Network management for community networks

Wells, Daniel David

Title: Network management for community networks
Creator: Wells, Daniel David
Subject: Computer networks -- Management
Subject: Internet -- South Africa
Subject: Internet -- Management
Subject: Broadband communication systems
Date Issued: 2010
Date: 2010
Date: 2010-03-26
Type: Thesis
Type: Masters
Type: MSc
Identifier: vital:4643
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006587
Description: Community networks (in South Africa and Africa) are often serviced by limited bandwidth network backhauls. Relative to the basic needs of the community, this is an expensive ongoing concern. In many cases the Internet connection is shared among multiple sites. Community networks may also have a lack of technical personnel to maintain a network of this nature. Hence, there is a demand for a system which will monitor and manage bandwidth use, as well as network use. The proposed solution for community networks and the focus within this dissertation, is a system of two parts. A Community Access Point (CAP) is located at each site within the community network. This provides the hosts and servers at that site with access to services on the community network and the Internet, it is the site's router. The CAP provides a web based interface (CAPgui) which allows configuration of the device and viewing of simple monitoring statistics. The Access Concentrator (AC) is the default router for the CAPs and the gateway to the Internet. It provides authenticated and encrypted communication between the network sites. The AC performs several monitoring functions, both for the individual sites and for the upstream Internet connection. The AC provides a means for centrally managing and effectively allocating Internet bandwidth by using the web based interface (ACgui). Bandwidth use can be allocated per user, per host and per site. The system is maintainable, extendable and customisable for different network architectures. The system was deployed successfully to two community networks. The Centre of Excellence (CoE) testbed network is a peri-urban network deployment whereas the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL) network is a rural deployment. The results gathered conclude that the project was successful as the deployed system is more robust and more manageable than the previous systems.
Format: 145 p.
Format: pdf
Contributor: Irwin, Barry Vivian William
Contributor: Siebörger, Ingrid
Publisher: Rhodes University
Publisher: Faculty of Science, Computer Science
Language: English
Rights: Wells, Daniel David

Hits: 941
Visitors: 1058
Downloads: 137

Collections

RU Department of Computer Science

		Thumbnail	File	Description	Size	Format
View Details Download			SOURCEPDF	PDF	1 MB	Adobe Acrobat PDF	View Details Download