Transcript Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant

Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
Is Your School Ready for An ACCESS Grant?
Presented By
Tommy Whitten, Technology Coordinator
Nathan Curry, Network Specialist
With some information lifted from the Alabama Supercomputer Authority’s presentation to the ACCESS Task
Force, July 23, 2007
Alabama Educational Technology Association
Fall Symposium 2007
Orange Beach, Alabama
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• Video Conferencing Components
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H.323 Video
Quality of Service (QoS)
Managed Switch
Firewall
Multipoint Control Unit (MCU)
Network Address Translation (NAT)
Main Distribution Frame (MDF)
Intermediate Distribution Frame (IDF)
Video CODEC
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• What is H.323?
– Packet Based Multimedia Communications Systems (IP)
ITU (International Telecommunications Union) standard for
videoconferencing over local area networks and packet-switched
networks generally. It is based on a recognized real-time standard and
is commonly used with video over the Internet to ensure that users
can communicate with each other, as long as they are using
videoconferencing software which complies with the standard.
The Tandberg and Polycom systems used with ACCESS comply with the
H.323 standard for videoconferencing.
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• H.323
– Uses existing state network infrastructure
– Does not require a separate network
– Less expensive, more efficient
– Network infrastructure is E-rate eligible
– Ease of interconnectivity provides growth options
– Requires QoS-enabled network for guaranteed
quality
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• What is H.320?
– Multimedia over ISDN based networks (IP)
– Older standard still used in some VTC solutions
– Link used in ISDN are dedicated to VTC. If VTC is not being used, the
bandwidth is not used for other services (i.e.. Internet access)
– Since link is dedicated, no need for Quality of Service (QoS)
*All ACCESS labs will be using H.323 standard, but other systems outside
of the ACCESS cloud could still use ISDN. Bridging will be necessary
when connecting to a system using the H.320 standard.
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• What is Quality of Service? (QoS)
– QoS involves prioritization of network traffic on local
and across wide area networks. The goal of QoS is to
provide guarantees on the ability of a network to
deliver predictable results for specific purposes, such
as videoconferencing or VOIP.
• Bandwidth-how many bits per second are sustained end to
end for each connection
• Priority-how many packets will arrive within time specified
• Latency-the delay that media packets encounter end to end
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• Quality of Service (QoS)
– Is enabled using DSCP tagging and CBWFG on routers
and Layer3 switches
• Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP)
• Class-Based Weighted Fair Queuing (CBWFG)
– Traffic is classified and tagged at routers based on
source/destination IP address
– QoS must be enabled for IVC throughout your school
network and the Supercomputer Network.
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• The network (inside the school)
– Managed Switch
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Capable of individual port configuration
Speed selectable 10/100/1000/Auto*
Duplex selectable Full/Half/Auto*
SNMP capable for monitoring
Supports Telnet, SSH
Vendors include HP, Cisco, 3Com, etc.
• *Always hard code speed and duplex on ports used for VTC
• Newer VTC units can be hard coded to 100Mbps full duplex on the
VTC and switch that directly connects to the VTC. If this switch is
located in an IDF, then the uplink for the IDF to the MDF should be
100Mbps or higher (hard coded).
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• The Network
– Firewalls (and NAT)
• H.323 uses multiple tcp connections and udp ports
simultaneously for Video Conferencing
• The H.323 standard assigns ports dynamically from
1024 to 65535
• During call setup, the IP address of the calling party is
sent to the called party in the data field of the IP packet
(so NAT cannot translate it)
• All firewalls do not support H.323 (e.g. Lightspeed)
• Problems may arise when CODEC software is upgraded.
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• Multipoint Control Unit (Video Bridge)
– Provides a method of connecting 3 or more sites into one
video conference
– Allows merging of multiple network types (e.g. – IP and
ISDN)
– Maintains a centralized, web-based point of maintenance
for a running video conference
– Uses H.231 and H.243 standards
– Video units purchased for ACCESS must be able to connect to at least 3
other sites without requiring the bridge. However, the bridge can connect
larger numbers of sites and can also, by acting as a middle-man, combine
IP and ISDN calls into one conference (important for virtual field trips).
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• The Classroom
– Power*
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For IVC cameras/codecs
Monitors
Projectors
Interactive Whiteboards (?)
Document Cameras
VCR/DVD Players
Wireless Access Point
Tablet PC cart (recharging station)
* Power strips/uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) can be used in
the VTC lab for conditioned power and to reduce the number of
physical outlets needed.
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• The Classroom (cont.)
-Network Connections
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For Codecs
Printers
Wireless Access Point
Any additional devices that will not use the access point
to connect to the network
– Phone/Fax Line
• For faxing documents
• For troubleshooting help
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• The Classroom (cont.)
– Miscellaneous
• Tables and chairs
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Keep within the field of view for the cameras
Field of view is 60-70 degrees for Standard Angle lens (default)
Field of view 80 degrees for Wide Angle Lens
Field of view 90 degrees for HD Lens (Super Wide Angle)
• Projector Mounts
– Don’t forget cabling and power in drop ceiling.
– Consider the placement of the whiteboard
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• The Classroom (cont.)
– Miscellaneous
• Sound
– Air conditioning
– Busy hallways
– Stay away from Ag shops, band/choral rooms, etc.
• Lighting
– Room should be well lit
– Florescent lighting recommended
– Indirect up lighting can diffuse hard direct light and give the
room a more natural look and feel in the VTC session
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• The Classroom (cont.)
– Miscellaneous
• Wall Colors
– Stay neutral
– Gray, Mauve, or Light Blue recommended.
– If room is not neutral and needs to be painted, flat satin or
eggshell recommended
– Polycom recommends the color “November Skies”
(Benjamin Moore color code # 2128-50)
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• IVC Equipment Settings
– Hard code speed and duplex settings to match the
settings on the managed switch
– Turn OFF encryption
– In most situations, turn NAT off on the CODEC
settings. The settings on the CODEC must be
compatible with the settings on the Firewall (or
NAT device)
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• The Intermediate Distribution Frame (IDF)
– Connected to classroom via CAT5/5e/6 cable
– IVC traffic run through a Managed Switch at
10/100Mbps. Duplex setting on port used for IVC
must match setting on CODEC
– Recommended – QoS configured on switch ports
used for IVC
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• The Main Distribution Frame (MDF)
– IDF/MDF backbone cable (Fiber, CAT5/5e/6),
100Mbps, 1Gbps
– MDF Managed Switch, 10/100Mbps. Speed and
Duplex settings must match those of IDF.
– Recommended – QoS configured on uplink ports
used for IVC
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• School Router
– QoS capable
• 10 Mbps Fiber connects School Router to District Router
• District Router
– QoS capable
• Firewall
– People managing the firewall must be in communication with the
network administrator and the CODEC installers.
• Supercomputer Router – QoS capable
• 10 Mbps Fiber connects Router to Supercomputer
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• What you get from the Alabama Supercomputer?
– 10MB fiber connection from your school to the Alabama
Supercomputer Network
– AREN is designed to support video through Quality of
Service guarantees.
– If both ends of the call are within AREN, ASA can prioritize
the call, resulting in good transmission quality.
– Video bridging
Is Your School Ready for An Access Grant?
Tommy Whitten & Nathan Curry
Madison County Schools
• The End