BANGKOK--14 Mar--Xinhua-PRNewswire-Asianet/InfoQuest Datacraft, the region's leading independent IT solutions and services company, has been awarded a US$1.4 million multi-phase contract by Assumption University, one of Thailand's leading independent institutions of higher learning. Over the next two years, Datacraft will redesign and rebuild the Assumption's network infrastructure including the implementation of a high-speed optical network link between its Bang Na and Hua Mak campuses, which are around 56 kilometres apart. "We are moving ahead with a new initiative in Internet learning for distance and life-long education and, on campus, we want to use web-based delivery of media-rich contents to improve teaching and learning," said Professor Vivat Lauhabut of Assumption University. "To achieve our goals, however, we have to overcome the limitation of our current infrastructure which has too many potential points of failure and cannot deliver consistent quality of service across all locations. "Datacraft has put together an excellent blueprint and offers us a one-stop-solution for upgrading our entire network infrastructure with the aim of raising service levels to 99.999 percent data availability and 99.99 percent availability of critical systems. Having worked together in setting up a high-speed network for our e-learning centre since 2004, we are very confident of achieving that aim with Datacraft's expertise and capability." To address Assumption's education goal, Datacraft Professional Service consultants have come up with a new infrastructure design to provide high-availability, fault-tolerance and disaster recovery capability. Consistent performance across the campuses for back-office applications and across all locations for learning applications requires intelligent routing of traffic and bandwidth control to prevent non-productive traffic from congesting Internet connectivity. "Assumption University's technology-enabled teaching and learning agenda means its network needs levels of performance, availability, and security appropriate for truly mission-critical infrastructure," said Somchart Kanha, General Manager of Datacraft Thailand. "One of the major elements we are putting in place is a complete disaster recovery capability, combined with extensive use of clustering to ensure data integrity." "We are also implementing a Datacraft iBoss solution to give the university complete management control of its bandwidth in order to support multimedia content provisioning. The security systems are also being revised to reflect the new infrastructure updates and to address possible security threats." In its first project for Assumption University in 2004, Datacraft was tasked with implementing a high-speed network for the country's first and largest e-learning center located at Assumption University's Srisakdi Charmonman IT Center (SCIT Center). The contract has no material impact on this financial year. About Assumption University Assumption University was initially originated from Assumption Commercial College in 1969 as an autonomous higher education institution under the name of Assumption School of Business. In 1972, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, it was officially established as Assumption Business Administration College or ABAC. More information about ABAC, visit www.au.edu , about SrisakdiCharmonman IT Building, visit www.scBuilding.info and about College of Internet Distance Education, visit www.eLearning.au.edu . About Datacraft Datacraft is the leading independent IT services and solutions company in Asia Pacific. The company helps clients plan, build and support their IT infrastructures. Datacraft combines an expertise in networking, security, operating environments, storage and contact centre technologies, with advanced skills in consulting, integration and managed services, to craft IT solutionsfor businesses. A member of the Dimension Data Group, Datacraft is listed on the main board of the Singapore Exchange and is a component company of the Straits Times Index. Headquartered in Singapore, Datacraft spans more than 50 major offices and has over 1,200 employees across 13 Asia Pacific markets. More information can be found at www.datacraft-asia.com Media Contacts Datacraft Asia Waraporn Wangsiri Executive, Corporate Communications & Brand Management Tel: +662-625-0920 Email: [email protected] BeeKee Lim Manager, Corporate Communications & Brand Management Tel: +65-6322-6605 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Datacraft --Distributed by AsiaNet ( www.asianetnews.net )--