Network Services

Umoya specialises in the design and provision of integrated networks. These can include:

Wide Area Networks

Umoya deploys and manages WAN technologies such as VSAT and Microwave Radio, supplemented with Diginet, Martis and Megaline services from Telkom, Neotel and Internet Solutions.

VSAT provides the ideal solution where many remote sites need to connect to a central location and there is a requirement to dynamically allocate bandwidth and traffic across all sites.  Uptime on VSAT services is renowned to be high, which makes it ideal for services where reliability is non-negotiable and latency not as critical.  Umoya has successfully deployed VoIP services over VSAT debunking the myth that VSAT cannot be used for real time applications.

Microwave Radio is ideally suited for point-to-point high speed, low latency links.  Umoya have deployed a number of these for customers, linking regional hubs to a central location.  Radio Frequency technology is fraught with problems of interference from other RF sources and issues such as rain-fade, which take careful planning and management to ensure reliability.  When choosing a partner to implement RF solutions, experience counts.

Disaster Management in the Western Cape, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and the Western Cape Weighbridges all make use of VSAT connectivity for their primary means of connecting to the Provincial Government network.  They rely on Umoya to roll out new VSAT terminals appropriate to each site, maintain all existing Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) and manage the satellite network for them.   Umoya are a partner in the Gauteng Online project, connecting remote schools to a central data centre.  We are responsible for deploying VSAT CPE at the schools and managing the teleport (earth station) in Gauteng, from where we configure, monitor and manage network equipment and links.

Metropolitan Networks

Technologies such as Diginet (aimed primarily at links from 64kbps to 2Mbps) are being replaced by Metro Ethernet where speeds of Gigabits per second are possible (this is long the technology of choice in first world cities).  Metro Ethernet is available where fibre is widely deployed.  Umoya tends to deploy technologies appropriate to the technical needs and financial resources of each customer.

Certain EMS sites have recently required upgrades where Umoya is deploying Metro Ethernet services between sites.  Umoya deployed fibre terminating equipment and configured the IP routing and LANs for the Cape Town Metro Police fibre based metropolitan network.  This enables the Cape Town Metro Police to make use of Aurecon's GEMC3 application in a high speed and low latency environment.

Local Area Networks

Many of Umoya's customers need Local Area Networks (LANs) deployed and maintained at both central and remote sites.  Umoya has deployed these LANs using a mix of Ethernet and WiFi technology.  As with Microwave, WiFi networks can be tricky to deploy effectively and it helps to have in depth knowledge and experience.

Supplementary Services

Umoya are competent in configuring and managing IP networking equipment and servers, from Cisco routers and switches to IBM servers.
Umoya manage email and domain name services for certain customers, although we do not focus on these more traditional ISP services.  VoIP phones and IPPBXs have been successfully deployed over VSAT for Disaster Management.  All services are managed and monitored using Opmanager Network Management Software. Uptime and availability as well as CPU and memory usage of specific devices is monitored.