Brief Summary

The unified voice and computer network of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) covers both the need for internal interconnection and permanent access to the Internet as well as voice communication, providing a fast and reliable means to the members of the academic community. By using Ethernet switches and routers and through the installed cable infrastructure, it offers end-users a permanent internet connection. More than 30 routers and over 150 switches are currently in operation, offering approximately 12,000 Ethernet-type ports. In addition, it provides voice services and a set of advanced telephone services to approximately 4,500 users with systems of the manufacturer CISCO that use IP technology.

In order to adequately meet the existing needs, the network follows the distribution and the particularities of the building facilities. There are four large concentrations of network equipment (Ilisia Campus, Goudi, Athens Center and University Hospitals), which are connected to each other by the use of a fiber optic ring with a speed of 10Gbps. There is also a connection of the University Campus with the facilities of the School of Physical Education and Sports Science in Dafni, with a speed of 1 Gbps through optical fiber.

The architecture of the IP telephony infrastructure is centralized with a high availability implementation, and all telephone devices are connected to a central telephony system.

In addition to the large facilities of the University, there are many other small buildings scattered in the wider area of Athens, which serve the needs of various departments. ADSL connections are used in these buildings and routers have been installed which create Tunnels with a central router on the Campus, in order to become part of the University network and thus have access to the centrally provided services.

The central interconnection with the Internet is made through GRNET (National Research and Technology Network) and is of the order of 10 Gbps, while there is another 1 Gbps connection with the National Technical University of Athens, with which there is an agreement for the mutual offer of secondary Internet access.

The interconnection of the internal telephone network of the University of Athens and the Evripos Group with the Public Telephone Network is implemented with 180 and 30 channels respectively.

The overall topology is displayed at the illustration below: