tom told the group that a redesign of the K-20 database is forthcoming and part of that effort will be to put together a team of database users to develop high-level requirements and return to the NTSC with an estimate of the resources needed to complete the project. Tom also mentioned that the Meet-Point billing issue has been resolved as a result of a lot of work by both DIS and K-20 staff. Tom explained that efforts are underway to evaluate Juniper maintenance needs and acquire appropriate maintenance renewals for that equipment. Mike Scroggins asked if any large capital purchases have been identified for the next budget cycle, and Tom explained that a major expenditure he is evaluating is the replacement of the K-20 border routers. Tom added that the topic of activating additional capacity on the new backbone will be another possible expenditure.
7. Chair’s Report. Mike Scroggins announced the departure of two people who have been associated with K-20. Mike announced that Carolyn Sundby of the Council of Presidents has retired. Mike also mentioned Connie Michener has decided to return to the policy staff of DIS, and added that the NTSC recognizes the value she brought to K-20, including overseeing the successful launch of the K-20 website and the update of the K-20 blueprint. Mike thanked all of the K-20 staff members throughout the state for their efforts in support of K-20 during 2007. Terry Teale thanked Mike for his leadership throughout the past year as well.
8. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned at 2:25 PM.
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