WEST NEW YORK BOARD OF EDUCATION
Managed Wide Area Network
EXPANDED EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND GREATER SECURITY ARE TWO OF THE BENEFITS OF A NEW FIBER OPTIC NETWORK
WEST NEW YORK- The school district will soon offer expanded educational opportunities and enhanced security thanks to a recent agreement that will pave the way for the installation of a fiber optic network linking the district's 12 school buildings.
The Board of Education recently entered into an agreement with Sunesys LLC to install and create a high-speed fiber optic netowk in all of the district's schools and educational facilities.
Installation is expected to start soon, with a completion date set for December 2007 and conversion to fiber optics by January 2008.
The new fiber optics network will increase the district's capability from 1.5 megabytes (through a T-1 line) to 2 gigabytes (2,000 megabytes) with the fiber optic network, thus greatly increasing Internet speed and capabilities.
"This new system will allow the district to expand our educational offerings with the latest on-line curriculum applications," says Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Van Zanten. "Among the many other benefits, it will also allow us to create the most modern security system available in schools with video surveillance cameras and swipe cards," he adds.
The primary benefits of the new system will be:
greatly enhanced communication between school buildings and facilities
the ability to share video files (there is no current capability for this function)
greater access to multi-media applications, including the ability to broadcast educational programs from one school to the entire district
increased Internet speed and capabilities
School officals say this is the right time to install the new system because the new schools under construction by the New Jersey Schools Construction Corp. are built only for high-speed fiber optics.
"We did not want a situation where the students in the older schools do not have the same access to the latest technology and information as those students in the new schools," explains Dr. Van Zanten. "With this system, all of our students, teachers and administrators will have access to 21st Century technology and learning tools." Sunesys LLC is a Pennsylvania-based telecommunications corporation that has particular expertise in education and healthcare. Among the most recent school districts in which it has installed a fiber optic network is the City of Philadelphia school district, the seventh largest in the nation with nearly 300 schools.
PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL DISTRICT
Managed Wide Area Network
Client:
The Philadelphia School District is the largest district in the State of Pennsylvania and the seventh largest in the nation by enrollment. The district is comprised of 177 elementary schools, 43 middle schools, 36 neighborhood and magnet high schools, eight vocational-technical schools and nine regional offices.
Background:
Previously, the district employed a 297-circuit frame relay wide area network and voice network. Sunesys was contracted to build and maintain a fiber optic MAN to provide connectivity through four core rings between 22 sites with point-to-point spurs out to the remaining 270+ facilities.
Solution:
The core Sunesys technology is an OC192 SONET based network utilizing Nortel Networks electronics. The ring is connected between the core sites using Optical Ethernet. The remaining 270 sites are lateral connections from each of the core nodes, providing maximum security. In addition, four Resilent Packet Rings (RPRs) support the voice, video and data traffic.
CHESTER COUNTY INTERMEDIATE UNIT
Managed Wide Area Network
Client:
The Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU) is a regional education service agency that provides educational, technical and administrative services to the schools and communities of Chester County, Pennsylvania. It is comprised of twelve local school districts.
Background:
CCIU wanted to start taking advantage of leading-edge opportunities to communicate through the latest technology innovations. They needed a new MAN that would support international video conferencing, distance or e-learning, electronic field trips, video-on-demand, real-time video streaming, online coursework and real-time mentoring. They enlisted Sunesys to create a new fiber optic network that would encompass all their needs and connect all the districts under its umbrella.
Solution:
Sunesys created one of the most advanced networks in the State of Pennsylvania. Utilizing IP telephony and video conferencing solutions from Cisco Systems, the new CCIU network connected Chester’s world-language classes with native-speaking partners around the world. The first experience was a connection with French sociology students at the University of Paris. Another significant project was an authentic, real-time exchange between Chester middle-school Spanish language students and students in Chile as part of its World Tour Project.
Perkiomen Valley School District
Managed Wide Area Network
Client:
The Perkiomen Valley School District is located in the greater Philadelphia area. The district is comprised of four elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. In 2006, PVSD was ranked the second fastest-growing district in the region by the Philadelphia Inquirer, with growth of 59% in ten years. Enrollment in 2006 was 5,291.
Background:
PVSD was looking to replace an 8-year old wireless network. The 11-megabit, 1/2-duplex system was problematic, the set-up was "a nightmare" and it was no longer capable of meeting the district's growing need for a more advanced network solution between its 8 buildings.
Solution:
Rather than replace one wireless network with another, the district chose a full-gig, full-duplex fiber optic solution from Sunesys that would bring ongoing value for years to come. From the start, the district noticed an immediate increase in performance with the new network. It also allowed the schools to take full advantage of the latest Internet II and video conferencing technology. Because Sunesys already had the fiber in place, they were able to light it up three weeks early and PVSD has enjoyed uninterrupted performance ever since.
"Sunesys was a great option for us. We feel as if we've gone light years ahead of where we were. Luckily, our school board was the wisdom of a fiber optic solution."
Eric Williams
Network Manager
Perkiomen Valley School District
Education
