SINGAPORE--29 Aug--Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet/InfoQuest Datacraft, the region's leading independent IT solutions and services company, has won a deal to help Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to upgrade its existing network to support current need as well as future applications which will inevitably require higher bandwidth The new network design will provide connectivity between the Ministry's three main office locations at Sri-ayudhaya, Chaengwattana, and Krungkasem, while also improving the performance of all departmental VLANs and addingwireless networking for staff and visitors. The Ministry's existing network is based on legacy core switches, core routers, edge switches and hubs which provide Fast Ethernet connectivity to the end devices and a Gigabit Ethernet connectivity for the three main offices. However, it was clear that network performance was inadequate for its expanding needs and future requirements, particularly in the area of IP convergence. "The current infrastructure is not capable of supporting advanced applications such as converged voice and video which are becoming the increasingly common. Furthermore the existing VLAN and IP address design is not able to limit broadcast traffic and the three main offices are connected by static routes which are neither optimised nor scalable enough to accommodate network changes," said Sutas Kongdumrongkiat, General Manager of Datacraft Thailand. "The upgrade has been designed to use dynamic routing protocol to enable network convergence and support future requirements. In addition, the introduction of wireless LAN capability will give the Ministry flexibility and mobility which will be useful for employees and also enable its steady stream of high-profile guests to access the network and the Internet," Sutas added. The Datacraft design will not only upgrade the existing network to provide secure connectivity amongst the three main office locations, it will also improve the speed for all departmental clients, VLANs and server farms. It offers high-speed 10/100/1000Mbps access to the distribution layer of the network and a distribution uplink to the core layer at 10-Gigabit Ethernet. Datracraft is leveraging its extensive experience and proven track record in network design and implementation to provide the MFA with a variety of benefits. For example, Datacraft is configuring the VLAN boundary to minimise broadcast packets as well as re-designing the structural contiguous IP address space to allow IP route summarisation, thus making the network more manageableand predictable. "When the project is completed towards the end of the third quarter of 2007, the Ministry will have a reliable, highly resilient IP network to support the work of its numerous departments. It will also be manageable - from a software perspective as well as a fault management point of view - and protected by clearly defined security policies which govern access fromdepartmental networks," said Sutas. About Datacraft Datacraft is the leading independent IT services and solutions company in Asia Pacific. The company helps clients plan, build, support and manage their IT infrastructures. Datacraft combines an expertise in networking, security, Microsoft operating environments, storage and contact centre technologies, with advanced skills in consulting, integration and managed services, to craft IT solutions for 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 operates in more than 50 major offices and has over 1,350 employees across 13 Asia Pacific markets. More information can be found at www.datacraft-asia.com . For further information, please contact: Esther Quah (Datacraft Asia) Tel: +65-6323-7988 Email: [email protected] Bee Kee Lim (Datacraft Asia) Tel: +65-6322-6605 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Datacraft --Distributed by AsiaNet ( www.asianetnews.net )--