The Network Modernization Program will transform UW–Madison’s current networking infrastructure into a future-ready, high-performance foundation. This transformation is essential to meet the growing demand in a data-driven world. Our future-state network will be built on advanced architectural principles—while empowering the people who use it.
Why now?
UW–Madison’s current network architecture is facing new challenges that impact both our technical capabilities and our ability to support the university’s evolving mission. These challenges are not just technical—they affect how we all work, collaborate and serve our students, faculty and staff.
Key issues include:
Technology limitations are holding us back
- We are reaching the limits of our current network’s capacity, such as MAC address and Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) constraints.
- Legacy protocols and aging infrastructure are increasingly difficult to support.
Institutional change demands a modern network
- As UW–Madison evolves—through digital transformation, hybrid learning, expanded research and administrative modernization—our network must evolve too.
- A modern, flexible, and secure network is foundational to supporting these institutional priorities.
What’s the risk of not changing?
If UW–Madison does not modernize its network, the university risks increased service disruptions, falling behind in research and digital learning, and rising costs to maintain outdated infrastructure and services. Continued reliance on legacy systems limits our ability to scale, secure, and innovate—ultimately impacting the campus community’s ability to teach, learn, and collaborate effectively.
Our architectural principles
Our future-state network will be built on advanced architectural principles, including:
- Enterprise Network Fabrics: Enabling dynamic, scalable, and policy-driven connectivity across campus.
- Data Center Fabrics: Supporting high-throughput, low-latency, and resilient data center operations.
- Security Policy Management: Enhancing threat detection, response, and compliance through unified controls.
- High Availability and Redundancy: Ensuring uninterrupted access to critical services and applications.
- Scalability and Flexibility: Accommodating future growth in users, devices, and data without compromising performance.
Our program and projects will focus on moving these things forward.
Learn more about our program and projects
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1. Data Center Fabric discovery project
The Data Center Fabric project aims to develop a plan to meet Wisconsin RISE Initiative and other campus needs, creating the unfettered application access, and Virtual Machine (VM) mobility infrastructure that UW–Madison requires. It will enhance network segmentation to enhance security, network performance, and improve fault tolerance – meaning if one data center goes down, the rest will remain protected, connected and available. As a result, researchers can count on highly available and reliable infrastructure to ensure their important research remains unconstrained and uninterrupted by technology.
Accomplishments, work and timeline
Accomplishments
- Kick-off
- Fabric Education
- High level requirements
Work in progress
- Technical discovery sessions with Cisco
- Working on Organizational Change Management Practices
- Continue to refine high level requirements
- Refining Stakeholder list
Upcoming work
- Continued discussions with Cisco
- Dashboard Proof of Concept Testing
Timeline
- Research and Technology Selection – 8/29/25
- Design Development – 9/1/25 to 10/31/25
2. Telecom Room (TR) of the Future Pilot
This pre-design project with UW–Madison Facilities Planning and Management (FP&M) will formally audit a selected group of network telecommunication rooms in 16 buildings against campus (Division 27) standards regarding space, power, cooling (HVAC), and backup power. The 16 buildings are a representative sample of the nearly 1000 data network closets in over 180 buildings providing campus network service.
The project will develop technical and budget information to ultimately ensure UW networks have ample physical facilities to meet growing network demands for wired network connections, security cameras, and higher capacity wireless network devices serving over 90,000 users daily.
Project deliverables
- Architectural / Engineering report identifying space, power, cooling and backup power deficiencies per telecom room with remediation options and budgetary costs
Accomplishments, work and timeline
Accomplishments
- Updated Division 27 (communications) specifications
- Identified 16 buildings to provide a representative sample of all campus TRs to develop a formal capital project plan and budget request
Work in progress
- Architectural / engineering bid solicitation for consultant to perform an evaluation and develop a report on findings, remediation options and budgetary costs
Upcoming work
- Project Architectural / Engineering firm kickoff
Timeline
- A / E selection: August 2025
- Substantial completion: Winter 2026
- Project Completion: Spring 2026
3. Firewall Architecture discovery project
UW requires reliable, scalable and robust firewall services to help protect network infrastructure and maintain data privacy and integrity for research, academic and administrative purposes. Currently, firewalls are “hyper-virtualized” and tightly coupled in the campus network routing infrastructure and logically appear in front of every School / College / Division (S/C/D) local area network (LAN).
The Firewall Architecture Design Discovery Project will collaboratively evaluate firewall architecture design options and identify a future design direction for campus deployment with a specific vendor. The outcome of this project will inform a future solution implementation project.
