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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Foundry Networks(R), Inc. today announced The University of Strathclyde has become the first European university to install a new 10 Gigabit Ethernet network. This installation was signed with the support of partner Total Network Solutions. The new 10 Gigabit network provides enhanced capacity for The University of Strathclyde's 50,000 students and faculty who send increasingly large amounts of data and applications over the network, which serves 67 buildings across its 500 acre campus. Founded in 1796, the university is the third largest in Scotland and it teaches full-time, part time and distance learning students in five faculties as well as being the UK's largest provider of postgraduate and professional education. The installation of BigIron(R) 8000 and BigIron(R) 15000 Layer 3 backbone switches across the whole campus, is the first phase of the project being implemented by Total Network Solutions. The 10 Gigabit Ethernet link provides intelligent, high performance connectivity between the two main data centers, which are more than 1Km apart and will assist with important research projects including the Strathclyde Institute for Drug Research and the Institute of Photonics. The second and third phases of the project will see the replacement of the remaining poorly performing legacy network switches from other data centres with Foundry switches and implementing Foundry ServerIron(R) Layer 4-7 switches for intelligent web server optimisation and content distribution. Dr Stuart Brough, director of Information Technology at the University of Strathclyde said: "Network content, covering a huge variety of research activities, teaching material and corporate data is now being transported by the new network with greater ease and reliability than previously. We have seen a dramatic uptake in network performance, availability and connectivity with the new 10 Gigabit network which is a 180 degree turnaround from our previous experience with network redundancy and failover. The network is also easily handling much larger files for key sections of the user community. In particular, University design students and researchers will be able to use the network to handle much larger datasets than previously." The previous legacy network consisted of switches lacking the high performance and scalable Layer 2 and Layer 3 intelligence to handle the University's increased workload, upgrade requirements and target availability levels. The project was put out to tender through the Official Journal of the European Communities (OJEC). A key tender condition was that network vendors could offer a complete end-to-end solution with scalable interfaces and total resiliency whilst demonstrating sound financial performance to ensure long-term network support. Both Foundry and Total Network Solutions easily met these stringent requirements. Simon Haydn-Lee, account manager, Total Network Solutions, said, "In determining its network strategy over the next three years, the University sought a partnership with a vendor and value added supplier that closely matched its strategic objectives. Total Network Solutions and Foundry presented a 'best in class' partnership to meet these objectives for the new network rollout." The University of Strathclyde is in the early stages of using Foundry's JetCore(TM) technology to accurately monitor network traffic and enable departments to be billed for use of the network. Real time network monitoring and billing down to byte level will be achieved through Foundry's sFlow technology, which also enables the creation of a system-wide performance window of application traffic to pinpoint performance-impacting areas throughout the network. This will be augmented by IronWare(TM) network management software. Building an intelligent network for today's classroom and future proofing for tomorrow Installation of nine Foundry Networks Layer 3 BigIron 8000 and 15000 switches make up the first phase of the University's new network backbone, and they concurrently access all of the main data-centres across the 67 building, 500-acre site. These intelligent layer 3 switches offer a mesh of multi-Gigabit links, enabling the University to increase network capacity and resilience for students, faculties, researchers and other users. The 10 Gigabit network link is provisioned using two Layer 3 BigIron 15000 switches between the University's two main data centres to enhance deployment of core systems and assist with its research projects. To ensure compatibility with the existing infrastructure and provide long-term investment protection, the BigIron architecture supports a full range of interfaces including 10/100/1000 Megabit right up to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Total Network Solutions is providing a comprehensive support package including onsite service, support and maintenance over a three-year period with locally based engineers and spares.