TetraPower 970MP (CANCELED) Project
Site Server component for Disaster Relief Network Infrastructurein category Other
proposed by luvdownbabylon on 7th March 2006
Project Proposal
This project proposal is in conjunction with the EFIKA development proposal entitled \"Disaster Relief Network Infrastructure (ad-hoc wireless mesh deployment)\". That project (for the EFIKA development) has been approved and can be viewed at http://projects.ppczone.org/projects.php?project=81 for more details on the overall project goals.Briefly, the Disaster Relief Network Infrastructure project aims to provide a plug and play solution for implementing a wireless MESH networking backbone in a disaster recovery or other emergency response situation. The EFIKA portion of the project will concentrate on the networking infrastructure and baseline services, such as access to web services and email, VoIP (internet phone), and basic network management.
The OSW portion of the project will concentrate on the \"Site Server\" component. Whereas the EFIKA based development will bring IP connectivity out to a disaster site, especially shelters, the OSW development will provide an applications and services platform.
One primary use of the Site Server will be to host sessions for thin clients. The thin clients can be either EFIKA based units supporting dual video and keyboard/mice set-ups (two independent thin client users off one piece of hardware), or scavenged/donated equipment running bootable Linux CDs with hardware detection that will configure a PC as a thin client. This is primarily a \"physical infrastructure\" role of the site server. Configured for this application, the OSW would likely be equipped with wireless networking to provide a WAP function for a site as well as terminal server.
Another important role for the OSW site-server component is as an application server. Logistics, scheduling, emergency communications and co-ordination applications will run on OSW site-servers, and be available to all stations on the Disaster Relief Network as web applications. In a shelter environment, the OSW site server can host these applications locally if needed.
This is important especially in the early stages of deployment, before connectivity through the MESH backbone to the larger Internet is established. It will provide the applications needed to self-manage a site\'s logistics. As more sites come up on the MESH, intra-site coordination can be managed. Once reliable backbone networking is established via the MESH, the application hosting can be migrated from individual site-servers at each location hosting all apps to some OSW site servers being dedicated to serving individual applications for the greater MESH. The OSW site-servers in the field can concentrate on serving more terminals while the applications for logistics and communications are centralized on OSW site-servers that are dedicated to serving applications.
As a key work-horse in the Disaster Relief Network Infrastructure, the OSW based Site Server and it\'s applications will be designed to be flexible and dynamic. This will be to meet the key goals of adaptability and scalability in a disaster/emergency environment.
Outside of the primary project goal of creating a plug-and play, minimal configuration networking and computing infrastructure for use in disaster and emergency response situations, there are many other applications that could easily be built over the same basic design, using the same basic components. Some examples include classrooms, call centers, data processing centers, public and private wireless networks, and computing and networking solutions for developing countries.
Though the central application will be the primary focus, this project will actively seek input from, and hopefully collaboration with other open source projects such as the Linux Terminal Server Project (www.ltsp.org) and various open-source MESH networking projects. It would also be in the project\'s interest to work with other members of the EFIKA and OSW development efforts at projects.ppczone.org wherever our needs or implementations overlap. After initial support for disaster and emergency response, I would like to see further development for education, community services, and infrastructure deployment for the developing world; mainly through collaboration with existing projects already focusing on those other areas.
Peace.
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