The Department of Education and Culture in KwaZulu-Natal has launched a major technology upgrade initiative that will culminate in the linking, via a wide area network (WAN), of its 60 administrative offices and other sites throughout the province to its head office complex in Ulundi.
According to AM Moodley, deputy manager (Information Technology) at the department, the project will also include the Truro building and Esplanade Government Building (EGB) in Durban.
He says the department is collaborating with 3Com SA, through its local branch, on the design of the networks and has standardised on 3Com products throughout its network.
"Apart from the fact that all our offices, including resource centres, will be linked, key benefits of the project include a more streamlined and efficient flow of information throughout the department," says Moodley.
"Security has also come under the spotlight and we are confident that the handling of all sensitive material, particularly papers associated with our senior certificate examinations, will be foolproof."
Byron Ainhirn, Education Network manager at the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), revealed that the department`s new 3Com network infrastructure centres on the installation of high speed, 10/100 Megabits-per-second (Mbps) links at each of the sites, complemented by a fast, 1GB core, linking enterprise, mail and terminal servers.
"The result will impact on more than 9 000 desktop workstations and will deliver measurable response and performance increases," he says.
"In designing the upgrade, 3Com`s brief included an overall improvement of efficiency, increased network stability, manageability and security for our systems - which include accounting, administration, human resources management and salary systems as well as e-mail," adds Ainhirn.
The network infrastructure will also be linked to Govnet - the government network - and the proposed KZN-online education initiative, which will bring a significant number of the 6 300 schools, 80 000 teachers and more than 2 million pupils in the province into the network.
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