LARN Affiliation Members
LARN affiliation eligibility membership is granted to all the Lebanese academic and research institutions. To join LARN and operate a LARN node, the subject institution should apply for membership and fulfill the basic communication, hardware and training requirements.
It is anticipated that LARN will initially start with the following members:
National Responsibilities
Due to its leading academic and research position in Lebanon, AUB can assume the responsibilities of planning, coordinating, engineering, implementing and running of the national Lebanese Academic and Research Network.
During the past three years AUB acquired a solid networking experience. The technical and managerial involvement covered the wide spectrum of LANs and WANs including design, procurement, installation, wiring, configuration, optimization, debugging and training.
AUB's implemented and planned network is by far the most important in the country. Since August 1993, AUB has been operating the sole Internet link from Lebanon and has access to the vast wealth of information resources it offers. In addition to this, AUB is managing the Lebanese root domain LB-DOM and Lebanese academic sub-domain, ac.lb.
AUB's position is ahead of other universities and research centers in Lebanon and can share its experience by managing and running LARN main node and Internet gateway.
Regional Responsibilities
AUB, as a major regional academic and research institution, can play an active leading role in any regional network attempt.
By providing technical and managerial services and possibly home to part of the regional network resources, AUB can benefit from the projects' allocated funds and boost its local and global connectivity.
Lebanese PTT Infrastructure
The Lebanese telecommunication and power infrastructures were badly devastated by sixteen years of recurring wars. The public utilities were exposed to vandalism, lack of maintenance, harsh operational environments and technological obsolescence.
In addition to the above and in the absence of law and public property respect, employees and individuals abducted public facilities to their personal benefit. The telecommunication and power distribution wiring grids suffered most from this phenomena. The cumulative by-product of sixteen years of unplanned expansions and inadequate repairs reduced their installations to an absolute mess of entangled wires.
The reconstruction, restructuring and modernization of the telecommunication and power infrastructures are among the highest priorities of the present government. The process started a year ago, but the inherited incompetent human resources and political burdens are blocking the normal advance of the projects. Budgetary constraints have also contributed to the implementation delays.
Based on what is planned, the Lebanese telecommunication infrastructure will be adequately modernized by the year 1998. The phased projects will cover:
The availability of the international lines is scarce and not adequate. The best attainable bandwidth is 1.2 Kbps. As an alternative and for the last ten years, institutions, companies and individuals privately installed a wide base of non-regulated cellular phones and a less significant number of earth station satellite nodes.
The X.25 based Public Switching Data Network (PSDN) is administered by a semi-private company, Libanpac. Libanpac services are reliable with a maximum bandwidth limited to 9.6 Kbps. During congested hours, it might fall to 2.4 Kbps.
Present Prohibitive Internet Communication Costs
AUB present physical communication access is via Libanpac. The link consist of a 9.6kbps dialup X.25 local leased line. The Internet access is via Fnet, a French Internet service provider.
AUB's present Internet link can technically support the complete set of the Internet's features, but professors and researchers at AUB are only benefiting from e-mail access. AUB is paying around $240 for each Mega Bytes of outgoing and incoming connection time and volume. The estimated batched and compressed e-mail volume consumed by 100 users is around 20 MB per month, a yearly liability of $58,000. For an itemized list of Internet e-mail costs versus total number of users please refer to Table I.
As access bandwidth, connection time and volume requirements to the Internet increase, Libanpac charging scheme will grow to be more and more prohibitive for any serious Interneting.
Bandwidth Enhancement
The 9.6kbps dialup X.25 link was adequate for the pilot setup and can be used for restricted Internet mail access only. For serious Internet connectivity and for students and possibly LARN members to access the Internet, AUB's present Internet link should be upgraded to a 64kbps satellite leased line connecting AUB Internet node directly to an Internet service provider in the USA or Europe. Please see attached Internet Link to Lebanon, proposed upgrade (Option1).
The two possible 64kbps satellite links are Intelsat and VSAT C-Bands. Intelsat initial hardware investment is higher than VSAT but offers a more reliable link as VSAT C-Band link quality declines with bad weather. VSAT transmission latency is marginal and might reach un-acceptable limits if the satellite switch is congested. Based on the above an Intelsat C-Band station seems to offer a more reliable performance and a better return on investment.
The initial year costs for an Intelsat C-Band satellite earth station, 5 meters antenna, are around $350,000 and for a VSAT C-Band earth station, 2.4 meters antenna, around $220,000. The recurring yearly costs are around $190,000. Following is an itemized list of costs.
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Another option would be to acquire from the Lebanese PTT a 9.6 kbps AVD leased line to France. The present AVD lines are not reliable, badly maintained and subject to long uncontrollable break periods. A 9.6kbps AVD line to France will cost around $104,000 per year and the French Internet service provider charging schemes are based on volume allocation. Please see attached Internet Link to Lebanon, proposed upgrade (Option2).
Connecting LARN Nodes to AUBnet Main Node
Each node will require a local 9.6kbps leased line or an X.25 dialup leased line for a yearly estimated cost of $4,000 and a WAN/LAN router at each end. A low end IP router costs around $2500.
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Internet Resources
The Internet broad international popularity was not due to the its meta-network, or network of networks physical aspect. The popularity of the Internet is based on the vast wealth of information resources it offers and on its catalytic role in the inter-exchange of information at the national and international levels. The Internet is considered as a away to raise the general educational and technological levels in a country and as a boosting support for economic development.
The Internet resources are distributed on the vast web of computer networks spanning the globe, connecting millions of host computers and many more millions of users. The Middle East contribution to this vast bank of information is sparse if not nil. AUBnet and LARN's main objectives will concentrate on narrowing this information gap by providing good coverage on a number of Lebanese, Arab and Middle Eastern subjects.
Following are LARN/AUBnet planned networked resources for the initial phase: (LARN/AUBnet Resources)
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* The requirements for the actual setting of the databases, administration, data collection and feed are subject sensitive and beyond the scope of this technical proposal.
LARN/AUBnet Budget Plan
* Estimates will be made public upon the completion of the procurement process.
Financial Status
* Estimates will be made public upon the completion of the procurement process.
