Stellenbosch University completes 3Com network upgrade to launch `e-Campus` project

Stellenbosch University, one of SA`s oldest tertiary education establishments, founded in the 1860s, is providing all 5 500 students at its residences with access to its core computer network as part of its `e-Campus` project, courtesy of a 3Com Gigabit Ethernet solution.

Designed to allow students to study over the Internet with fully interactive course content, the project also provides them with e-mail access.

The university, which has two satellite medical and business school campuses at nearby Bellville, has a student population in excess of 24 000, including 5 000 distance learners. More than 20 000 network users are registered.

A key benefit of the project, according to Joe Smit, director of user services at the university, is that it enables the university to fast-track the implementation of its e-learning plans.

The network, which was designed in consultation with 3Com South Africa, features a high-speed Gigabit Ethernet backbone and a 3Mbps pipe to the Internet.

"More than 90% of our current network comprises 3Com equipment," notes Smit, who says that performance was a primary consideration in deciding on the university`s network upgrade strategy.

"We had reached a stage in our growth where bandwidth was in great demand. As a result, we approached 3Com to assist us in implementing an upgrade that met this demand.

"Bandwidth became a central theme. For example, some 400km of fibre optic cabling replaced copper to link the 52 administration, academic and residences on the campuses at 1Gb speeds.

"The network now incorporates satellite, rather than telephone line links, to 24 centres around the country to provide access points for the university`s distance learners," he says.

From a technical perspective, the network comprises five high performance, managed 3Com SuperStack 3 Gigabit Ethernet Switches in the backbone. The intelligent Layer 3 functionality of these switches enables network managers to control network usage through IP routing, and implement security policies on networks using MAC access lists.

"This was a requirement for rolling out access to the student residences," says Albert Meyer, head of Infrastructure at Stellenbosch. "We had to ensure that students used their own IP Web accounts and MAC addresses not only for security reasons and to ensure that only authorised users access the system, but also so that we could bill individuals for private usage."

Currently, more than 70 3Com SuperStack 3 Switch 4400 SEs are installed to provide 10/100 Ethernet switching to the desktop. The second phase of the network upgrade will see a further 220 similar switches installed at critical access points on the networks.

These will replace existing 3Com SuperStack 2 3300 switches, which are being re-deployed at less critical points, with other older switches - such as 3Com SuperStack 2 1100s and 1000s - continuing to provide quality service at less demanding sites.

Surprisingly for a network of its size, network management is not a major concern for the university.

"While we rely on the management functionality available within the 3Com equipment, we do place emphasis on hardware reliability, so that intensive management becomes unnecessary," concludes Smith.