Multicloud Network Fuels Data-Driven Research

As important as laboratories and state-of-the-art equipment are, a world-class network is necessary to support researchers’ data-intensive work. At the same time, USC’s network infrastructure must support the academic and administrative needs of nearly 35,000 students. “We have been pushing forward with two directives,” says Ron Scherba, executive director of infrastructure services at USC.

“We needed a more flexible and reliable infrastructure, and our research footprint is expanding.”

“To do world-class research, we needed to augment the network itself,” says Scherba. “That led to a conversation: How do we build on-premises and cloud-ready networks?” To build a foundation to support today’s hybrid, multicloud world, the network needed to be faster, support advanced capabilities, and be more secure.

The USC infrastructure team delivered a tenfold increase in network capacity, upgrading both its core network and Internet2 connection to 100 Gbps. “We built the core network so that it’s future-proofed and scalable to any needs we have in the future,” says Jessie O’Connor, systems architect.

Beyond speed, reliability, and advanced capabilities, a key selection criteria was partnership. “Juniper stepped up and really involved themselves in this project,” says Don Perry, systems architect. “Juniper saw our vision and helped us turn it into something tangible that we can actually accomplish.”

“The relationship we’ve had with Juniper is the tipping factor for me,” says Perry.

Automation is next on the agenda. “Like many other institutions and corporations, a lot of teams are understaffed and overutilized,” says Scherba. “Automation can support troubleshooting and keep our network reliable so we don’t require manual intervention every time something fails or we need to push a security patch.”