The SGN (SUPINFO Global Network) is a transcontinental and independent private global network ensuring uniform education. It is managed by the young and dynamic SIS (SUPINFO Information System) team, mostly made up of SUPINFO students, who use this opportunity to improve their knowledge of the running of large-scale networks.
The SGN is a global computer network which compares favourably with the largest business networks available today. It currently connects 4 continents using exclusively Cisco material. Thanks to our partner, the world leader in telecommunications equipment, it guarantees quality of service, reliability and the optimum availability essential to the intensive use of educational resources by students and teachers, as well as by all SUPINFO partners and alumni, from anywhere in the world.
On all the sites, the SGN (wired network) extends to the SWN (SUPINFO Wireless Network) through Cisco WiFi ports located in every corner of the buildings. Thousands of users connect to this network every day in order to find lessons, consult notes, communicate with their peers, work on projects, view videos and, of course, call anywhere in the world using the SUPINFO phone system, called SUPINFONE.
A few figures :
More than 2,6 Gbps private inter-sites
More than 2,1 Gbps accumulated bandwidth toward the Internet
More than 300 Cisco switch equipment
More than 80 Cisco routers in the heart of the network
More than 350 Cisco WiFi access points shared between several sites
More than 200,000 Go of online data
More than 200 servers (IBM, HP, Apple, Sun)
More than 10,000 users in SUPINFO's Active Directory (alumni, students, teachers, employees and other collaborators)
10 and 100 Mbps fibre optics everywhere in France, in Montreal and in London ! In order to make IT resources accessible to the same standard everywhere in France SUPINFO, together with Orange Business Services and COGENT Communications, has a private fibre optics network covering France, Montreal and London. Most SUPINFO schools use a 100 Mbps symmetrical fibre optic link (including Canada and the UK) to access the internet and the SGN global network. Latency (ping time) and bandwidth are guaranteed, with a quality of service that is unique in the academic world.
With a central internet connection guaranteeing a bandwidth of over 2.1 Gbps (which is equivalent to over 100 ADSL connections!), ALL SUPINFO students have an outstanding work tool at their disposal.
The connections between the different sites are based on the MPLS network (Orange Company) and offer the best in terms of quality control and service. The students can connect to the SGN from anywhere in the world using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) and four entry points (EMEA, America, Asia and Indian Ocean). They can therefore access all educational resources the school has to offer from a distance and with optimum security (encryption of all the data exchanges on Internet). IP telephony (telephony over Internet Protocol) between all students is now available. Video-conferences and access-control are part of the data exchanged today on SGN on a daily basis.
Each site is based around a gigabit backbone allowing all the students to enjoy a high-speed bandwidth whatever the number of connections.
This map displays the real time saturation of the SGN at the time this article is printed. It clearly shows that the transcontinental bandwidth is wide enough to avoid any saturation: Anyone can enjoy optimal work conditions.
The network is available in every SUPINFO school with network plugs on every classroom’s tables, and even through Wireless network tanks to the SWN (SUPINFO Wireless Network) and its 70 access points. A student can move from one site to another and always remain connected to the same network; he can then work without any localization constraints. Each site gravitates around a Gigabit network heart so the students can benefit from a maximal bandwidth no matter how many users are connected.
This network is controlled 24/24, 7/7. Real time bandwidth statistics are available on the SIS portal http://sis.supinfo.com/
This map shows the real-time data transfers between the European SUPINFO sites. It also shows the countries which will be added to the SGN in 2007: Belgium, Denmark, Russia, Italy and Spain.
This map shows the real-time data transfers between the different SUPINFO sites in China.
Installed systems
SUPINFO systems are above all intended to serve the SUPINFO educational system. With more than 100 servers across the world, the systems carry out various missions in heterogeneous environments, as they would in a company (Windows 2003 Server, FreeBSD, Mandriva, MacOS X Server, Solaris). In addition to the global services such as the centralized Active Directory authentication or emailing system (Microsoft Exchange Enterprise), many services are offered to the students such as website hosting (e-supinfo.com), personal or academic file-sharing, or practice servers.
The SUPINFO systems have been built to guarantee data duplication and security. Each regional SUPINFO site includes its own local servers, ensuring total availability.
SIS Missions
The SIS (SUPINFO Information System) is the internal computing department of the Paris Academy of Computer Science (Ecole Supérieure d'Informatique). In charge of managing the SGN (SUPINFO Global Network) – the only worldwide private network for educational purposes in France - the young and dynamic SIS team is mostly made up of SUPINFO students who have trained themselves to run this major network service. The SIS team is headed by Julien ROMIEUX, a SUPINFO alumnus who graduated in 2004.
The SIS (SUPINFO Information System) pole aims to look after all the SUPINFO information systems creations. The student members of this pole have the possibility to experience every step of a complex and global information system creation: supplies, budgets, estimates, purchases, deployments, tests, production and maintenance. “This is a unique opportunity and experience before entering a company.” says Julien Romieux. “SUPINFO trusts the students involved in the SIS to carry out large-scale projects.” Indeed, the students can handle many running platforms, test new products, and configure various equipment. Thus they can increase their knowledge and improve their practical experience in a high-tech environment.
This map shows a real-time view of the data transfers between SUPINFO's regional sites in France. The SGN will be extended to the Limousin and Auvergne regions, to Marseille, Orléans, Lille and Lyon in 2007. In addition to these permanent connections to the SGN, every student can connect to the network from home using a single Internet connection thanks to a VPN (Virtual Private Network) entry point allowing students to access the resources in the same conditions they would at school.