The ODN project (or Outback Digital Network) began life last year in response to the Federal Government’s Networking The Nation scheme, which envisioned the delivery of various information technology services to users and communities across the remote areas of Australia.
The ODN project first took form with the Cape York Digital Network requested submissions for the design, implementation and deployment of communication services to remote Aboriginal communities in Far North Queensland. The services envisioned by CYDN would incorporate facilities for video conferencing between communities and correctional facilities as well as providing access to Internet services and messaging and the provision of computing services such as office productivity tools and desktop publishing.
NDC was selected to deliver the communications project and subsequently Vectra was recruited in the role of design and deployment of the computing infrastructure and the subcontracting of these services to NDC for the duration of the project.
Project Guidelines
The original guidelines or requirements for the Cape York Digital Network incorporated the delivery of a multitude of digital services to remote communities including Video Conferencing, Internet Access, Messaging and Email services, Office productivity and various publishing services. These guidelines covered the expected services for remote communities but left open, the methodology and means for the implementation and delivery solution.
At this time, there was very little in the way of communications services available in Far North Queensland so the traditional infrastructure paths of simply renting bandwidth from existing carriers and implementing a private WAN was not a viable option. Also, some of the locals where communications infrastructure would be installed did not even boast reliable mains electrical power.
Communications
These factors lead to NDC designing a communications network for the delivery of the required services incorporating numerous technologies and taking advantage of existing carriers where possible and using innovative solutions to deal with the adverse environment.
The technical solution for the communications network evolved to become an ISDN delivery service channelled over a network of Microwave Radio Towers and existing Telstra service capabilities. Cisco Systems technology was selected for the communications routing framework in various guises including DC powered devices to operate in adverse conditions.
Bandwidth
The driver for bandwidth of the communications network came in the form of the Video Conferencing requirements, as typically Video requires significant bandwidth allocation to provide image clarity and the type of performance required to ensure that the end users in the communities would accept the use of such systems. To this end, Picture Tel systems were used for the Primary conference tools in the communities and the ISDN bandwidth calculations rose to levels as high as six Basic Rate Interfaces (or BRI’s) in each of the remote communities. This relates to bandwidth of around 760Kb/sec and as you can imagine that translated to some significant call costs being estimated which would not allow the project to be viable.
In order to keep the communications costs to a minimum it was recognised that the Video was very much a peak demand system and that therefore the nominal requirements could be kept quite low and then ramped up on demand using the Cisco router infrastructure.
It was calculated that the communications would need to be kept as low as 64Kb/sec or less than a tenth of the total capacity for the majority of the time in order to keep the costs down to a sustainable level.
These results were fine for the Video Conferencing solution but left the infrastructure team with some interesting problems to overcome in the delivery of the required computing services to the communities.
Our communications allocation of 64Kb had to provide all the computing resources of Internet, email, file and data storage, printing, backup, anti virus and of course management tools not only for the computing resources but the communications infrastructure which would need SNMP management. And on top of this, the computing resources would have to compete with the Video Conferencing during peak usage.
Infrastructure Design
So in the end, the infrastructure design team had to come up with a solution that would meet the prime objectives of the CYDN within the constraints delivered by the communications design.
Our model had to allow for:
Very remote sites with little or no existing infrastructure or capabilities
Isolated locations without ready access to support services or assistance
End users with varying degrees of computer literacy right down to users who had not previously seen a computer.
A management system to support both the hardware devices and the end users and their applications.
Hostile conditions for computing equipment including high temperatures, humidity and dust.
We also had to allow for future expansion plans including spanning the network across the North of Australia but also the proposed costs advantages of opening up of the network to other individuals and business to take advantage of the new services in the regions.
Server Based Computing
The team looked into several models for the application of the required services and came to the conclusion that by far the most effective solution was to implement a Server Based Computing model.
The basis of this model would come in the form of a Central Server Farm located in Cairns in a secure and environmentally controlled environment with ready access to both communications services and the technical support capacity required to maintain and manage the whole environment through its life. A technical support and management team would be established in Cairns to oversee the whole operation in FNQ which to date has spread to twelve remote communities.
Server Specifications
The Cairns Central server farm is based on the IBM x Series server platform and in the initial implementation for FNQ comprises:
2 x Application servers running Windows 2000 serving Exchange, ISA and file and print applications
2 x Management and Monitoring servers running Network Node Manager, Rapport for Wyse terminals and Cisco Works 2000
2 x Citrix Metaframe XPe servers delivering the applications to the users.
