The ICN is improving its Network by enhancing its critical infrastructure in Southeast Iowa.
ICN successfully completed an equipment upgrade in Burlington, Wapello, Washington, and Tiffin, providing a dedicated 10Gb connection at each of these key (aggregation) sites. This upgrade delivers greater redundancy and reliability to the local community entities that rely on the ICNβlike hospitals, 911 services, and local schools. The new equipment allows Ethernet and IP services to travel over a redundant network.
To make this project possible, ICNβs engineering team utilized existing "spare" fiber strands to create reliable, interconnected links. The enhanced redundancy means that if the fiber is cut, the connection automatically reroutes to keep services running using a daisy-chain link among the rural locations. The hardware upgrade switched 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.
Network enhancements improve customer experiences and protect the critical infrastructure. To date, ICN has successfully installed the new equipment at 90 locations. Additionally, there are 15 more sites where installations are underway. These upgrades, which include the previously completed 100Gb core upgrade, are designed to future-proof the network against the increasing demands of emerging technologies.