E2BN Direct - Network Services for Schools and Academies

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E2BN Direct Brochure V1.3 22/08/2014 /2014

E2BN Direct - Network Services for Schools and Academies

E2BN Direct provides internet, web filtering and other services directly to Schools and Academies. We use proven products backed by dedicated support, to ensure that your school receives a quality service.

E2BN Direct is a managed service and we will work with you in order to optimise your school’s use of the features and facilities provided.

We offer two options for schools and academies under the banner of E2BN Direct: E2BN Direct Broadband: A complete broadband package including internet connectivity, web filtering, firewall, mail-delivery, remote access, NEN access, E2BN Membership and more.

E2BN Direct Gateway: All of the above minus the broadband line. Where the school has purchased its own broadband connection from another provider, we install our gateway server to give you all of the facilities that are available on the full package.

1 Who we are and what we do

E2BN and its associates provide a wide range of services to Local Authorities, Schools and Academies on a non-profit basis. We do not have any shareholders and pay no dividends.

E2BN – (The East of England Broadband Network) is a regional consortium of Local Authorities based in the East of England. Our Board of Directors is made up of officers who work in senior roles on behalf of Schools and Academies in those LAs.

Schools and Academies in the East of England that are connected via their LA to E2BN have always benefited from a number of “members only” deals and services.

Until 2014, E2BN had provided regional connectivity and high speed internet only to the “front- door” of Local Authorities; E2BN Direct is a response to the changing marketplace and is now offering direct connectivity and E2BN membership direct to Schools, Academies and other educational settings.

General Information about E2BN can be found at http://www.e2bn.org

If your school has already procured its own broadband line via another provider you can still take advantage of the E2BN Direct Gateway service and other associated benefits such as web filtering, E2BN Membership, access to NEN the Education Network and discounts on E2BN products and services.

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2 Broadband Line

E2BN Direct can provide the broadband line for your school at a competitive price using business-class products from a range of providers.

E2BN Direct can utilise most broadband product types. The most cost effective products currently available are based on Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) also know as Superfast Broadband. Where FTTC is available in your area we will quote for a range of FTTC based products with download speeds from 40Mbs to 320Mbs and upload speeds of 10Mbs to 80Mbs.

Where FTTC is not available we will work with our suppliers to provide alternative quotes for dedicated fibre-to-the-exchange and/or bonded copper products (Ethernet First Mile or EFM) Upload and download speeds are dependent on the product type, distance from the serving cabinet or exchange, and line characteristics.

The speed of the line will be tested during the installation and GO Live processes. We will inform you of the results of these tests so that you have a record of the speeds achieved.

2.1 Router

A managed router will be installed into the school; this will connect to the broadband line. The make and model will vary according to the products selected.

2.2 Public IP Addressing

The E2BN Direct broadband service offers up to 5 public IP addresses to be used by the school for routing purposes. These addresses may be used to route specific services onward to the school’s servers from the internet, for example remote desktop, vpn or mail web access.

If more than 5 addresses are required please ask for details via your E2BN Direct Account Manager.

3 E2BN Direct Gateway

A number of on-site services will be provided via a managed gateway server. This will be installed into a server cabinet or communications cabinet within the school. By default, the E2BN Direct gateway has two physical ports:

WAN port - connects to the router

LAN port- connects to the school network

The following services are provided via the gateway server

3.1 Content Cache

The cache stores downloaded content on a temporary basis whenever users are accessing the internet via the built in filter/proxy. When a URL or “object” is requested by a user’s browser the cache checks to see if there is a stored item it can serve to the browser instead of going to the internet to get it. Caching of content makes efficient use of internet bandwidth by only requesting data that it does not already have available.

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3.2 Firewall

A firewall protects the school network from unwanted inbound connections from the internet. It also blocks some outbound connections such as raw/unfiltered internet access.

A special Admin trust group will allow remote management of the gateway server from specific locations on the internet. (See - Remote monitoring and management).

The firewall configuration is managed by E2BN under your service contract.

3.3 Inbound Services, Port Forwarding and NAT

The E2BN Direct gateway can be configured to allow inbound access from the internet to the school network. Configuration is managed by E2BN under your service contract.

3.4 SMTP Mail Relay

The gateway server provides a SMTP email relay service with AntiVirus filtering. This service can be used where the school has a mail server on site. Where applicable E2BN Direct will deliver mail for your school’s email domain via the gateway server relay where it will be filtered and then queued for delivery to your internal mail server.

3.5 Mail Server

The E2BN Direct gateway can act as a mail server for your school email domain. Most schools will have other arrangements in place such as on-site Exchange server or maybe a hosted mail service in “the cloud”. Where a school has none of these the Gateway server can be configured to handle mail for you domain. A Local Administrator can add and manage user accounts as required.

Please ask your E2BN Direct Account Manager for more details.

3.6 Web Filtering

Ofsted requires that students are provided with filtered internet access in order to protect them from inappropriate content. E2BNProtex Local Web filtering is included in your service.

See http://protex.e2bn.org

E2BNProtex Web filtering is a managed service and as such requires no additional configuration by the school.