Project deliverables
- Whitepaper describing different firewall architecture design options considered for select vendor(s) and a recommended solution for implementation
Accomplishments, work and timeline
Accomplishments
- Created draft project charter
Work in progress
- Charter approval
- Design discussions with current firewall vendor
Upcoming work
- Requirements gathering
Timeline
- Phase 1: Initiating and Planning – May ’25 – July ‘25
- Establish final project charter
- Define membership of Firewall Design Group (FDG)
- Phase 2: Requirement Gathering – July ’25 – Dec ‘25
- Assemble Firewall Design Group (FDG)
- Gather requirements
- Define test/decision process
- Phase 3: Architect and Prototype – Jan ’26 – June ‘26
- Finalize requirements
- Establish test criteria
- Prototype and test
- Complete architecture design
- Phase 4: Discovery Closeout and Project Transfer – July ’26 – Aug ‘26
- Finalize recommendation
- Author whitepaper
- Present findings
4. Campus network architecture assessment (not started)
Current network segmentation has scaling and flexibility limitations and is not ready for Smart Access (zero trust) requirements. As a result, the team will evaluate more modern and flexible alternative network separation (segmentation) options to improve network segmentation scalability, reliability, flexibility, and programmability.
The team is discussing business and technical requirements needs, as well as issues, with campus.
5. Replacing aging network infrastructure (multiple projects)
The UW campus network currently has wired and wireless (WiFi) hardware in service that has reached its end-of life (EOL) when the manufacturer stops providing hardware and software support, updates, and discontinues manufacture and sale of that product. EOL hardware is more susceptible to unplanned failures resulting in network outages and vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks and breaches.
By replacing aging network hardware, faculty, staff and students will enjoy a more reliable, scalable and secure network service.
Project deliverables
- Replace aging Cisco 3750, 3850, 4500x switches
- Replace aging Cisco 3650 switches
- Upgrade aging wireless access points (Aruba AP-2xx)
Upcoming work
- Create project charters and plan work
Timeline
- 3750, 3850 4500x Replacement Project, Kickoff, July 2025
- 3650 Replacement Project, Kickoff, April 2026
- Aruba AP-2xx Wireless Access Point Replacement, complete UW-Housing facility upgrades by 6/30/2026
6. Implement 400 Gbps program
UW–Madison requires a scalable network with ample capacity to support research connections and large data movements with collaborators and labs across the world, for academic connections to our learning management system – Canvas, and for administrative connectivity to systems like Workday in the cloud.
This project will upgrade UW’s network capacity for on and off-campus research, academic, and administrative purposes to 400 Gbps to ensure our network scales to meet initial and future capacity demands. The project will also replace aging network equipment reaching the end of it’s useful life to maintain reliable network service for all users.
Project deliverables
- Replace aging BOREAS-Net off-campus research network hardware to support 400 Gbps connections
- Replace aging OneNeck off-campus research data center interconnect (DCI) network connectivity to campus to support 400 Gbps connections
- Replace aging campus “border routers” with 400 Gbps infrastructure
- Upgrade campus network to support 400 Gbps connectivity
Accomplishments, work and timeline
Accomplishments
- BOREAS-Net: Completed optical network design, RFP and equipment purchase
- OneNeck DCI: Completed network design, equipment purchase
- Border Routers: Configured, installed and placed into service new routers
Work in progress
- BOREAS-Net: Receive training and stage network equipment, Summer 2025
- OneNeck DCI: Install and migrate onto new optical network infrastructure, Summer 2025
- Border Routers: Migrate Research Backbone Network (RBN) onto new border routers, Summer 2025
Upcoming work
- BOREAS-Net: Install and migrate onto new optical network infrastructure, Winter 2025/6
- Campus Network Upgrades: Upgrading Research Backbone Network and Distributed Data Center Network (DDN) to accommodate expected network traffic growth, Fall 2025
Benefits and value
While the technology is foundational, the true success of this program lies in its ability to empower people:
- Enhanced collaboration: Faculty, researchers, and students across Schools, Colleges, and Divisions (S/C/D) will benefit from faster, more reliable, and secure connectivity, enabling interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation.
- Improved user experience: A modernized network will reduce downtime, improve access to digital resources, and support seamless mobility across campus.
- Operational efficiency: IT teams will gain tools for proactive monitoring, automation, and streamlined management, allowing them to focus more on strategic initiatives and less on troubleshooting.
- Trust and transparency: An architecture that fosters a culture of shared responsibility and trust, with clear governance and communication between central IT and S/C/D partners.
- Digital equity: By ensuring consistent and high-quality network access across all campus locations, we support inclusive access to education and research opportunities.
Our commitment
This modernization is not just a technical upgrade—it is a strategic investment in the university’s mission. We are committed to:
- Engaging stakeholders across campus to ensure the network meets diverse needs.
- Minimizing disruption during implementation through transparent planning and communication.
- Building a resilient, secure, and future-proof network that supports UW–Madison’s leadership in education, research, and public service.