Download (1220Kb) - EPrints @ UiTM

DEVELOPMENT OF A MALAYSIAN RESEARCH AND
EDUCATION NETWORK (MyREN) LINKED to UiTM's WEB
SERVER
BY:
HUSNA ZAINOL ABIDIN
FARAH YASMIN ABDUL RAHMAN
AHMAD IHSAN MOHD YASSIN
MAY 2009
COPYRIGHT@UiTM

Surat Kami
Tarikh
: 600-IRDC/SSP/DANA 5/3/Dsp (31/2008)
: 6 Mei 2008 40450 Shah Alam, Malaysia
Website : http / /: www.irdc.uitm.edu.my
Puan Husna Binti Zainol Abidin
Ketua Projek
Fakulti Kejuruteran Elektrik
UiTM Shah Alam
Puan Farah Yasmin Binti Abdul Rahman
Ahli Projek
Fakulti Kejuruteran Elektrik
UiTM Shah Alam
En. Ahmad Ihsan Bin Mohd Yassin
Ahli Projek
Fakulti Kejuruteran Elektrik
UiTM Shah Alam
Tuan/Puan,
TAJ UK PROJEK PENYELIDIKAN DANA KECEMERLANGAN : "DEVELOPMENT OF
A MALAYSIAN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORK (MYREN) LINK TO
UITM'S WEB SERVER"
Dengan hormatnya perkara di atas adalah dirujuk.
Sukacita dimaklumkan bahawa Mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Penyelidikan Dana
Kecemerlangan telah meluluskan cadangan penyelidikan yang telah dikemukakan oleh
puan bertajuk di atas dengan syarat-syarat seperti berikut:
i. Temooh projek Denyelidikan ini ialah 1 tahun, iaitu bermuia 15 Mei 2008 hinaaa
15 Mei 2009.
ii. Kos yang diluluskan ialah sebanyak RM5,000.00 sahaja. Tuan/Puan diminta
mengemukakan bajet yang baru mengikut kos yang diluluskan sebelum
tuan/puan memulakan projek penyelidikan tuan/puan. Peruntukan untuk
Pembantu Penyelidik dan pembelian bahan/peralatan adalah tidak diluluskan.
PENYELIDIKAN, PEMBANGUNAN DAN PENGKOMERSILAN LANDASAN KEWIBAWAAN DAN KECEMERLANGAN
No. Telefon :
Penolong Naib Canselor (Penyelidikan)
Ketua Penyelidikan (Sains Sosial dan Pengurusan)
Ketua Penyelidikan (Sains dan Teknologi)
Ketua Perundingan (Kewangan)
03-5544 2094/5 Ketua INFOREC : 03-5544 3097 Pegawai Sains
03-5544 2098
03-5544 2097
03-5544 2091
Ketua Perundingan : 03-5544 2100
Ketua COPYRIGHT@UiTM
Pengkomersilan : 03-5544 2750
PejabatAm
Fax
03-5544 2093/2101/2057
03-5544 2096/2767
03-5544 2753 Penolong Pendaftar : 03-5544 2090 Unit Kewangai Kewangan Zon 17 ; 03-5544 3440

iii. Semua pembelian bahan/peralatan adalah diminta agar tuan/puan mematuhi
prosedur perbendaharaan di mana pembelian melebihi RM 500.00 hendaklah
mengemukakan sebutharga dan borang analisa harga.
iv. Pihak tuan/puan dikehendaki mengemukakan laporan prestasi secara ringkas
pada bulan Disember 2008 sepanjang penyelidikan Tuan/Puan berjalan.
v. Tuan/Puan perlu menandatangani Borang Perjanjian Penyelidikan dengan kadar
segera kerana penggunaan geran hanya dibenarkan setelah perjanjian
ditandatangani.
vi. Laporan Akhir perlu dihantar sebaik projek penyelidikan disiapkan dan format
menulis laporan akhir boleh diperolehi di laman web IRDC.
Sekian, harap maklum. Terima kasih.
'SELAMAT MENJALANKAN PENYELIDIKAN'
Yang benar,
PROF. ( '.Am AHMED
Pe aib Canselor (Penyelidikan)
s.l Dekan
Fakulti Kejuruteraan Elektrik
/hmy
2. Koordinator URDC
Fakulti Kejuruteraan Elektrik
3. Puan Rosnani Abd. Razak
Penolong Bendahari
Unit Kewangan Zon 17, UiTM Shah Alam
(Sila ambil perhatian)
COPYRIGHT@UiTM