The Citrix servers are based on Windows 2000 Advanced Server and are configured with dual processors, 2 Gb memory and use RAID technology for storage performance and disk redundancy. The farm also makes use of Power protection management and high availability and redundancy technologies have been extensively used to reduce downtime and improve reliability. IBM rack optimised technology was used to allow for the projected growth potential while making allowance for space considerations.
The predominant applications served through the Citrix farm are the Microsoft Office XP suite and browser and messaging clients although there are plans to incorporate accounting and database applications in the near future.
Staging and Installation
The implementation of the project incorporated the staging of all hardware in Adelaide prior to delivery to Cairns to ensure that all systems were operational and to allow sign off approval from NDC before the equipment left for Queensland. Pre staging in at Vectra in Adelaide included real world testing of all systems including communications, wireless devices, Video Conference equipment and all computer hardware to ensure a seamless rollout in the shortest possible time whilst giving project team members familiarity with the solution prior to deployment.
Restrictions and constraints in Queensland included implementation time frame deadlines to take account of the wet season, which would make travel to some of the remote areas unrealistic. This was also a factor in choosing to prepare the bulk of the solution in Adelaide in advance.
Citrix Metaframe
NDC and Vectra chose to deploy the required Server Based Computing model using the Citrix Metaframe XPe product for application delivery.
Metaframe gave us the tools and capabilities required to deliver the application performance and management that would be needed to ensure the success of the project given the limitations of communications bandwidth and on site support difficulties.
The performance of the applications was important to the overall acceptance of the project and given the small bandwidth available, Metaframe allowed us to deliver the performance we needed, particularly when on site networks included shared wireless links between buildings.
The implementation of Metaframe in a multi server farm provided a level of fault tolerance in the system with the capability for redundancy of services and the performance benefits of load balancing or load sharing. This solution also created a simplified growth path with the capacity to add additional servers in the farm to cope with future load expectations.
The use of Metaframe in this scenario also gave us the edge in the areas of ongoing support and management of the environment from the server farm to the end users. Due to the isolation of the end user locations, it was important to have a process where by these users could receive the same level of service and support expected in city office environments. The support and management benefits with Metaframe allows for the support team:
To roll out new applications to multiple users in multiple locations deployed remotely from a central location
To remotely manage and support those users, including remote control sessions and session shadowing
To provide a central location for storage and backup while still retaining remote printing capabilities
WYSE Terminals
The delivery of applications to the remote communities required a level of computing infrastructure in the communities, which incorporated a mixture of Personal Computers and Thin Client Devices for use in various locations on each site ranging an average from five to ten devices per site and the initial implementation, includes twelve remote communities.
Wyse Thin Client Terminals were ultimately chosen for this project for their robustness in adverse environments, their ease of configuration and deployment and their suitability for the applications and delivery method.
Wyse terminals offered the project team a device that could be seen almost as an appliance that could be quickly installed and then managed over a long period of time with no requirement for physical servicing or maintenance. The Wyse devices are highly resilient to adverse environmental conditions including temperature and humidity, and the physical demands of transportation to remote areas. They provide the support team with an appliance that can be replaced in the event of a loss or failure by an inexperienced user, negating the need for specialised service technicians.
Ongoing management of the Wyse devices is delivered through use of the Rapport package which allows the support team to perform functions such as configuration changes, firmware updates, device reboots and hardware inventory all from the Cairns Support location.
Ongoing Management – Wrap Up
The combination of these products and services created a Network delivery and support mechanism that provided the Outback Digital Network with an efficient and cost effective platform that met their expectations and requirements.
The success of the project to date has given rise to expectations that the infrastructure model may well be adopted by the other regions in the Northern Territory and Western Australia and plans are under review to take advantage of the new infrastructure and expand the existing services to businesses and individuals outside of the Aboriginal Community.
To facilitate this expansion, the team are currently trialling the Citrix NFUSE portal product to allow the delivery of applications to users outside the network environment.
All of the equipment and devices are currently managed by a support team located in Cairns comprising two technicians with remote support assistance from the Vectra Support Centre in Adelaide.
As at January 2003, the Cape York Digital Network spans twelve remote Aboriginal Communities utilising video conferencing hardware, personal computers and thin client terminals servicing a distributed user base of over five hundred users.