Malawi Research and Education Network Project Status

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M A R E NMalawi Research and Education
NetworkBackbone Network Design Implemented
Planed
Anthony Muyepa Harry Gombachika, Rodwell S.
Bakolo MAREN Co-founders and Task-Force members
www.malico.mw/maren (soon
www.maren.mw)?
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Outline of Presentation

• Background
• Network Design
• Opportunities
• Challenges

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AIM

• The aim of MAREN is to develop the infrastructure
  to facilitate wide use of Internet Technology in
  teaching, research and sharing of information
  resources at affordable cost.

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Objectives

• Integrating all the Malawi Higher Education and
  Research Institutions in a one national broadband
  Network to offer high-speed, quality and
  economically sustainable services to member
  institutions including access to the global
  Internet.
• Providing a platform for researchers in Malawi to
  participate in collaborative research and
  development projects nationally and on the
  international stage and access global
  cyber-infrastructure

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Objectives continued

• Provide the infrastructure to support the
  development, sharing and delivery of innovative
  online education content and applications
  nationally and internationally and the
  development of learning and research communities
  across Malawi.
• Facilitate access to national and international
  information resources to optimise the efforts of
  researchers to create, manage, discover and
  disseminate knowledge through services such as
  video conferencing, E-Learning, E-mail, etc.
• .

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Existing Partnerships

• Working with ESCOM to utilise the fibre available
  to MAREN for academic connectivity for 3 years
• Working with MACRA, for harmonious regulatory
  conditions or academic connectivity
• Working with MTL to access metro fibre, towers,
  and ducts
• Collaborating with MISPA on the Malawi Internet
  Exchange activities and gain peering rights.
• International Collaboration through UbuntuNet
  Alliance for Research and Education Networking

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Design
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Main Academic Sites
Mzuzu University University of Malawi Bunda
College of Agriculture - Lilongwe Chancellor
College -Zomba College of Medicine
-BT Polytechnic Blantyre
Image by CSIR
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ESCOM Fibre in relation to locations MAREN member
institutions
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Design Considerations Blantyre Lilongwe Backbone

• Solution should address the following
• 2 Gigabit bandwidth between Blantyre and Lilongwe
• Reliable network not subject to obstructions
  and interference
• Accommodate future bandwidth requirements with
  incremental upgradeability
• Low cost extensibility

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Suggested Network Design

• Actively switched daisy fiber chain is proposed,
  as opposed to passive fiber
• Each site node will have an active node, and will
  requires a switch, a fibre distribution frame
  and a transceiver for each fibre cable that
  connects the node
• Traffic not destined at each switch is relayed to
  next.

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ESCOM Schematic Diagram
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Motivation for active daisy chain

• Number of fiber strands not dependent on number
  of sites
• New site requires fiber pulled from nearlest
  connected site
• Cost of fiber is reduced, while requires same
  number of switches

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Philosophy of the Network
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INSTALLED NETWORK
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International Gateway Licence

• Negotiated at length with MACRA for Licence to
  operate a national network which will connect
  Tertiary Education and Research institutions and
  then connect regionally.
• MACRA had already been very facilitative in
  granting MALICO a 5 year academic VSAT licence
• International Gateway License granted to MAREN to
  peer with other UbuntuNet Alliance members across
  borders at the MAREN Launch

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Challenges
Ownership Elaboration of final technology
blueprint and user policies Setup of
implementation team and institutionalization of
MAREN Definition of campus network standards
and network management guidelines Identification
of additional partnerships and project funding
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ZIKOMO KWAMBIRI!