UNC-1 network will be replaced by UNC-Secure in 2013

At the end of 2013, the UNC-1 network will shut down, forcing students to use UNC-Secure — a switch that more than half the campus has yet to make.

Jim Gogan, director of networking systems at Information Technology Services, is managing the switch. He said this process is time consuming because every model or brand of device needs to be configured differently.

The class of 2016 was automatically configured to UNC-Secure, which connected 30 to 40 percent of campus, compared to the 10 to 15 percent seen in the spring of this year, he said.

“This not only met but exceeded our expectations,” Gogan said. “Much of the credit is due to ResNet for making a big push to configure devices.”

ITS spent the summer configuring CCI laptops purchased by students to UNC-Secure, said Matt Howell, manager of ITS walk-in services.

“Also, when people come in with troubleshooting problems, we automatically set them up with UNC-Secure,” Howell said.

ITS is pushing the change due to the security difference between the new network and the old. Gogan said UNC-1 is more at risk because its encryption format is outdated, while UNC-Secure uses a more guarded form.

“The new network is less vulnerable to people eavesdropping,” Howell said.

UNC-1 will disappear completely by the end of 2013 when vendors cut off all equipment that supports the older encryption.

If people wait until then to switch, they will find themselves without internet.

Gogan said that besides the extra security, the networks are not very different.

“It’s not any faster or any more problematic,” he said. “What you get is a connection that is unbreakable.”

This spring, every department on campus will be evaluated to determine where UNC-1 is still being heavily used. ITS will focus on getting those departments transferred.

Freshman Alekhya Mallavarapu took her computer to the Undergraduate Library to get it configured with UNC-Secure.

“I’m happy that I don’t have to worry about a connection not being available,” Mallavarapu said. “I can get access fairly fast everywhere.”

But the transition to UNC-Secure has not been convenient for everyone.

Junior Clay Davis, a biology major, said he’s been having trouble switching to UNC-Secure.

“They walk you through the process pretty well, but it kept asking me for my ONYEN,” Davis said.

“I have never successfully connected.”

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