Network Unification will unify campus networks and standardize campus connectivity, improving security, performance, and operational consistency. UCLA’s unified network will bring the following features and benefits to UCLA, campus leaders, and end users.

1. Upgraded Campus Backbone and WAN/Edge

• Increase campus backbone capacity to support 400G line-rate connectivity, and upgrade from the current 100G capacity
• New campus perimeter firewalls to strengthen security controls 
• Upgraded Science DMZ to support high-performance research data transfers

2. Unified Campus Fabric Architecture & Building Connectivity

• Implement a new campus fabric architecture to unify separate campus networks
• Standardize building network designs and wired hardware for repeatable deployments and streamlined support
• Introduce a new IP addressing schema for specific user networks to reduce complexity, minimize risk, and streamline management

3. Enhanced Wireless Architecture & Capabilities

• Upgrade wireless architecture and hardware, expanding from Wi‑Fi 5 to Wi‑Fi 7 capabilities
• Introduce new wireless service set identifiers (SSIDs) to streamline the user experience

4. Network Security Modernization

• Deploy a campuswide macro- and micro-segmentation strategy to secure how users, devices, and systems communicate, reducing cybersecurity risk
• Expand network access control (NAC) using Aruba ClearPass and a device registration portal to enable role-based access and device profiling 
• Modernize firewall architecture with next-generation firewall features such as threat prevention and anti-malware
• Deploy distinct firewall layers, including WAN edge/internet, campus segmentation, and data center

5. Data Center Modernization

• Refresh the Math Science (MSA) Data Center network architecture, moving to a spine-leaf architecture and fabric design to improve scalability and low-latency performance
• Update data center firewalls and align with the new segmentation and policy model
   

Selected Vendors

After a rigorous evaluation and selection process, we are excited to announce the vendors who partner with UCLA on our next-generation network.