On 21^st January 2015, KENET donated 24 HP switches to 13 needy member institutions. The switches will allow the campuses to better utilize the high end services delivered through the network. The switches will also be used to refresh the networks and extend the network in campuses that previously had no local area network (LAN).

“Following the scalable campus training that KENET organised in April and October last year, KENET engineers learnt that a number of institutions had poorly designed campus network, saidMs. Michelle Opiyo, Network Administrator KENET. “The networks were unmanageable and unsegmented,” she added.“KENET’s donation of the switches will enable these institutions to get rid of the dumb and unmanaged units from the network and segment the network.”

“In the process of disbursing the switches the campuses were required to come up with the current network design diagrams as well as demonstrate the intended use to the switches in their network to ensure that the switch donations go into the campuses where the greatest impact would be felt” said Mr. Judah Opuk, Senior Network Engineer KENET

Victor Ngatiri, the Head of ICT and e-Learning at the Pan Africa Christian University expressed the institution’s gratitude for the donation. “Upon receiving the switch, I replaced a DLINK ‘managed’ switch (in a central network location) with the HP switch which supports more network management features,” he said. Network performance in the institution has since improved.

“We are elated to get the switch donation. The switches will assist in boosting our network infrastructure for better bandwidth management, and will allow us to offer our community better bandwidth services” said Mr. Tonny Kimanzi, ICT Officer, South Eastern Kenya University.

The switches are a gift from our partners at the University of Oregon’s Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC –http://www.nsrc.org/). Its’ mandate is providing technical assistance to organizations setting up computer networks in developing areas for collaborative research, education, and international partnerships.