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In the name of God the Most Compassionate and Merciful. UbuntuNet Alliance for Research and Education Networking UbuntuNet IEEEAF Eastern Cluster Design Workshop Nairobi 6-7 October 2008 The Sudanese Universities Information Network (SUIN ): Overview By: Dr. Iman Abuel Mali Abdelrahman
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In the name of God the Most Compassionate and Merciful UbuntuNet Alliance for Research and Education Networking UbuntuNet IEEEAF Eastern Cluster Design Workshop Nairobi 6-7 October 2008The Sudanese Universities Information Network (SUIN):Overview By: Dr. ImanAbuel Mali Abdelrahman CEO
Contents 1. Introduction 2. Project Overall Goal 3. Business Plan 4. Network Plan 5. Operation and Maintenance 7. Project Cost 8. Challenges and Opportunities 9. Proposed Network Design
About Sudan Area : 1 million square miles. Population: 36 Million
Telecommunication Revolution in Sudan 1993 Privatization of Telecommunication in Sudan • 1994 Regulator • 1995 Internet • 1997 Mobile Communication
Telecommunication Revolution in Sudan Mobile Technologies: 2.5 G, 3G, and 3.5G Data Transmission Networks : X-25, ATM, Frame Relay, DSL, mDSL, EVDO
Optical Fibre in Sudan a total of 11000 km Covering all states except the south
Higher Education 1902 • The beginning of higher education in Sudan trace to the establishment of the Gordon Memorial College in 1902
Total of 86 Institutions 27 Public Institutions 45 Private Institutions 14 Technical Institutions
A total of: 600,000 Students 13,000 Staff
Introduction • The ICT community at these universities and enthusiastic users exerted great pressure to acquire their own network.
Introduction • In 2004 the Ministry of Higher Education responded to these needs by establishing The Sudanese Universities Virtual Library project (SUVL) and later being upgraded to Sudanese Universities Information Network (SUIN.)
Sudanese Universities Information Network The Sudanese Universities Information Network S U I N
Main Goals The main goals of this project are to provide connectivity among the Sudanese educational institutions, increase sharing of knowledge, help universities build their information infrastructure, and extend the value of digital libraries.
Main Goals The main goals of this project are to provide connectivity among the Sudanese educational institutions, increase sharing of knowledge, help universities build their information infrastructure, and extend the value of digital libraries.
Business Plan • UofK is the oldest and largest public university in Sudan. • It has 5 campuses located in different geographical locations in Khartoum. • In 1999 the campuses were connected in a WAN based on different technologies (Optical fibre, frame relay and wireless Tech). • The business plan for SUIN was based on the model of the University of Khartoum (UofK) network • It has a similar users’ behaviour and service demand
Phased Plan • A five years plan for the whole project was outlined as follows: • Phase I Implementation of the Sudanese Universities Information Network (SUIN) 2005 • Phase II Implementation of the Sudanese Universities Virtual Library (SUVL) 2006 • Phase III Network upgrade and optimization 2007 • Phase IV Content development 2008 • Phase V E- services provision 2009
Network Plan: Phase I (2005) • 31 public universities were connected by 128 kbps data link using the Frame Relay technology to a central router at the University of Khartoum. • 4 Mbps was provided for the Internet, using the DSL technology. • Cisco routers and fast Ethernet were the technologies used.
Network Plan: Phase I (2005) • The service was provided by Sudatel. • Why starting with that very low connectivity ? • Because of the low budget available at that time. Frame Relay 128 Kbps / month ----------150 USD VSAT 512 Kbps/ month -----------2000 USD Optical Fibre 1 Mbps /month -----------2500 USD
Network Plan: Phase I (network topology) DTU 2801 Cisco 3660
Network Plan: Phase I (Obstacles) • 10 fold increase of the traffic especially for those universities for which SUIN were the only path to the Internet. • Due to small bandwidth; universities looked for other solutions to get a better bandwidth for the Internet. • Weak operation due to lack of proper contacts with the ICT people in the universities.
Local contents DBs Lib catalog ETD Staff Institutes Reports and stats Digital Libs News E-clases SUVL Int Libraries Int Clases Int sites Lib Societies Int. DBs International Contents
Network Plan: Phase II (network topology) • A web server and a firewall were connected to SUIN and four databases were implemented. • Open source software is the used • Figure (4) shows the network topology with details concerning the web server and firewall located in the University of Khartoum.
Phase III: Network upgrade • We got Fund for 2008 • Optical Fiber for • 30 Public univ, • 10 private • 10 research centers
Phase III: Network upgrade Current situation • Optical Fiber • Wireless • VSAT • Frame Relay
Phase III: Network upgrade VSAT Wireless Frame Relay Optical Fibre
Operation and Maintenance Consultancy committee • 2 Univeristies VC • 2 CEO form universities networks • 2 Directors from Ministry of Higher Education
Operation and Maintenance Technical Team • SUIN (CEO) • UofK CEO • SUST CEO • SUIN (CTO) • Three Technical assistant ( programmers) • Two part-time network engineers
Operation and Maintenance The ICT Committee The ICTC is comprised of 31 ICT specialists (Heads of university computer centers (CEOs)).
Operation and Maintenance The Libraries and Information Committee (LIC) The LIC is comprised of 13 librarians and information specialists in SUIN member institutions.
Capacity Building • In 2005: One training workshop in Networking and Linux operation system (70 trainers) • In 2007: 3 training workshops in Linux operating system ( 20 ICT specialists) • In 2007; 2 Training workshops in quality assurance of Libraries and building e-catalogues( 30 Librarians)
Project Cost The Project is Funded by Governmental bodies: 1. The Ministry of Higher Education 2. The Sudanese Information Technology Fund (SITF) • The whole project is locally funded WITHOUT any support from the International Bodies. • THEN we need to strengthen the relation with the supporting bodies
Challenges • Need for a decentralized design • Need for a sustainable operation model. • Completing the fiber networking with acceptable prices • Keeping the parties supporting the project motivated • Improve environment and salaries for ICT professionals • Applications and contents Development ( webhosting , email, elearning) • Assisting in Campuses connectivity
Opportunities • The National Regulator is the driving force for the project • The e-government project is a guarantee for continuation • Fiber will soon extend to southern Sudan and will connect to Uganda • Opportunity for STM1 provision • Opportunity for Dark fibre (e-Government project)
Proposed Network Design All connections through optical fibre • Decentralization of the network can be based either on: • Based on 4 universities where professional ICT people and proper server rooms exist. • E-Government Project
Proposed Network Design I • This design is centralized in 4 universities (4 NOCs) • Static Router • SNMP Activated in all Routers • 4 VLAN ID for each site (Internet, Data, Voice, Backup)
Proposed Network Design I • WAN IP: 192.168.16.40/30 • LAN IP: 172.16.0.x/24 • VLAN ID: • BW: 2Mbps • Internet IP: X.X.X.X/30 • WAN IP: Y.Y.Y.Y/24 • VLAN ID: • BW: 5Mbps
Proposed Network Design II The e-government project
Proposed Network Design II • The university node will be used as the gateway for the state and federal ministries and departments at state capital. • The federal ministries at Khartoum are connected to the network by GE links by using one of the following devices ( depending on size of Ministry and its location) • Net engine (router) NE20] • Net engine (router) AR28 • Layer 3 switch S3900
Proposed Network Design II • VLANs • Each university has its own VLAN • Routing to take place at the nearest network engine or L3 switch • SUIN will be connected to the NTC Data Center via network engine NE40 and GE link