Case StudiesMajor Metropolitan School DistrictA major metropolitan school district in the Northwest discovered that its local area network (LAN) could not take advantage of new voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), videoconferencing and video on demand technologies. Such technologies are being used increasingly to cost-effectively provide digital education resources to multiple locations. Unfortunately, the district’s existing LAN—almost a decade old—had only 10 MBPS of bandwidth capacity. Furthermore, each district location used its own port-and-hub system, in which each port was connected to a hub and accessed the network through a single connection.
Structured’s SolutionStructured designed a new network with the connectivity, bandwidth, and capacity that the district required. Furthermore, we designed the new network for scalability and flexibility, so it can be quickly, easily, and cost effectively upgraded to handle future applications and increased use.
Using Alpine 3808 and Summit 48 switches and connectivity products from Extreme Networks, Structured replaced the district’s network infrastructure with a gigabit Ethernet, Layer 3 backbone and provided 10/100 switches to all offices and classrooms. The secure, high-speed virtual network provided every school and office in the district with direct Ethernet connectivity.
The new virtual LAN (VLAN) also provides the district with significantly increased levels of network security and control. The district can use it to organize end-users into specific groups of students, teachers and administrative staff, each with level of network access that the district defines. For instance, students can use the network for research, but are not able to access student files, district files, or other confidential records.
ResultsOur client now has a powerful new network capable of using the latest educational tools, including VoIP, videoconferencing, and video-on-demand. The new network also increases worker productivity throughout the district by providing faster access to information. Structured designed the new network for maximum flexibility and scalability, giving the district the freedom to upgrade rapidly to accommodate emerging technologies and increased usage. This will provide the district with long-term investment protection, too. Because the network is virtual, Structured has given the school district the ability to segregate network traffic and enhance network security. Such upgrades will preserve the integrity of the district’s critical information and eliminate unwanted downtime.