New network enables Indian Parliament Library to go online and provide anytime, anywhere access to years of documentation

NEW DELHI, India - August 8, 2002 - The first phase of the largest ever library-networking initiative in India at the Indian Parliament Library has been completed. The network, powered by Cisco Systems' industry-leading networking solutions, connects over 900 nodes in eight blocks of the newly constructed Parliament Library Building. It will provide access to digitized manuals, books, Parliament debates and Parliamentary questions by members of Parliament and the public at large from remote locations and other libraries around the world.

The high-speed gigabit Ethernet network will support high bandwidth connections over extended distances and enable the implementation of new applications such as e-learning. The network offers high-speed backbone connectivity, redundancy, resiliency, scalability and quality of service.

"The networking of Parliament's information bank has always been high on our list of priorities. The knowledge pool we have is a rich chronology tracing the growth and development of the Indian Parliament and the Nation since Independence. We are delighted that this resource will now be available in an easily accessible, networked format for the world. Cisco was the ideal partner for such an initiative, given the company's experience in implementing government and public projects across the world as well as in India," said a Parliament Secretariat Spokesperson.

Speaking on the deployment, Sudhir Narang, Vice President, Cisco Systems India said: "Cisco feels honored to be entrusted with the task of creating a state-of-the-art network befitting the world class facilities that are being created in the new Parliament Library Building. This implementation will showcase the advantages that Cisco technology offers in management, transfer and access of large volumes of mission-critical information. We believe that Lok Sabha's initiative will drive a number of other government institutions to upgrade their networks for greater efficiencies and productivity."

The Cisco solution implemented consists of a high-speed backbone switch and edge switches connected by Gigabit uplinks. The backbone switch is the Catalyst 6513 with 256 Gbps switching fabric. The edge switches comprise Catalyst 3524 switches. The new age network can also enable the deployment of advanced applications such as IPTV (IP television), IP VC (video conferencing), IP Telephony, wireless networks and content switching.

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