The Iowa Communications Network (ICN) announces that it has successfully completed an equipment upgrade at multiple sites in Western Iowa along Highway 30.
The new equipment now offers a dedicated 10Gb connection at each aggregation location in Sioux City, Mapleton, Ida Grove, Denison, Carroll, Jefferson, and two Boone sites. Local healthcare entities, 911 public safety answering points, government offices, and community college sites all benefit from the added redundancy.
The installed equipment allows for Ethernet and IP services to pass through the Network on a redundant infrastructure. The hardware was switched from 24x1Gb connections to 24x10Gb connections, which is part of a larger Network project that will enhance 156 aggregation sites. When all sites are upgraded, ICN will have a full 10Gb converged aggregation network throughout the State.
For this grouping of sites, ICNβs engineering team took advantage of existing unused, or "spare," fiber strands already part of the Network backbone. These eight sites use a daisy-chain method, linking rural locations together to ensure Network redundancy. If an unexpected fiber cut occurs near the Carroll site, the impacted fiber connection can redirect either way to Denison or Jefferson, which demonstrates the redundancy of the Network.
Network enhancements made by the ICN improve customer experiences and protect the critical infrastructure. To date, ICN has successfully installed the new equipment at 77 locations. Additionally, there are 15 more sites where installations are underway. These types of upgrades are designed to future-proof the network and ensure it can handle the increasing demands of emerging technologies, like the previously completed 100Gb core upgrade.