[Techtalk] High speed access question

[Kath]

I might be semi-consulting (advising) on what a school district should do to bring their current internet access out of the stone age and into something some what modern.

The question comes up of what is good for bandwidth for the entire district.  The district student population is about 6k-7k, with most of that at the high school.

Now, about provisioning lines:

- Would it be best to get every building a unique run to a Tier1/2 provider (decentralized)?  I'm against it, I'd rather have all lines run to one central district location and then out.  It would be easier to firewall and administrate than having 18 firewalls in 9 locations.

Assuming centralized:

- What kind of provisioning in terms of bandwidth should there be on the line?  A T1 connect (1.544 Mbps) from each school to the main location (the HS)?  What about from the HS to the internet?  

When a "T1" line is installed, how hard is it to upgrade it to more bandwidth?  Does it require plant facility changes (putting down new fiber or copper) or is it merely a change in the Criscos on both ends?  (I'm not saying going from fractional T1 to OC3+, but from T1 to T3 speeds).

Would it perhaps be wiser to have the capacity for a large line (say, 45 Mbps), but negotiate with the provider so that the school would only use what is paid for on a month to month basis? (This works out in the summer when noone is there and therefore the internet is not used)

- Also, what about multihoming?  A few local schools here were knocked offline following Sept 11th, as the West Street telecom hub was damaged, but customers connected to 60 Hudson Street facilities were fine.

- k
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