Design of the Bank of America California Data Network
Muayyad Al-Chalabi, William J. Liss · AT&T Technical Journal · 1988
This paper describes Bank of America's California data network, a corporate utility network that uses AT&T's Datakit® virtual-circuit-switch technology to consolidate multiple networks into a single network. The network is managed by AT&T's StarKeeper® network-management system and Dataphone® II level-IV system controller. The network architecture consists of an access network that connects branches to hubs, and a backbone network that interconnects hubs and data centers. We address three fundamental areas: optimization of the network topology and node configuration, performance analysis, and network management. Network optimization deals with determining the optimal number of nodes, access facilities engineering, and backbone configuration and routing. Performance analysis shows the end-to-end delays for the applications. In the network management area, we discuss administration, disaster recovery, network monitoring, and data collection.