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New firewall resources to improve Internet dependability

by Sharron Walls

In February, MCG Internet users experienced many frustratingly unsuccessful attempts to log on to the World Wide Web and even to internal MCG Web pages.

Blame it on high traffic and outmoded infrastructure that overload the firewall, says Ed Townsend, assistant vice president for information technology support and services.  "It's just like expansion of roads; the old two-lane road was fine as long as traffic stayed that way, but traffic has increased and we need to widen the road. We need a freeway with a stronger firewall."

"Firewall" is a term borrowed from the construction industry, where it describes a wall that keeps fire from traveling from one room or section of a building to another. Imagine MCG's firewall as a wall of computers standing guard outside our network, protecting the system against viruses and other attackers.

An initial attempt in mid-February to solve the problem with new software proved futile when the hardware failed. What was expected to be a three-hour upgrade turned into a round-the-clock weekend marathon with teams in Augusta and Virginia scrambling to get the system back online for the Monday morning workday. The software upgrade was completed without a hitch the following Friday.

"We are stabilized," says Mr. Townsend. "We've not had any more firewall-related problems with people getting on the network or getting out to the Internet. Now that we're upgraded, we've stabilized the environment, but we've not completely put in the solution to resolve it long-term. These devices (computers) need to be upgraded based on the amount of traffic we're sending out to the Internet. That's really the bottom line."

That traffic has dramatically increased in the last four years, says Mr. Townsend, with online services such as PeopleSoft, SoftServe and Banner, Web-enabled, off-campus access, wireless service on campus, computer labs and service in new buildings – all of which go through firewalls unable to keep up.

"The traffic has grown and we need to grow that protection layer," Mr. Townsend says. The next step is to buy next-level higher-end devices to handle the traffic. He hopes to have the new computers within 45 days.