NRENs as ICT infrastructure to support e-Services at universities: a case of Wits University

[摘要] The research report examined the value brought by NRENs, by investigating the utilization of the South African National Research Network (SANReN) at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). It explored the SANReN as the main international bandwidth service for the university and assessed how the university is able to efficiently provide a range of e-services in scientific research through the NREN.Wits scientists engaged in data intensive research and international research collaboration shared the view that the SANReN infrastructure is critical to such work, however due to infrastructure limitations at university level, it is sometimes difficult to maximize the value of this dedicated network, where data storage capacity is low. A wide range of e-services, such as grid computing, use SANReN, but are limited by international bandwidth. A further problem is the high cost of international bandwidth, particularly as the demand for bandwidth increases with the amount of data required in scientific research. The biggest challenge is the growth of demand and the ability to meet this demand.As scientific research relies on real time data, but experiences problems with data storage, advanced data infrastructure is needed in the form of a medium sized data centre, which would be used for storing and transferring large data sets and terabytes of data in and out of the country.In conclusion, although SANReN makes it possible for big science projects to take place at universities, it is somewhat difficult to measure the value that SANReN brings, due to the many limitations mentioned. Therefore a matrix to measure outputs and value of SANReN is required, as proposed in Chapter 6 of this research report.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand