Obafemi Awolowo University IleIfe Nigeria OAUNET An Overview

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria OAUNET An Overview BY Engr. Professor. L. O. Kehinde 10/3/2020 1

CATALOGUE OF EVENTS • Mid-1995 Feasibility studies on existing infrastructure in some selected Nigerian Universities. • 3 rd Quarter 1995: Choice of OAU as location of pilot center for Nigeria University Network (NUnet) • November 1995: Mo. U between OAU and ICTP. • October 1995 -January 1996: Training of OAU staff in Networking principles by ICTP instructors. • April 1996 : Installation of university network tagged “OAUnet” • June 1996 : Commencement of operation. 10/3/2020 AJAYI 1998 2

CATALOGUE OF EVENTS s 1996 1997 1998 1999 s 2004 • 2004 2006 s s 10/3/2020 Digital telephone line polling of ICTP Triangular polling through Lagos. Decentralized mail distribution system VSAT connectivity (64 kbps up/down) with cisco 2600 router Fibre LAN backbone introduced. Locally hosted web, mail, DNS and Proxy server. E-portal development. More Development of content, manpower and infrastructure 3

COORDINATION OF IT ON CAMPUS § § By a unit called information Technology & Communications Unit (INTECU). Responsibility of INTECU includes - Regulates the policies and procedures for ICT use and deployment in the University. - Responsible for designing, installing, and managing the information network within the university, including associated research centres as well as connecting these sites. - Establishment of hardware & software infrastructure - Assemblage of computers. - Manpower Training in ICT. 10/3/2020 4

BRIEF NETWORK DESCRIPTION. § • • • Mainly TCP/IP Protocol based Servers run on Linux Operating System 3 Subnets initially, now 18 Subnets and 8 cybercafés 2 GB fibre backbone capacity 3 Mbps Spread Spectrum wireless radio linking subnets to main centre, now hybrid of DS and FH systems. Full Internet facilities available on campus. VSAT connectivity with 3. 8 m, and 2. 4 m dishes operating at 4. 2 GHz and 6. 2 GHz in the C band. 10/3/2020 AJAYI 1998 5

ICT CONNECTIVITY ♣ Mode of ICT Connectivity Two VSAT with 3. 8. m and 2. 4 m dishes operating at frequencies in the range of 4. 2 GHz and 6. 2 GHz in the C band. ♣ Internet Bandwidth -512 kbps down/256 kbps up on one VSAT -256/128 kbps on the backup VSAT. -Grossly inadequate -Cost of bandwidth is about $100, 000 per year at present capacity. -Projected bandwidth within next 1 year is 5 mbps down/1 mbps up. ♣ Estimated up time is over 95%. 10/3/2020 6

NETWORK ARCHTECTURE s s PHYSICALLY, Hybrid of Star and Bus topology. Functionally, server/client model. 70% coverage of central academic area. 10% coverage of students hostels. 1 % coverage of staff quarters. 10/3/2020 7

WEBSITE ♣ URL is www. oauife. edu. ng: Locally hosted and developed ♣ Both web based and client/server supported e-mail connection. 10/3/2020 8

CAMPUS NETWORK s s s one network control center (NCC). 18 subnets including one site outside the university. Eight cyber cafés. Staff quarters. Mostly fibre optics and radio connection to N. C. C. Dial-up and hotspots in the pipeline. s s s s Locally available services at the N. C. C include Firewall Proxy/cache Mail Web Backup 10/3/2020 9

OPTICAL FIBRE ROUTE 10/3/2020 10

OAUNET - Main Network Diagram (Apart from 8 Cybercafes) Mostly FOC, few wireless Main HUB First Generation sc tech Second Generation usb Third Generation rectas law Planned 10/3/2020 Key cs chs hum edu OA agric HOL NC cerd biol chem phar util SQ VSAT Earth Station 512/256 Kbps, 256/128 Kbps sc - Sciences tech - Technology cs - Computer Science usb - Secretariat chs - Health Science agric- Agriculture NC - NACTEM OA - OAU Teaching Hospital HOL – H. O. Library law – law/soc sc/admin hum –Humanities edu – Education biol – Biological Sciences phar – Pharmacy util – Utilities SQ – Staff Quarters Chem-Chemical Engrg. 11

