British Library upgrades backbone - Heavy network technology

By Dave Murray @ Thursday, July 17, 2008 2:33 PM

Section - PCs/Hardware

The British Library has upgraded its networking to bring more electronic access to its extensive collection.

The gear is based around BigIron RX-8 Layer 2/3 backbone switches and FastIron Edge X Series Power over Ethernet (PoE)-ready switches, which are stored at its Boston Spa and St. Pancras facilities. Also upgraded was the software, which eliminated Windows for Workgroups in favour of a Windows NT 4.0 environment to support 2,400 staff.

The changes mean that the British Library will have a high-speed 20Gb Ethernet core, providing greater bandwidth to the server and high-end workstation infrastructure.

The reason the Library is undertaking so many cutting-edge projects is to support its programme of digitisation and distribution. It wants to improve public access to material and make it easier to search and retrieve information. Other projects in the pipeline include setting up a virtual Microsoft SQL-based server farm, based around 250 servers using a mixed environment of Windows, Solaris and legacy VAX/VMS and other UNIX variants. X