The University's involvement in the Internet2 project has placed pressure on PittNet's Fast Ethernet backbone to support much higher bandwidth applications not only across the core network backbone, but ultimately to the user's desktop. The next stage of PittNet's evolution is to Gigabit Ethernet with the potential to deliver 1000 Mbps switched service across the backbone and 100 Mbps switched service to the user's desktop. In August 1999, the University began the Gigabit Ethernet upgrade. Phase I was completed in March 2000. Phase I is complete.
Work is underway on some portions of the second and third phases.
The buildings that have been completely upgraded to Gigabit Ethernet service are shown in Appendix A, along with those in which some portion has been upgraded. These partial building upgrades were performed because some buildings house NSF grant participants and others because port installation requests were received that could not be accommodated with existing equipment due to a lack of available additional port capacity. Gigabit-capable electronics were installed to satisfy these requests because it made little economic sense to add capacity by installing older electronics only to have to replace them with Gigabit electronics at a later date. The cost of the Gigabit electronics is also defrayed by trading in older equipment when purchasing new. The steps of the original project plan were not followed in sequence, resulting in partial completion of the second and third phases.