Tarikh
No. Fail Projek
Penolong Naib Canselor (Penyelidikan)
Institut Pengurusan Penyelidikan
Universiti Teknologi MARA
40450 Shah Alam
Ybhg Prof,
: 15 Mei 2009
: 600-IRDC/SSP/DANA 5/3/Dsp(31/2008)
LAPORAN AKHIR PENYELIDIKAN "DEVELOPMENT OF A MALAYSIAN
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORK (MyREN) LINKED to UiTM's
WEB SERVER"
Merujuk kepada perkara di atas, bersama-sama ini disertakan 2 (dua) naskah Laporan
Akhir Penyelidikan bertajuk 'Development of a Malaysian Research and Education
Network (MyREN) Linked to UiTM's Web Server' dan satu (1) salinan softcopy
dalam bentuk cakera padat (CD) oleh kumpulan penyelidik dari Fakulti Kejuruteraan
Elektrik untuk makluman pihak tuan.
Sekian, terima kasih.
Yang benar,
HI JLABIDIN
Ketua,
Projek Penyelidikan.
COPYRIGHT@UiTM

PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS
HUSNA ZAINOL ABIDIN
Project Leader
FARAH YASMIN ABDUL RAHMAN
Project Member
Signature
AHMAD IHSAN MOHD YASSIN
Project Member
COPYRIGHT@UiTM

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Praise to the Almighty God for His favour to us in bestowing the ability to complete this
project. Special thanks to our beloved families and colleagues for their prayers and moral
support. Last but not least, we would like to thank the following people:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habibah Hashim
(Chair, Centre of Computer Engineering Studies, Faculty of Electrical Engineering)
Ms. Ezianti Kamal & Staffs
(Head of Network Department, CIIS, UiTM)
Mr. Kamal Hisham & Staffs
(MyREN Network Operation Manager, MyREN Network Operation Center, Cyberjaya)
Ernny Erniati Mohd Sayuti
(Final Year Project Student)
COPYRIGHT@UiTM
ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DESCRIPTION PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iii
LIST OF FIGURES v
LIST OF TABLES vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS / NOTATIONS / GLOSSARY OF TERM viii
ABSTRACT x
CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background 1
1.1 Research Objectives 2
1.2 Scope of Work 2
1.3 Report Structure 4
CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Overview 6
2.1 National Research and Education Network (NREN) 7
2.2 Malaysian Research and Education Network (MyREN) 7
2.2.1 MyREN Services 10
2.2.2 The Importance of MyREN 15
2.2.3 MyREN in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) 18
2.3 Web Server 18
2.3.1 Related Works on Web Server Development over NRENs 19
2.4 Summary 20
iii
COPYRIGHT@UiTM

CHAPTER 3 - WEB SERVER DEPLOYMENT ON MYREN
3.0 Overview 21
3.1 Web Server Development 22
3.1.1 Development of Virtual Server and Client Server 22
3.1.2Development of Database and Website 25
3.1.3Deployment of Web Server 26
3.2 MyREN Configuration and Server Installation 27
3.2.1 Domain Name Server and Universal Resource Locater 22
3.3 Summary 31
CHAPTER 4 - RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.0 Overview 32
4.1 Connectivity Tests 33
4.1.1 Testing on Server-Site 34
4.1.2 Testing on Client-Site 37
4.2 Accessibility Test 39
4.3 Summary 41
CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0 Conclusions 42
5.1 Future Works and Recommendations 44
REFERENCES 45
APPENDICES 47
APPENDIX 1 48
APPENDIX 2 52
iv
COPYRIGHT@UiTM

LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE TITLE PAGE
Figure 2.1 Domestic Network Connections [1] 8
Figure 2.2 International Linkages [1] 9
Figure 2.3 Link Utilization Measured from UiTM on 16 March 2009 10
Figure 2.4 Network Latency Measured from UiTM on 16 March 2009 11
Figure 2.5 Latency to the Regional TEIN3 Nodes Measured from UiTM
on 16 March 2009 12
Figure 2.6 Latency to the US/Asian NRENs Measured from UiTM
on 16 March 2009 13
Figure 2.7 Latency to the European NRENs Measured from UiTM
on 16 March 2009 14
Figure 2.8 Interuniversity Communications before MyREN was
Introduced 15
Figure 2.9 Campus Network with MyREN 16
Figure 2.10 Interuniversity Communications via MyREN 17
Figure 2.11 UiTM Network Connection to the MyREN Cloud 18
Figure 3.1 Client-Server Implementation on the Virtual Machine 24
Figure 3.2 Three-tier Structure Adopted in the Project 25
Figure 3.3 Proposed Network Connection between the Developed
Web Server to the MyREN 27
Figure 3.4 IP Configuration of the Server 28
Figure 3.5 MyREN Router in CIIS 29
Figure 3.6 Server is Wired to the MyREN Router 29
Figure 3.7 DNS Application Form 30
Figure 4.1 Apache Server is Activated via the XAMPP Control Panel 33
Figure 4.2 Ping to localhost 35
v
COPYRIGHT@UiTM

Figure 4.3 Ping to its Own Address (203.80.20.99) 36
Figure 4.4 Ping to the Gateway (203.80.20.98) 36
Figure 4.5 Ping to the DNS Server (203.80.16.81) 37
Figure 4.6 Ping to the Server 38
Figure 4.7 tracert to the Server 38
Figure 4.8 Access to the Web Server via UiTM MyREN VPN 39
Figure 4.9 Access to the Web Server is Blocked via the LAN 40
Figure 4.10 Ping Test to the Server IP Address from the UiTM LAN Failed 40
vi
COPYRIGHT@UiTM

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE TITLE PAGE
Table 3.1 Host Machine Specification 23
Table 3.2 Guest Machine Specification 23
vii
COPYRIGHT@UiTM

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/NOTATIONS/GLOSSARY OF TERMS
ASM Any-Source Multicast
CERNET Chinese Education and Research Network
CIIS Centre for Integrated Information System
CMS Content Management System
DNS Domain Name Server
DVTS Digital Video Transport System
ERPS Resource Planning System
GUI Graphical User Interface
ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol
IP Internet Protocol
ISP Internet Service Provider
Mbps Megabit per second
MOHE Ministry of Higher Education
MyREN Malaysian Research and Education Network
NC-REN North Carolina Research and Education Network
NOC Network Operation Centre
NREN National Research and Education Network
PHP Hypertext Pre-processor
SQL Structured Query Language
SSM Source-Specific Multicast
TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol
TEIN3 Trans Eurasia Information Network 3
UiTM Universiti Teknologi MARA
URL Universal Resource Locater
viii
COPYRIGHT@UiTM

Virtual Local Area Network
Virtual Private Network
ix
COPYRIGHT@UiTM

ABSTRACT
In this borderless world, it is important to have a responsive environment for
retrieving data or information as it is a key component of the information system
infrastructure of modern research projects. Due to the rapid growth of the global
Internet, researchers are demanding an improvement of traditional techniques for data
storage in order to get desired information in a convenient fashion and at a higher
speed. Malaysian Research and Education Network (MyREN) is introduced to
interconnect educational and research institutions in Malaysia. With its high-speed
broadband network, researchers would be able to carry out their research projects that
involve data-intensive applications as well as sharing resources across the network.
Furthermore, the network is more economical compared to other commercial
networks that will not guarantee for higher performance network. This project
presents a deployment platform for web servers to link to the MyREN network. The
server would be able to cater any applications such as bioinformatics and industrial
databases that can be shared among MyREN's members.
COPYRIGHT@UiTM
x

