Faster connections between HQ and the Regions

CFA's IT department has identified an opportunity to improve connection speeds between regional headquarters and CFA HQ at Burwood East.

Under the existing set-up, all regional HQs use a Telstra product known as Frame Relay as either their primary or backup link to connect to CFA HQ. This is now old technology, costly and has limited flexibility in services and network link speeds.

A Telstra product known as TCS is available, which provides a more flexible connectivity platform and improved network link speeds. The TCS network will allow CFA to increase the speed of the primary and backup links to all regional offices on the CFA WAN (Wide Area Network - connectivity to sites that are not local to Burwood HQ), at no extra cost.

A CFA/Telstra agreement has been approved and the upgrade of regional headquarters to proposed link speeds is underway, with an expected completion date of May 2008.

The table below lists current connectivity speeds to Burwood HQ and the proposed link speed increases for those locations.

SUBURB	Service Type	Current Speed	Proposed Speed
Burwood HQ	Primary	8 Mb	100 Mb
Dandenong	Backup	128 Kb	1 Mb
Lilydale	Backup	128 Kb	1 Mb
Warragul	Primary	1 Mb	4 Mb
Sale	Primary	1 Mb	4 Mb
Bairnsdale	Primary	1 Mb	4 Mb
Melton	Backup	128 Kb	1 Mb
Fiskville	Primary	1 Mb	10 Mb
Ballarat HQ	Backup	128 Kb	4 Mb
Ararat	Primary	1 Mb	4 Mb
Horsham	Primary	1 Mb	4 Mb
Seymour	Primary	1 Mb	4 Mb
Shepparton	Backup	128 Kb	1 Mb
Wangaratta	Primary	1 Mb	4 Mb
Wodonga	Primary	1 Mb	4 Mb
Bendigo	Backup	128 Kb	1 Mb
Kerang	Primary	1 Mb	4 Mb
Swan Hill	Primary	1 Mb	4 Mb
Geelong	Backup	128 Kb	1 Mb
Colac	Primary	1 Mb	4 Mb
Hamilton	Primary	1 Mb	4 Mb
Casterton	Primary	1 Mb	4 Mb