Julius Charles Hubbard

Technology Consultant

jchubbardjr@gmail.com

www.slren.org

NETWORK ARCHITETURE PROPOSAL

Sierra Leone Research and Education Network - SLREN

SLREN 2016 ConferenceNjala University, Njala Campus, 28-29 July 2016

The Objective

Working together for sustainable national development

Critical for building a network-literate population that will serve as the foundation for the knowledge based economy in Sierra Leone.

Provide platform for collaborative research with partners

Serves as springboard for innovation; education, healthcare, and governance

Build a highly reliable, agile, simply and visible network for connecting

distributed SLREN members and partners.

Managed Secure MPLS backbone with restricted Internet access

• MultiProtocol Label Switching over Fibre optic cable system linking

members and partners.

• MPLS enables enterprises and service providers to build next-

generation, intelligent networks.

• Deliver a wide variety of advanced, value-added services over a single

infrastructure.

• MPLS is perfect for the demanding new requirements of cloud

computing, ensuring it continued success in the enterprise.“(Indeed) the need for cloud applications, including VPN to communicate effectively over the WAN will become

increasingly critical in network selection, a fact that plays to the strengths of MPLS VPNs.”

Secure MPLS Backbone

3

MPLS Architecture Diagram

Shared resources experience regardless

of location on the WAN

Reduction in time to deploy new technologies

Ubiquity of carrier-provided MPLS networks makes it a required consideration for an organization building a WAN.

Control operational costs; convergence of

services onto a single, centrally managed

infrastructure

Provide sufficient performance and reliability.

MPLS Network Design

5

WAN Optimization

6

SLREN shall provide the following services:

Fiber optic connectivity linked to WACREN

Bandwidth Supply & Management

Network Management

Backbone Transmission

Middleware & Information Security

Border Gateway

Protocol (PGP)Peering

Multi-media / Video Conferencing

Capacity Building

SLREN Services

Who stands to benefit

There are several higher education institutions and independent

research institutes in Sierra Leone involved in undertaking research.

Notable among these major centres of research;

Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute (SLARI)

Rokupr Agricultural Research Centre (RARC)

Njala University

Fourah Bay College

Institute of Marine Biology and Oceanography

Geological Survey Division

Institute of African Studies

The government and people of Sierra Leone

8

Campus Network

MPLS

NETWORK

Public / Private

Education Campus

Campus Network Challenges

Many are not structured properly and can’t

effectively utilize high bandwidth connections

Many make heavy use of NAT and firewalls

that limit performance

Many are built with unmanaged network

equipment that provide no ability for

monitoring or tuning the network

Many don’t run any network monitoring

10

Campus Network Rules

All users are connected at the campus

network level

Minimize number of network devices in any

path

Use standard solutions for common situations

Build Separate Core and Edge Networks

Provide services near the core

Separate border routers from core

Provide opportunities to firewall and shape

network traffic 11

SLREN Implementation Plan

Project Deliverables 2016 2017

No Qrt1 1

Qrt

2

Qrt

3

Qrt

4

Qrt

1

Qrt

2

Qrt

3

Qrt

4

1Get commitment and buy-in-at government &

institutional levelx

2 Building a membership base x

3Create a governance structure - ownership,

board, legal framework.x

4Establish a secretariat - the operation, with

premises, staff, equipmentx x

5 Produce a business plan - funding, fees, x x

6Design and acquire network backbone

infrastructurex x

7 Addressing last mile connectivity needs. x x x

8Engaging stakeholders - awareness raising and

training in competencies.x x

9 Develop core services x x

10 Establish connectivity to regional & global RENs x x

END GAME

SLREN VISION:

To develop and leverage high

quality information &

telecommunications infrastructure

and services for the Sierra Leone

research and higher education

community for national

development