1 / 16

Enhancing R&E Connectivity to and within South Asia Country Report: Sri Lanka

Nimal Ratnayake Technical Manager/LEARN. Enhancing R&E Connectivity to and within South Asia Country Report: Sri Lanka. R&E Networking in Sri Lanka. Lanka Education and Research Network (LEARN): www.learn.ac.lk Focus: Higher Education / Research

tuan
Télécharger la présentation

Enhancing R&E Connectivity to and within South Asia Country Report: Sri Lanka

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Nimal Ratnayake Technical Manager/LEARN Enhancing R&E Connectivity to and within South AsiaCountry Report: Sri Lanka

  2. R&E Networking in Sri Lanka • Lanka Education and Research Network (LEARN): www.learn.ac.lk • Focus: Higher Education / Research • All 16 state funded universities (26 campuses) • University Grants Commission (UGC) • 5 Research institutions • SchoolNet: www.schoolnet.lk • Focus: Secondary Education • 1000 schools, 90 computer resource centers • 17 national colleges of education • Ministry of education • National institute of Education etc

  3. LEARN • Started in early 1990s • We interconnect • All 15 state funded universities (26 campuses) • University Grants Commission (UGC) • 5 Research institutions • Provide Internet access • Purchase commodity Internet bandwidth in bulk • 100% self funded • Members charged for the services provided • Not directly dependent on govt. funding • Full member of APAN • No direct connections to academic Internet

  4. Past • Started in the early 1990s • Before Sri Lanka got Internet connectivity • UUCP based e-mail facility (LEARNMail) • Phase 1: 1994 – 1998 • 1994: 3 universities (CMB, MRT, OU) • Initial funding provided by the UGC • Internet connectivity in 1995/1996 • By 1998 most universities connected • Phase 2: 1999 – 2004 • Upgraded link bandwidths to 2Mbps [Suntel] • Funding provided by Sida/SAREC (Sweden) • Internet Access Bandwidth: ~3Mbps • Video conferencing between 4 sites

  5. Past (2) • Phase 3: 2005 – 2006 • IP-VPN over MPLS network [SLT] • Servers hosted at SLTiDC • Many sites had one/two 2Mbps links • Others are 256kbps – 1 Mbps • Jan 2005: Internet access BW 4.5Mbps • Dec 2006: Internet access BW 45Mbps (LEARN and SchoolNet) • Routing voice calls between some sites

  6. Present • Phase 4: 2007 – • 15 links to be upgraded to 10Mbps over fiber • 6 links already completed • Remaining links by June 2007 • Funded partially by the IRQUE project (WB loan) • Possibility to upgrade to 100Mbps • Internet access BW 155Mbps (shared between LEARN and SchoolNet)

  7. Services • Video Conferencing/Remote teaching/ Meetings • Among institutions • International • Conference bridge to be purchased soon • Voice • SIP based infrastructure • Gateways to PBXs • sip.edu implementation • MIT Open Courseware Mirror • Other mirrors • Technical Training/Workshops • SPAM Filtering/Virus Scan

  8. Achievements • Interconnect all state funded universities • Overcome skepticism about benefits • Benefits • Lower prices for local links • Lower prices for Internet access • Access to any unused bandwidth of Internet access during off-peek hours • Value addition (e.g. spam filtering) • Sharing of expertise / Technical workshops • Driving force for Telecom operators • Our requirements push them to upgrade their networks and practices

  9. Collective purchasing power vs. artificial prices • Artificial prices of telecom services • Internet Access • LEARN paid $15,000/month for 7Mbps • SchoolNet offered $80,000/month for 155Mbps, but their budget is only $60,000/month • LEARN and SchoolNet share 155Mbps • LEARN gets 45Mbps for $20,000/month • Local links • UoC paid $120/month for 2Mbps • UWU paid $1300/month for 2Mbps • Upgrade all LEARN links to 10/100 Mbps via optical fiber: $950/month for each 10Mbps link

  10. Challenges • Insufficient bandwidth of links • Some links still congested (even at 10Mbps) • Universities now really need high speed(eLearning, Video Conferencing, Voice) • Need to upgrade at least some links to 100 Mbps • Limitations in national telecom infrastucture • Specially in the areas outside the capital • Lack of connectivity to other NRENs • We are a full member of APAN • Yet to get connected to APAN or other academic network • TEIN3 (June 2008) is a possibillity, with government/external funding

  11. Congested links < 2Mbps links (before upgrade) 10Mbps links > (after upgrade)

  12. Challenges (ctd) • Silo syndrome • Different projects funded by different donors • Build separate networks instead of strengthening existing ones • Co-ordination among donors is essential • High prices of Internet bandwidth • International connectivity almost a monopoly • Much higher than in US or Europe • High profit margin of telecom operators • Getting connected to APAN/TEIN will enable us to purchase Internet access at much lower prices

  13. SchoolNet • 912 nodes up to March 31 • Ministry of Education: 8Mbps • National Institute of Education: 4Mbps • National Colleges of Education: 512Kbps/2Mbps • Provincial IT Centers: 512Kbps • Computer Resource Centers: 256-512 Kbps • Schools: 64Kbps/128Kbps (about 850) • local link bandwdth upgrade is being done • Schools from 64K to 128K • Doubling of bandwidth for some other places • 50% links are wired, rest wireless • Target: 5000 schools by 2010 • 400-500 more nodes before end of 2007

  14. APAN-South Asia Net Group • http://www.apan.net/regional/south-group.htm • Formed in Sep 2003 • Several “official” meetings at each APAN meeting until about 2005 • Informal meetings afterwards • Jan 2006 – Tokyo meeting (informal) • Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka • Decided to work on a South Asia Net proposal • Each country was to contribute towards a single proposal • Progress slow

  15. Other possibilities • Pursuing in SAARC forums • Better participation at meetings • Possible government support • In line with clause 14 of the declaration made after the 14th summit (April 2007) • Co-ordination with the South Asian University effort • UGC of Sri Lanka supportive • Next meeting in June • ? External political pressure • To work together instead of individually

More Related