Local management of the filtering lists is optional; E2BN will provide a login account to enable your school ICT administrator to make block/unblock changes to the filtering lists and generate log reports if required.

The Protex Local service is delivered as a Virtual Machine hosted by the gateway server. It requires its own dedicated IP address. In order to use the filtering the school’s devices must be configured via their proxy settings.

By default separate student and staff filtering profiles will be available via the IP address of the filtering service on different tcp ports.

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appears or via http://protex.e2bn.org/listrequest

E2BNProtex Local can be easily configured to integrate with a school’s Active Directory system.

This configuration option opens up several useful features such as per user logging, dynamic profile allocation and time-banding.

4 Additional On-Site Services

The E2BN Direct gateway is a feature-rich product that enables a school to perform many functions via a single box. Some additional services are listed below and may be of interest to your school. If there are any extra charges required this is indicated.

4.1 OpenVPN - Site to Site VPN

The gateway server has OpenVPN installed by default. OpenVPN can be used in two modes. The first mode is site-to-site. Site-to-site Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are useful where schools need to link all or part of their private networks together via the public internet

4.2 OpenVPN – Remote User

OpenVPN provides a method for remote access to the school network for a variety of purposes. In simple terms an OpenVPN profile is first created by an administrator. Users that require network access download the OpenVPN client to their device and then download the Profile to their

OpenVPN configuration folder. The remote user launches the client and once connected they have full or partial access to the school network

4.3 Backup Server

The E2BN Direct gateway server offers a local backup service with up to 2 TeraBytes of storage space. External USB and Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices can also be incorporated into the available backup storage space.

4.4 File Server

The gateway server can be used to set up and host Windows File share(s)

4.5 Voice Services – chargeable option

The E2BN Direct gateway contains a fully feature Voice over IP (VoIP) PBX. VoIP offers the possibility of reducing the cost of ownership of an onsite telephone system together with reduced line rental and call charges.

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5 Network Services

In addition to the on-site services listed above, E2BN Direct provides the following Network Services.

5.1 Domain Services

E2BN operates its own public facing Domain Name Servers (DNS). These are physically located at separate sites in order to maintain a resilient service.

Managed Domain services are included in your basic contract; E2BN can host and administer zone files for any domain that is delegated to it. A login for your domain can be provided should you require it.

E2BN is a Nominet Registrar and as such can act as a “tag holder” for most .uk domains.

Where E2BN is the tag holder for a domain other than .sch.uk then we will normally charge a fee for domain renewals.

5.2 Backup Mail Relay

E2BN Direct Broadband provides a backup Mail Relay service “in the cloud”. This service is available for your school if it needs an alternate inbound route for email.

The E2BN backup service should be configured only as an alternative choice (backup MX record). In the event that the first choice route for mail is unavailable e.g. your internet service is “down” and inbound mail cannot reach your normal mail server, mail will be sent to the E2BN back up relay. The mail will be stored here and queued until it can be delivered properly via the first choice route.

6 Management and Support

6.1 Configuration Backup and Central Management

The configuration of the E2BN Direct gateway and the E2BNProtex Local web filtering system are both backed up nightly to central management servers. This provides peace of mind and a swift restoration of service should it be necessary to change any physical components of the system. Additionally, if software patches or updates are required, these can be rolled out automatically from the management servers to your site without the need for local intervention.

E2BN Support Staff will have programmed access to the important areas of the software in order to assist with remote configuration and support of all aspects of the on-site services.

6.2 Monitoring

E2BN will remotely monitor the service to measure the level of availability, and trigger alerts to key support staff if the gateway cannot be reached from the internet.

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6.3 Support

E2BN will act as the first point of contact for support requests, problems, or queries about any aspect of the service. We operate a helpdesk ticketing system that will automatically generate a unique ticket for each request made via e-mail to [email protected]

Telephone support and remote desktop assistance are provided via standard geographic telephone number.

Helpdesk Hours – 08:30 to 5:00pm Mon to Friday excluding Bank Holidays Typical response and fix times:

Helpdesk Telephone answered within 30 seconds during working hours Simple gateway configuration change – 8 hour fix

Web filtering block/unblock – 4 hour fix DNS record change – 4 hour fix

6.4 Local Management

Certain features and functions are more suitable for a Local Administrator. These include:

 Backup administration – backup of local devices onto the gateway server

 User administration – onboard mail server, OpenVPN, VoIP PBX

 Web filtering list management

E2BN will provide the appropriate Local Administrator logins where these are required by the school.

7 E2BN Membership

As an E2BN Direct connected establishment your management team, staff and students will benefit from membership. A separate E2BN “Guide to Services” lists all of the benefits.

http://tinyurl.com/pmr38l2

Here are some of the highlights:

 Reduced rates for delegates attending the two-day E2BN Annual Conference and Exhibition

 Reduced rates for CPD, E-Safety Training and other training courses

 100% discount on E2BN Myths and Legends Story Creator, Museumbox ( worth £118 pa)

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 Access to a number of framework contracts for services and software, resulting in competitive pricing and reduced tender overheads

 Free access to Flashmeeting video conference services

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8 Contacts and Further Information

Telephone 01462 834588 (4 lines)

Sales [email protected]

Web Site www.e2bn.org