Equipment Reporting

In the 2010 session, the Nebraska Legislature passed a bill (see statute below) that requires Network Nebraska public education entities to notify the State CIO and the University of Nebraska (before its use) about new or additional equipment that will impact the use of Network Nebraska. The guidelines for reporting on this webpage were established by the CIO and the University of Nebraska in collaboration with the Network Nebraska Advisory Group and other institutional and regional network managers.

Network Nebraska staff are committed to maintaining the integrity and reliability of the core network serving hundreds of education entities. As part of a shared, federated network, each entity must be responsible for maintaining the proper security and management of its endpoints and routing configurations. This equipment reporting task is part of that responsibility.

Although the statute does not specifically name nonpublic education entities as having to comply, Network Nebraska staff strongly urge them to use this website in the same manner as their public counterparts. Although the statute does not specifically mention changes in connectivity as having to be reported, the State CIO and the University of Nebraska have included such changes in the guidelines. School districts are urged to contact their local ESU technical staff before purchasing equipment or placing them on the network.

If the Network Nebraska staff determine that a device or network modification adversely affects the core network to the detriment of other participants, or threatens the stability or integrity of the core network, the Network Nebraska staff will take steps to limit the bandwidth or shut down a site, until the problem is resolved. This participant responsibility appears in the Network Nebraska Service Level Agreement. Failure to comply with this reporting requirement is a violation of the Network Nebraska Service Level Agreement.

86-520.01. Information technology purchases; standards; use of Network Nebraska; notice required; when

(excerpt) An education-related political subdivision shall provide notice in writing, if required by guidelines established by the University of Nebraska and the Chief Information Officer for participation in Network Nebraska, to the distance education director of the Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council, the University of Nebraska, and the Chief Information Officer prior to the use of any new or additional equipment that will impact the use of Network Nebraska by such education-related political subdivision or other education-related political subdivisions.

New, Additional, or Replaced Equipment or network changes that need to be reported:

• Edge device (e.g. router, switch, firewall)
• MCU Bridge
• Streaming media server
• Any device that has the potential to increase the use of bandwidth by 10 Mbps under normal operating conditions
• Any change in wide area network (WAN) connectivity with service provider