The University of Notre Dame has completed a major network infrastructure upgrade in partnership with Cisco Systems Inc. The project involved replacing 955 network switches across approximately 170 campus buildings over a five-month period. The university transitioned to Cisco Catalyst 9300X multigigabit switches, managed through the Cisco Catalyst Center platform.
Prior to the refresh, the university's network consisted of hardware ranging from two to over 15 years old, spanning 28 different models and more than 100 operating system versions. The new standardized infrastructure utilizes zero-touch provisioning and Cisco ThousandEyes for enhanced network visibility. The deployment began in March and was largely completed by August 1.
The upgrade was motivated by a need to support increasing bandwidth demands, which more than doubled between fiscal 2021 and 2026. The university aims to support 100-gigabit connections where necessary by 2030. The new infrastructure is designed to improve security posture by maintaining consistent configurations across all campus switches.
The university moved away from a policy of yearly incremental upgrades to a consolidated refresh strategy. This approach aims to provide a consistent user experience across all buildings and free up IT staff for strategic goals. The project also addressed power constraints related to Power over Ethernet budgets for campus devices like cameras and phones.
