“The uncompromising quality of education we provide to our students is of paramount importance and the IT infrastructure is now aligned to our values and will move forward with us.” 
Mr Michael Quinn- Principal.

Challenge

Caroline Chisholm College is the largest Catholic college in Melbourne’s west, with 1,500
students in years prep to 12, and 180 staff members. 

Caroline Chisholm College was in need of a complete network overhaul as part of their commitment to providing students and staff with effective tools for them to learn and teach.

IT Environment

Data Network
The existing network consisted of a series of mismatched Windows and Linux servers. The network could not be easily upgraded or managed nor could it readily accommodate new technology. The tools it provided students had become increasingly unwieldy and unreliable. Entry to different parts of the network was determined by geography rather than authentication- i.e. which computer a student or teacher was using, making access inflexible.

Telephony
The College was due for an upgrade on their phone system. They had a legacy NEC PABX at each site of their two sites, and since the campuses were only linked for data, not telephony, users were unable to transfer calls between them. Any adds, moves, or changes had to be administered by an NEC reseller. This was time-consuming and costly.

Security
A basic firewall provided minimal protection against outside threats. This meant relying on a third party to provide ongoing support.

Solution

Generation-e installed a single, secure network infrastructure that is easy and low-cost to manage, has increased staff productivity through mobility, IP Telephony, centralisation and is protected from threats.

1. Infrastructure Consolidation

The 3Com 5500 Switch provides a dramatically simplified network structure and significant savings in productivity gains. It aims to provide support to turn three MS Windows server domains into one. Access is based on user identity instead of ports or devices. The proposed multiple controllers and switches, share user databases to support mobility and security across the entire network infrastructure, including remote offices.

2. Storage

With the increase in multimedia use the school has a massive amount of student data. The EMC storage solution enables them to store all this data and scale it to a sizeable capacity of 6 terabytes.

3. Network Management

The 3Com WX1200 Wireless LAN Switch and Wireless Switch Manager software, centrally manages and controls Wireless LAN Managed Access Points (MAPs). Instead of having to manage multiple access points individually, the new wireless switch pushes the configuration onto all access points automatically, enabling easier management.

4. Mobility & Secure Remote Access

Although wireless, the WX1200 LAN switch has security functionality to enable secure remote access. It is aware of who is using the network rather than where they are using it from and provides access to only allocated areas. This means it will launch a denial of service attack if an unauthorised student attempts to access the network with an outside laptop.

The Juniper SSLVPN is more secure and simpler to use than traditional VPN technology. It enables the network administrator granular control over what users are allowed to access. By keying in a simple URL, users enter their name and password to access predetermined parts of the network, instead of the entire network that a traditional VPN would allow. Web access can be provided to applications that are not originally web-based.

With the 3 Mobile Broadband cards, mobile staff members are now able to securely access the Internet, their email and the network using a laptop, from anywhere in the world.

5. IP Telephony

A 3Com NBX Voice Over IP system replaced the two old phone systems. The 3Com Voice Over IP phone system was able to run over the existing link between sites so that users able to transfer calls at no cost. What’s more, users have visibility on who’s on the phone, they have voice mail, computer-telephony integration and unified messaging (their phone messages come in as emails). The system was fully installed working side by side with old system. The cutover did not occur until staff had undergone the training in the new system.

6. Network Security

A Tipping Point Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) was installed to replace the old firewall. The IPS X505 provides a secure connection between staff and students as well providing connectivity to and protection from the Internet.

It protects their web servers from current and emerging threats. What’s more, by examining the traffic itself, it is able to differentiate between web traffic, long distance calls and MSN and then report back to the Network Administrator.

The IronPort C100 anti-spam appliance was installed. It controls both inbound and outbound email, so that the school can now control how it is represented to the outside world. The appliance enables staff to filter email content and track specific words and attachments, in line with their strict email policy.

Business Impact

Mobility

• Network users can work remotely and securely access school resources no matter where they are- on campus, off campus or virtually anywhere in the world.
• Network administrators can even manage network from an Internet café.

Increased staff productivity

• Administrators save time by not having to wade through masses of email to detect false positives.
• IT Services does not need to constantly update patches for new viruses.
• IT Services manages one network instead of three.

Centralised security and protection

• Now the school has the ability to only give access to users through authentication.
• Remote access can be given with very granular levels of control.
• Intrusion prevention protects against current and emerging viruses & threats.

Cost savings

• Phone calls are now made between sites at no cost.
• The entire phone system is managed internally so there is no need to pay external parties. Adds, moves and changes are made by the IT staff thus lowering the Caroline Chisholm Catholic College’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) on the phone system.

Compliance with email policy

• The system takes care of both inbound and outbound email. This also addresses the school’s email policies.

Protection with Disaster Recovery Plan

• The storage allows them to meet their recover time objectives- the time to recover in the event of a disaster will be several hours earlier than normal.