POWER (ELECTRICITY) SUPPLY ♠ Public power supply not too reliable. ♠ Backup available : - 9. 2 KVA battery backed inverter (Can backup for 10 hours) -Three 1. 5 MVA Generator University wide. - 12. 5 KVA diesel generator at NCC - 6. 4 KVA petrol generator at NCC 10/3/2020 12

INCOME, SUPPORTS AND FUNDING OF ICT ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ Mainly University through government funding. Special Library vote through government funding. Grant from External bodies e. g. Carnegie Corporation. Sponsorship of manpower training by ICTP. Subsidized monthly subscription by staff users. Income from Cybercafés Technical support, Equipment donations, book gifts from bodies such as NSRC, University of Oregon 10/3/2020 13

EXPENDITURE ♥ Hardware & Software purchases based on advice from INTECU. ♥ Recurrent cost of bandwidth up to $125, 000 per annum! ♥ Maintenance /upgrade of telephone exchange, VSAT maintenance at about $60, 000 per annum. ♥ maintenance of subnets through upgrading , repairs and maintenance of network devices 10/3/2020 14

ICT PROJECTS PRESENTLY UNDERTAKEN ♦ ♦ ♦ Subnet expansion to cover all staff quarters. Increment of bandwidth. Virtual/Distance learning projects. Multi-site teaching. Staff training and development in ICT. Full connectivity between all Administrative and Academic Departments. Establishment of Cyber cafés in all student’s hostels. Fully automated Library, Bursary and Administrative procedure. Optical Fiber backbone. Move towards paperless environment. Further collaboration with other institutions abroad. Development of ICT-based “Town and Gown” activities. 10/3/2020 15

PROPOSED DISTANCE LEARNING PROJECT 10/3/2020 16

OAU ICT EXPERTISE § § § Network Management. Software Development. Web Development. Multimedia Communication. Networked Data base Management. § 10/3/2020 17

STAFF s s s 4 I. T/Network Engineers. 5 Administrative staff 9 part-time Associate staff from the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. 1 chief technologist. 3 basic technicians 10/3/2020 18

HUMAN RESOURCES NEED ◘ More Engineers & Network Administrators needed. ◘ Present staffing grossly inadequate. § There are two graduate students and 4 undergraduate students on work-study basis. ◘ Need more women. There at present 4 women; 1 graduate and 3 undergraduate IT students. 10/3/2020 19

CAPACITY BUILDING NEEDS. • More technical training at OAU. • Awareness Seminars for users. • Critical mass of trained technical staff developed for training others in government and private sectors. • Ability to maintain, design and expand the network. 10/3/2020 AJAYI 1998 20

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE NEEDS ◘ PCs. ◘ Expanded Optical Fiber backbone. ◘ Switches ◘ Original software ◘ Solar power back-up 10/3/2020 21

TRAINING NEEDS s s s LAN/WAN Management. Fibre deployment and maintenance Network securities. Unix administration. TCP/IP optimization and QOS 10/3/2020 22

SERVICE AND APPLICATION NEEDS BY USERS s s s VOIP. Videoconferencing. Hotspots Access to original softwares (O. S, Antivirus, Educational softwares etc ) at subsidized cost. Better On-line research capabilities 10/3/2020 23

MAJOR OBSTACLES AND BARRIERS TO NETWORK EXTENSION s s Finance. Inadequate Infrastructure matching. Inadequate training and expertise Low computer access 10/3/2020 24

MAJOR CHALLENGES AHEAD * Cost of Upgrading Bandwidth & Network. * Funding Bandwidth cost. • Setting up multi-site teaching and distance learning hardware and software infrastructure. • Completion of optical fibre backbone. • Faster response to users’ needs and complaints. • Adequate training for technical staff. * Problems with recruiting and keeping staff. Big problem because of - Poor remuneration. - Long working hours. - Difficult shift duties. 10/3/2020 25

THANK YOU Contact us at: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS UNIT, (INTECU) COMPUTER BUILDINGS, OAU, ILE-IFE E-mail: intecu@oauife. edu. ng Phone: 234 806 004 0003 Fax: 036 -231733 Professor L. O. Kehinde (Director) 23408033298567 10/3/2020 26