1.0 Background
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
National Research and Education Network (NREN) is a dedicated Internet
service provider that supports the needs of the research and education communities
within a country. Thus, academia and researchers will get networks with high
bandwidth and low latency which are important for collaboration works and resource
sharing among institutions. To date, there are more than 70 NRENs around the world.
Malaysian Research and Education Network or better known as MyREN was
launched on 28 March 2005. The purpose of introducing MyREN is to interconnect
educational and research institutions. Currently MyREN connects fourteen
universities and research institutions throughout Malaysia via a nationwide Internet
Protocol (IP) backbone at 45Mbps capacity. MyREN's high bandwidth capacity
allows data-intensive applications such as bio-modeling and computation as well as
sharing of resources to be conducted more efficiently where high computing assets
can be shared across organizations [1], The backbone covers eight states in the West
and East of Malaysia. Members are connected to MyREN via their respective access
COPYRIGHT@UiTM
1

link, which can either be a fibre link or microwave link. The access connection varies
according to the user's requirements. MyREN connectivity is centralized at MyREN
Network Operation Centre (NOC) which is located in Cybeijaya.
After more than three years, the MyREN link utilization is still low where
some universities have the utilization below 1%. Ministry of Higher Education
(MOHE) has reported that the usage of MyREN is extremely low compared to the
amount of money that the government has spent. In Universiti Teknologi MARA
(UiTM), there is no activity has been done on MyREN. Due to that reason, this
project will focus on developing a platform for web applications and resources to be
shared among MyREN members from UiTM's server.
1.1 Research Objectives
The objectives of this project are:
1.2 Scope of Work
• To develop a web server host for remote access to MyREN.
• To built links from UiTM to other MyREN's members.
This project provides a platform for web server that can link UiTM to
MyREN's members. The server would be able to cater any applications such as
COPYRIGHT@UiTM
2

ioinformatics and industrial databases that can be shared among MyREN's members.
The project work is carried out in four different stages as listed below.
• Literature review
o Literature review on existing National Research and Education
Network (NREN) around the world and web server development,
o Related works on web server development over NREN are reviewed,
o Study and understand the network topology and operation of MyREN.
o Study the MyREN topology in UiTM.
• Web server development
o The process of designing the web server system is divided into four
activities:
• MyREN configuration
1. Development of Virtual Server and Client-Server
2. Development of Database.
3. Development of Website.
4. Deployment of Web Server.
o Get the fixed IP address for MyREN from Centre for Integrated
Information System (CIIS), UiTM.
o Install the web server at the MyREN infrastructure in CIIS, UiTM.
o Apply Domain Name Server (DNS) from MyREN Network Operation
Centre (NOC). The server IP address is then mapped to the DNS. The
COPYRIGHT@UiTM
3

server is then configured so that it is accessible by MyREN members
only.
• Functionality test and performance evaluation
1.3 Report Structure
o Test the functionality of the whole system, i.e. get another MyREN
member to access the database.
This report comprises of five chapters. The first chapter briefly describes the
overview of MyREN, research objectives and the scope of this project. Chapter 2
focuses on the literature review that would discuss about NREN, MyREN in depth
and other related works that have been done by other researchers.
Chapter 3 outlines the process of developing the web server system. The
process consists of the development of virtual server, client server, database, website
and web server. MyREN configuration and the installation of the web server at the
MyREN infrastructure are also described thoroughly in this. The configuration
process is carried out with the help from the personnel at CIIS in UiTM and MyREN
NOC at Cybeijaya. Once it is configured, the web server is then installed at the UiTM
MyREN infrastructure at CIIS. The IP address is then mapped to the DNS.
COPYRIGHT@UiTM
4

Chapter 4 focuses on the functionality test results. The functionally test is
performed from the server site and client site.
Finally, the whole report is concluded in Chapter 5. It gives the detailed
discussions of the project and possible research that can be done in future.
COPYRIGHT@UiTM
5

