| Canadian technology to be tested on Mount Everest
Ottawa , Friday, February 25th, 2005: Canadian technology and architectural design will be put to the test in one of the harshest environments on earth on the upcoming Kanatek-sponsored assault on Mount Everest.
When they arrive at base camp at 17,575 feet, the party of Canadian climbers and researchers from Ryerson University and the University of Ottawa will set up a wireless network with a satellite link back to Ottawa . The network will consist of wired and wireless laptops, including rugged laptops designed for harsh conditions. The network will allow the researchers to swap files and back up data on other laptops. Also included in the network is a video conference unit to allow visual communication with researchers back in Ottawa and Toronto.
The Everest base camp network will be linked to a disaster recovery site at Kanatek's offices in Ottawa, via an ISDN satellite phone, where the data will be backed up and archived, to provide a robust infrastructure for data retention and disaster recovery. This means that the research data developed by the Universities has four levels of redundancy – the user's laptop, other laptops at base camp, the Backup server at Kanatek, Ottawa and the Backup tape library unit in Ottawa.
The architecture was designed by Kanatek Technologies, a Canadian Storage Integrator experienced in developing disaster recovery environments. A proof of concept was developed, before being tested in Kanatek's Ottawa laboratory. Training on the technology is being provided to three members of the expedition.
The architecture will be displayed at two free Data Assault seminars on March 1 st in Ottawa and March 3 rd in Toronto.
The expedition party leaves on March 25 th 2005 and is led by Dr Sean Egan, an accomplished mountaineer and professor in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa , and Peter Luk, director, School of Business Management , Ryerson University . Accompanying the climbing expedition for three weeks is a party of hikers that includes senior IT executives from private and public Canadian organizations and leaders from the Ryerson University Business School. The expedition is sponsored by Kanatek Technologies, an independent storage systems integrator based in Ottawa and co-sponsored by ProCurve Networking by HP, a supplier of enterprise networking solutions and SkyWave Mobile Communications, a world leader in satellite-based asset tracking, monitoring, and control. < end >
More information on the send off in Toronto on March 3 rd is available at www.kanatek.com/seminar
It is intended to film the hockey game and highlights and interviews will be available to the media.
More information on the expedition is available at www.kanatek.com/everest
Kanatek is an independent storage integrator specializing in data availability, networked storage, and back up and recovery solutions. For over 20 years, Kanatek has been designing; implementing and supporting complex solutions for its clients to help them deliver the best returns on their IT investment. For more information please visit www.kanatek.com
For more detailed information on the expedition please contact:
Tim Redpath
Train of Thoughts
Office: (613) 836 9516
Cell: (613) 293 9310
Email: tim@trainofthoughts.ca |
