Data Centers and Network

Data Centers

The KU campus has two data and network locations that provide redundancy for the networks serving the Lawrence and Edwards campuses. In addition, KU IT has worked with the city of Lawrence and other regional organizations to create diverse and redundant network pathways, reducing the likelihood of a catastrophic network outage.

Price Computing Center

Price Computing Center is the central computing facility for the University of Kansas. It supports academic, research and administrative groups on campus, as well as off-campus activities. Price Computing Center is a secure facility with multiple layers of physical security, including key-card doors and video surveillance. The facility is a hardened site with redundant utility feeds, cooling plant and network access. A 750kW emergency generator for backup building power is controlled by highly automated power switching systems and supported by a large-scale twin UPS (uninterrupted power supply) and battery system to support critical functions during the switch to backup generator power.

The Network Operations Center is located inside the high-security area of the Data Center in Price Computing Center, and is physically staffed 24/7, except on holidays which are covered remotely. Only authorized IT staff have regular access to the Network Operations Center. Visitors must be approved and have an authorized escort. Network Operations Center staff use extensive monitoring and reporting tools to track network, physical plant and security status of the facility, the campus network and the Ellsworth Annex network support facility. Infrastructure staff are on call 24/7, including holidays, with a maximum 30-minute response time.

Ellsworth Annex

The Ellsworth Annex network center provides primary network and phone services to the campus, as well as redundant servers for key campus functions. It is a hardened site with redundant cooling, power distribution, phone and network services. A 750kW generator provides emergency backup power. Power switching is highly automated, and critical computing systems and network hardware are supported by a twin UPS system and large battery banks during switching to backup generator. Extensive monitoring and security systems with multiple video cameras are monitored by the Network Operations Center staff at the Price Computing Center 24/7. Only authorized IT staff have regular access to the Ellsworth Annex. Visitors must be approved and have an authorized escort.

Lawrence/Edwards Campus Network

The KU Lawrence campus is connected to the internet through the Kansas Research and Education Network (KanREN) at a bandwidth rate of 100Gbps. KanREN is a consortium of higher education, K-12 and community anchor institutions in Kansas. KanREN’s network topology is a 100Gbps ring with access to Internet2 through the Great Plains Network and connectivity to multiple commercial Internet service providers.

The KU Lawrence distribution network provides 1 to 10Gbps of bandwidth connectivity to each individual building.

KU Lawrence buildings with 10Gbps of bandwidth connectivity include:

Buildings with 10Gbps bandwidth connectivity are designed with intra-building distribution of 10Gbps of bandwidth connectivity to access layer switches, with end-user bandwidth connectivity of 1Gbps. All other buildings on the KU Lawrence campus use 1Gbps of bandwidth connectivity to the building with 1Gbps of bandwidth to access layer switches, and end-user bandwidth connectivity of 100Mbps.

The KU Medical Center in Kansas City, KS is connected to the main campus through private dedicated 10Gbps connections. The KU Medical Center in Wichita, KS, also has a 1Gbps private dedicated connection to the main campus and to the KU Medical Center in Kansas City, KS. The Edwards Campus in Overland Park, KS, is connected to the main campus through redundant connections providing up to 1Gbps of bandwidth connectivity.

KU has off-campus locations in Kansas City, KS, for the Bureau of Child Research Juniper Gardens Project, and in Parsons, KS, for the Life Span Institute. Juniper Gardens has a community Internet connection through Google Fiber in Kansas City, and the Life Span Institute in Parsons has a business-class cable modem connection. Both entities connect to KU Lawrence through virtual private networks (VPN) to maintain security.