2. The Technological Infrastructure – An integrated school network
The Technological Infrastructure – An integrated school network
Another commonly used term for an integrated network is a ‘Whole School Network’ or Campus Area Network. School will become more and more dependent on their ICT infrastructure to deliver all aspects of their work. It will be vital to ensure that the technological infrastructure is correctly specified to meet the daily curriculum tasks. In SMJK Dindings, the whole school is connected by a single cabling structure following the TIA/EIA 568 specifications, including administrative and curriculur fields. The Local Area Networking is scalable, star topology and Ethernet compliant. The Local Area Network linking each classroom, administrative office, counseling centre, library and science laboratories are connected via UTP Cat.5+ cable. In terms of physical networking hardware, the Campus Area Network consists of gigabits Ethernet (1000Mbps) backbone with switched 100Mbps connections to the desktop. SMJK Dindings is equipped with a data centre consolidating all the servers into one central location which serves to provide network resources to four separate networks.
The Campus Area Network, with fiber optic installation, interlinks blocks of buildings with high speed (1000Mbps) data and video transmission. Wireless Access Points are strategically located to cater to the needs of mobile users. In SMJK Dindings, the email traffic is routed through the SchoolNet with 1Mbps ADSL connection to email server located in a data centre situated in CyberJaya. While the 2 Mbps ADSL Streamyx with 5 fixed IPs are used for accessing the World Wide Web. The fixed IP enables the users’ files, printing and School Management System inside SMJK Dindings accessible from outside the school. Any workstation can perform any of the functions a school may need, regardless of whether it is within or outside the school and enabling electronic access to education resources even when the school is not in session – Information access anytime and anywhere. This integrated network is further fortified by installing appropriate security software to ensure that data integrity is not compromised. Hardware and software standardization definitely minimize downtime tremendously and ensure interoperability.
You must be logged in to post a comment.