Centralizing Operations For Management

Established in 1916, by Maharishi Dr Dhondo Keshav Karve, Shreemati Nathibai
Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) Women's University, Mumbai today has become a symbol
of excellence in higher education for women. The university is committed to the
cause of women empowerment through access to education, particularly higher
education, through relevant courses in the formal and non-formal streams.
Keeping its resources in mind, SNDT wanted to connect its operations within its
campus, and was looking for an effective solution for connecting the total
network of its university where 75,000 students get enrolled every year. SNDT
also needed a solution, which would enhance the quality of education it
provides.

Chennai-based net­working solutions company Dax network suggested SNDT to go
for Campus Area Network (CAN). The company seleted its authorized Dax solution
provider (ADSP)-Glodyne Technoserve, a the system integrator, for deploying the
solution.

Subashini Prabhakar, Chief Technology Manager, Dax Networks informed that Dax
has completed many projects in the education vertical and this prompted it to
extend its services towards SNDT.

Decentralized environment

As a huge university it had the basic infrastructure in place for their
educational purposes. However, it was not a centralized one and the issue SNDT
faced was maintaining the whole decentra­lized infrastructure. Both Dax and
Glodyne studied the network requirements and their study helped them in
understanding the level of computerization required for the deployment of campus
LAN. “We worked out a first level plan that included linking 750 nodes under LAN
connectivity on a centralized architecture,” infor­med Sharadchandra Rege,
Senior VP-Sales and Marketing, Glodyne Technoserve.

Dax helped Glodyne initially for the site survey and to study network
requirements.  Then, it assisted Glodyne for drawing a comprehensive design
for the project deployment. Keeping the complexity of the project in mind, Dax
prepared its ADSP for the project deployment before hand. “Prior to the project,
we trained Glodyne on products installation and other areas. Since Glodyne had
Dax-certified engineers, they were able to carry out the implementation
smoothly,” Prabhakar informed.

The whole set-up of campus LAN included Gigabit wired network for connecting
750 nodes, wireless access, Internet access through routers, for which, Dax
supplied high-end switching, wireless and structured cabling solution.

Design of the project

Goldyne was given the task of completely centralizing the operations and
enhancing the quality of education at SNDT. As a first step of the design,
Goldyne had to take a survey on the campus and for that, it had deputed
additional resource, as SNDT has a huge campus and it couldn't utilize its own
resources alone. Post this survey, it identified the need-based infrastructure
requirements and presented the report to SNDT for approval. Then along with Dax,
Glodyne prepared the design.

The combined network design ensured that the campus had a fully managed
network resulting in better control over the huge network set-up including fault
detection and quicker convergence thus guaranteeing 99.99 percent network
uptime. The network was made scalable with the convenience of wireless for
mobile users enabling them to be a part of the campus LAN and share the
resources.

Solutions deployed

Dax has deployed DX-5749XGS at the core (L3 10/100/100 switch with 4SFP) and
DX-5026MG at the edge (2 1000 TX port and 2 open slot switch) along with
DX-915ABO wireless access point and Cat 6 cabling solution for this set-up.
While DX-5026MG was deployed to improve LAN operating efficiency with high
performance, DX-915ABO took care of the enhanced wireless services.

The whole project involved multiple phases, which included deployment of
campus LAN in various campuses of SNDT in Mumbai and in out-station locations,
and providing WAN connectivity between multiple campuses across cities. As of
now, the campus LAN has been implemented in the Churchgate campus and parts of
Juhu campus.

Challenges

During the deployment, Glodyne hardly faced any challenges and it was a
smooth sailing all along. “We didn't face any major challenge as providing IMS
service is our core strength and that's what we do. In addition, over the years,
we have built a strong relationship with SNDT and therefore we understood their
IT infrastructure easily,” said Rege.

Subashini Prabhakar, CTO, Dax Networks also felt that apart from finalising
the requirements, Glodyne didn't face any challenges. “Even there, Dax assisted
Glodyne to overcome the challenge by helping out in understanding the
requirements,” she informed.

On the completion of the project, Sudha Jagadish, COO, Dax Networks said,
“Dax would like to thank Glodyne Techno­serve for being instrumental in this
achievement. In Dax's

20-year networking experience in India, education has been an important focus
vertical for the company. SNDT is a very significant success, and Dax will
continually support the growth of this university with its high-end,
cost-effective networking solutions.”

Client response

Speaking on the significance of the project SS Mantha, Pro Vice Chancellor,
SNDT University said, “We constantly strive to provide our students with the
best facilities. With Dax's feature-rich and advanced networking solutions, we
will be able to enhance the quality of our educational offerings. We are also
looking at deploying similar CAN in our other campuses in Pune, Palghar and
Ahmedabad.”

NR Sethuraman

sethuramannr@cybermedia.co.in