Another internet line?

Eric Downing
Critic Staff

LSC pays for a second internet connection used only for emergencies.

Most students at Lyndon State College don’t know that there is another internet line into the college.

The extra line, which runs directly into the IT department instead of through Vail building like the normal line, has only a fraction of the other line’s speed. Whereas the line used by the campus community runs 30 megabits per second, this line, used only for emergencies, runs 1.5 megabits.

Being separate from the main network allows the emergency line to remain active, even when the other line is cut, such as when the network was down for six hours earlier this year. The line was put in two years ago in case of such an event. Chief Technology Officer Mike Dente estimated that it costs about $70 a month, compared to the $3500 a month cost to run the network across campus.

Only a couple of places on campus have access to the emergency line, which comes from Charter by way of a cable modem. This is because the line is used principally if the network across campus is having problems.

“If something happens to the main line…” Dente said, knocking on the wood of his desk.

The extra line is also used for testing the primary line. As it is completely separate from the normal line, using the emergency line to communicate with the primary line, it simulates what would happen if an outside computer were to communicate with the server.

Unlike the primary line, the emergency line works even when the power is out; this is because the line runs directly into IT. Although the servers in Vail run on a generator, students in the dorms can’t access the primary network in a blackout because that would require all the wiring closets that span the buildings to run on generators, which they do not.

Dente said that IT is looking into putting an access point in Vail so that one or two important people can use the line in the case of a network outage. In the meantime, though, Dente has a temporary solution in case the business office has to get something important done in a network outage.

“They can come here and work on my desk,” he said.