2.0 Overview
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
A National Research and Education Network (NREN) is a dedicated network
that supports the needs of the research and education communities within a country. It
is usually offer a high-speed backbone network and dedicated channels for research
that will not be interrupted by other background traffic.
Malaysian Research and Education Network or better known as MyREN
connects several universities and research institutions throughout Malaysia via a
nationwide IP backbone at 45Mbps capacity. MyREN's high bandwidth capacity
allows data-intensive applications and sharing of resources to be conducted more
efficiently.
This chapter focuses on the review on NRENs and particularly on MyREN.
Related works in developing web server over the NRENs are also outlined in this
chapter.
COPYRIGHT@UiTM
6

2.1 National Research and Education Network (NREN)
NREN is a dedicated Internet service provider that supports the requirements
of the research and education communities within a country. It is usually supported by
a high-speed backbone network that normally offers dedicated channels for individual
research projects. Consequently, researchers and educators will be provisioned with a
higher bandwidth network with no interruption from the background traffics.
Furthermore, if NRENs are properly implemented, it could demonstrate how a
broadband network can be used in future as well as working as a test-bed for new
technologies, applications and governing policies that will lead to the larger national
network [2],
2.2 Malaysian Research and Education Network (MyREN)
MyREN is a National Research and Education Network in Malaysia that is
used by the researchers in Malaysia for collaborative research. With the high-speed
broadband network, researchers would be able to carry out their research project that
involved data-intensive applications as well as sharing resources across the network.
Furthermore, the network is more economical compared to other commercial
networks that will not guarantee for higher performance network. On top of that, the
network can also be used as a platform for the researchers to test their findings prior
to the deployment in the market without jeopardizing the main network in their
respective institutions.
COPYRIGHT@UiTM
7

To date, MyREN connects sixteen members which consist of universities and
research institutions in Malaysia via a nationwide IP backbone at 45Mbps capacity as
depicted in Figure 2.1. The backbone covers eight states in the West and East of
Malaysia and centralized at MyREN Network Operation Centre in Cybeijaya.
Members are connected to MyREN via their respective access link, which can either
be a fiber link or a microwave link depending on their requirements. With more
bandwidth intensive applications and greater user demand, it is envisaged that
MyREN will evolve to a larger scale network in the following phase. MyREN
backbone is versatile to support all types of traffic such as video conferencing, digital
video transport system (DVTS), data computing, visualization/image modeling and e-
learning [1].
MMU &
Figure 2.1: Domestic Network Connections [1]
COPYRIGHT@UiTM
8
COE

Currently, MyREN members that connect to the network would also be able to
communicate and collaborate with their partners in overseas as it is now linked to the
international research communities in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America via the
Trans Eurasia Information Network 3 or TEIN3 [3]. The connectivity coverage
includes China, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore,
Indonesia, Australia, Europe and the United States as illustrates in Figure 2.2.
TEIN3 Project Partners
0 Australia ^v] Malaysia
Q China g The Philippine
[»7| ndonesia Singapore
[ji] japan [in] Thailand
jwT] Korea [vnJ Vietnam
Ql-aos
TEIN3 Candidate Countries
[»T| Afghanistan p^] Cambodia
[a>] 9anqladesh [w] Nepal
[bT| BnuUf (w] r-aiKtan
fw| -M>i [.£] •
TEIN3 BacVOone Topology Ocemtef 2008
Figure 2.2: International Linkages [1]
COPYRIGHT@UiTM
9
o •
' • ^ Klnrty Anwn. n
TEIN3 h
HOC
© Number of links
* SingAREN cctweeted to TE1N3
SG PoP at 4! Mbps
' HARNET connected to TEIN3
HK PoP at 18 Mbps

2.2.1 MyREN Services
MyREN offers vary services for the users that are connected to the network. The
services are listed below:
1. Video Conferencing
2. DNS Services
3. IP TV
4. Weathermaps
o Bandwidth Utilization - Allow users to view bandwidth utilization to
all directly connected members. Figure 2.3 shows measurement from
UiTM on 16 March 2009.
Created: H«r 16 2009 16:05:CX
Figure 2.3: Link Utilization Measured from UiTM on 16 March 2009
10
COPYRIGHT@UiTM