Cost effective wide area networking in the charity sector

Thames Reach (formerly Thames Reach Bondway) is one of the largest charities in the UK working with homeless people in London. Thames Reach employs 300 staff and provides over 600 bedspaces and flats for some of the most vulnerable rough sleepers.

Design and implementation
In 2001, Thames Reach's central office was completely destroyed by fire and all the existing IT infrastructure was lost. Synapse Networks was commissioned to design and implement a new infrastructure that would provide central file and print services, data backup and a routed leased line connection to the internet for web browsing and, more importantly, a new Microsoft Exchange server. However, cost was an important consideration and the system had to be reliable and easy to administer. To this end, Synapse Networks came up with an innovative design that enabled sharing of the centralised Microsoft Exchange and gave access to the organisation's new intranet. The installation consisted of a 256Kb leased line with a Watchguard Firebox III 700 series firewall to prevent unauthorised access. It also enabled secure multiple Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnels from the various remote sites. These sites varied in size from single users to offices of up to 30 individuals. The remote sites had a mixture of 20/1 and 50/1 contention ADSL connections provided by Eclipse Internet. Synapse Networks has, to date, installed and commissioned 20 sites for Thames Reach.

Benefits
The introduction of the VPN had a profound effect on the information flow within the organisation. The intranet provided a central point of reference for all employees. The Exchange Server increased the rate at which information passed through the organisation whilst making real cost savings on postage, telephone & facsimile charges.