Synopsis:
Established in 1994, Assam University provides higher education to students via a multidisciplinary approach. A teaching-cum-affiliating university, today the university has nine schools covering disciplines such as social sciences, humanities, languages, life sciences, physical sciences, technology, environmental sciences, information sciences, and management studies, with 29 departments under it. Additionally, it has 51 undergraduate colleges under five districts.
Plan:
Due to the non-availability of technical expertise, Assam University constituted a technical committee comprising senior scientists at the university, solution vendors, and other experts who prepared a roadmap or a consulting bill of material.
Since there was no existing infrastructure, the technical committee visualised a campus wide network that would enable students and faculty to access the Internet and Internet based resources. The LAN would offer secure, uninterrupted connectivity and security to department members.
The aim of the deployment was to ensure better communication between the various departments as well as fast data transfers.
Challenges:
- Security
- Terrain Solution
- Implementation of LAN across campus
- Security and wireless solutions
- Business Value
- Benefits of richer, advanced, secure educational methods to members of the academic community in the region
The terrain proved to be a major challenge as the campus (located in Dargakona, Silchar, South Assam) is spread across 600 acres (including hills and lakes) and the departments are located far apart. Although in its primary stage now there is scope for future growth and innovation, the technical committee believes.
Solution:
Following detailed discussions with the faculty, technical committee, BSNL, and OEMs, Cisco and HCL Comnet recommended the implementation of a LAN with fiber and UTP. The deployment included a campus LAN, a two-tier architecture having C4507R at the core with redundant supervisor, redundant power supply, and some fiber modules. Cisco Catalyst 4500 was deployed to deliver predictable and scalable performance, with dynamic quality-of-service (QoS) capabilities and configuration flexibility for enterprise wiring closets and SMB access/core.
The Cisco Catalyst 3560 provided access layer switch for small enterprise LAN access or branch-office environments, combining both 10/100/1000 and PoE configurations for productivity and investment protection. This will also enable the deployment of new applications such as IP telephony, wireless access, video surveillance, building management systems, and remote video kiosks at a later stage.
As security concerns are high in a university environment, Cisco ASA 5500 Series adaptive security appliances were implemented for perimeter security. Purposebuilt solutions that combine best-in-class security and VPN services with an innovative, extensible services architecture, this was designed as a core component of the Cisco Self3 Defending Network to provide proactive threat defense that will stop attacks before they spread across the network.
Why Cisco?
The university selected Cisco and HCL Comnet for this project after reviewing recommendations from other systems integrators. Asoke K Sen, dean, School of
Technology, Assam University said, Although the other products were competitive and cost effective, we chose Cisco because of reliability, reference & brand name. Cisco is the leader and since we are located in a remote corner of the country we did not want to take any chances.
Business Value:
Although the deployment is still in the primary stages, the initial success has paved the way for a second phase that will include e-governance (wherein all the colleges under
Assam University will be connected to the main campus) as well as more advanced technologies.
According to Sen the dean of the school of technology, Cisco s network has been supporting us well and today we believe we have the capability to offer our faculty and students uninterrupted connectivity that can enrich their learning / teaching experience. With the features that were implemented in both hardware and software we have been able to maximize network availability, helping to ensure workforce productivity, profitability, and ultimately our success as a university.
A network that is always available, stable, and secure inspires confidence in teachers who may be hesitant to give up pen and paper and try something new. It also motivates students to explore a wide universe of subjects and topics that are available virtually today. Our vision for Assam University is to enable them to create value for their academic community and offer high-quality education in the region, says Amit Malik, head, SMB, Cisco India and SAARC.
