Network Infrastructure to Support Research and Education Network in Ghana

Abstract

This project examines and evaluates the campus-wide networks of five selected universities and two research institutions in Ghana. The nationwide backbone that would be needed to run these networks is also covered. Three of such backbones are identified as VRA Integrated fiber-optic backbone, New National backbone and Ghana Telecom country-wide networks. The Dwivedi and Wagner traffic model provides estimates of traffic demands based on published data on Ghana and selected educational nodes using 2005 as a reference year. Further traffic projections are given from 2005 to 2010 using results from the traffic model. The separation o f the traffic into voice, transaction data and internet traffic shows that, the Internet traffic will constitute about 45%, Voice (50%) and transaction data (5%) of the total traffic demand in Ghana by the end of the period under review. Dimensioning of the traffic using WDM Guru Software gives estimates of network cost and the equipment required to build the network. This enables different network topologies for Research and Education Networks in Ghana to be evaluated under various network protection schemes. The dimension results indicates that a pair of fiber cable would be required to build the backbone when Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) and grooming techniques are deployed in the design of the network. The cost model, ownership options and organization structure suitable for the design and the implementation of the network in Ghana are covered in the report.