This is a brief overview of the Newham Extranet in terms of capabilities, who is on it and likely development. I have deliberately tried to make this as non technical as possible.
The Newham Extranet is a network created by directly linking the Wide Area Networks (WAN) and Local Area Networks (LAN) of the partners. The degree to which partners participate in the Extranet varies, for instance the Council enables users of all its internal networks to see any services provided on the extranet whereas UeL keeps its own network and the Extranet logically separate so that only Duncan House and some machines at the Docklands Campus are linked directly to the extranet.
Currently Internet connectivity is very expensive, 12k - 20k for a 2Mbps link. As a result even Newham Council only has a 2Mbs link to the Internet. The typical office LAN has 100Mbs connectivity between users' machines and the local server so obviously the best that can be achieved over the Internet on a 2Mbps link is 50 times slower than can be achieved in an office. In practice it will be be very much worse than this because, whereas no-one else may be using the 100Mbs link between a server and a client machine in your office, Internet connections are always shared. As an example the new ADSL services offered by BT offers 512kbps connection to the Internet however this same 512kbs will be shared by up to 20 users (contention) on a business line and 40 users on a home one.
The Newham Extranet provides 10Mbs and 100Mbs connections between WANs and LANs using laser or microwave technologies. These links are much cheaper than would be available through, for instance, BT and mean that there is little difference between the speed of accessing a local server on your LAN and a remote server elsewhere in the Extranet.
So the simple answer is that the Extranet is fast, cheap and more secure (as you know who else is connected)
It is possible to put video content on a server on one part of the the Extranet and for it to be seen in another allowing video based distance learning. This has been piloted by UeL with Newham Council officers being able to receive training material at their desks. Waterhouse Studios and NewVic intend to experiment with applications that would allow people at both sites to play music together. There is also a central video server that can be used to stream RealVideo content at 300kbps and above to extranet which is enough to give smooth full screen video to Extranet participants.
Normal web based content located within the extranet is faster to access than over the Internet. For those that require it there are a number of central servers that are used to provide web conferencing, video streaming, web hosting and similar services all of which are very fast for Extranet members (for instance I am typing this on a computer physically based in Stratford from a desk in Canning Town and there is no perceptible difference between this and working on it locally)
NewVic intends linking the existing site and their new premises in Stratford via the Extranet, it is possible to set up secure VLANs over the network. NCFE also plans to use the network for this purpose. Another intention is that VLANs will be set up between post production houses at Three Mills and their head offices in Soho, a current Newham Online project would create a 100Mbps link from Newham to Soho via Telehouse.
Many organisations that are linked, such as the University of East London, Newham College and Newham Council have their own Internet access. However the Newham Extranet is linked to the East London and Lee Valley Teleregion and shares the Teleregion's 2Mbps Internet link. This means that organisations can use the Extranet for Internet access though there is no guaranteed quality of service as the link is widely shared. LETEC use this as their sole Internet connectivity for their 250 staff and servers.
It is planned to link the extranet to a very high capacity storage facility. This facility has very high physical and network security (used by banks) with full backup. This service is an ideal protection for large organisations against loss of data through fire or flood.
It is anticipated that the extranet will be developed so as to allow services to be provided to local people in their homes through computers and interactive TV. This will be achieved through provision of direct connections between the extranet and ADSL services provided via the local BT exchanges. The pilot for this will be in the New Deal for Communities area.
The following organisations are currently physically linked:-
LETEC
, NCFE, Newham Council, NewVic, University of East London (Duncan House & Docklands only), St Luke's Centre, Waterhouse Studios, East London Centre and, via the Teleregion, all nodes of the Teleregion's networkThe following should soon be linked :-
Three Mills,
NewVIc, Stratford Circus, Childrens Discovery Centre, Telehouse, SohoNet.Given that the Council is happy to facilitate links via its network probably the answer is any premises in Newham could be connected at some level, however high speed broadband links (10 - 100Mb) need to be made direct by laser or microwave and this depends on line of sight. The basis for the development has been Brassett Point which is next to the Council's server farm to which it is connected by laser.
The Council and Newham Online are working together to create a high level network based on laser links between Newham's tower blocks. Initially this will include Brassett, David Lee, College, Holden, Henniker, Albert Bigg, College and Capel Point.
The basic capital cost for a 10M microwave is 3.5k and a 100M laser 13.5k however actual costs depend on site survey. Revenue costs arise from the need to contribute to maintenance of both the individual link and the shared infrastructure as well as its management. These costs are being distributed on basis of bandwidth and initial capital costs and are around 20% of capital costs.
The Extranet can be looked as a network for those organisations that provide content and services to local people. Currently it enables these services to be accessed at a good speed through the public access points and workplaces of the partner organisations. The intention is that this network should be linked to the local BT exchanges in such a way that local content and services become available to home and SME users of ADSL technology. Preliminary discussions are now being held with potential partners to achieve this. The other main development will be to increase Newham's connectivity to the Internet in general and with this in mind a 100Mbps connection is being made direct into Telehouse which is the UK's centre of Internet activity.
The Newham Gateway and the Newham Extranet are both managed by Newham.net Ltd which has been established by Newham Online as a locally based telecommunications company. Newham.net is a company limited by guarantee but trades commercially and any profits from its activities will be invested in improving Newham's network connectivity or the use of ICT's locally.
Written by Richard Stubbs
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