Ferranti assists Xaverius College Borgerhout in streamlining its network traffic

Cisco LAN technology guarantees future of college’s ICT

With its primary and secondary schools and 1300 students, Xaverius College in Borgerhout is one of ’s larger schools. Naturally, the school is no different to any other when it comes to ICT and its growing influence on daily life and work. Personnel and teachers demand more and more ICT applications, education is becoming increasingly supported by ICT and of course, students cannot very well leave school without acquiring certain general computing skills.

The school has been equipped with its own local area network since 1998. The high school has two computer classrooms each with around 30 computers. There are also three PC’s provided per class at the primary school. Until recently, two older servers were in operation, servicing students and the administration respectively. However, the demand for ICT support has grown exponentially over recent years and the existing network was shown to no longer be up to the task.

The college currently provides all its high school teachers with a laptop and equips each classroom with a docking station and a data projector. The laptops serve as personal computers for both educational and administrative purposes. All desktop computers in the primary school (3 per class) are also due to be replaced. The school is also making increasing use of a range of online services: SchoolOnline is a reporting system in which grades for assignments and examinations can be input online. Elov is a digital teaching environment in which teachers can distribute course material to their pupils. The “werkweb” is a Sharepoint site where teachers can share and exchange their teaching material...

Marc Hoefkens is responsible for the management of the school’s ICT equipment. ‘It became increasingly clear that the network had reached its limit,’ he explains. ‘The multiplicity of cables, hubs and other components caused unacceptable interruptions and it became almost impossible to connect any more computers. Very problematic, given our laptop project. Naturally, it was logical to consider the possibility of going wireless. However in such a large building, the installation and management really is the domain of specialists, to say nothing of security.’

‘Come the end of 2006, we requested quotations from three suppliers. Ferranti’s proposal was clearly compiled with greater professionalism than their two competitors, even if the latter were cheaper. Seeing as we do not have the resources or people which private sector companies can typically call on, we considered it worthwhile to choose the most professional partner and to pay a little extra for quality. Hence our decision to go with Ferranti.’

The solution Ferranti proposed is based on Cisco technology. Cisco Wireless LAN controllers and forty odd Cisco Aironet Access Points ensure the complete coverage of the school buildings. The wireless LAN was installed and used for the first time last school year (2006-2007).

In the meantime, Xaverius College refuses to sit still. ‘Two new servers have been installed, one for file and domain management and one ISA server, both guaranteed by a back-up system,’ says Marc Hoefkens. ‘These machines were also supplied and installed by Ferranti, who have since acquired a good understanding of our needs and wishes. The servers have been operational since September. Additional projects have been scheduled for later in the school year, designed to further the school’s digitalisation project. For instance, a new computer classroom has been planned to replace the six year old machines in the existing classroom.’