SAFARI™ Oasis™ FAQ

What is SAFARI™ Oasis™?

SAFARI™ Oasis™ is a next generation approach to building secure and easily manageable wired and wireless networks for government, industry, and commercial enterprises. Building medium-sized networks (2,000 nodes or less) that seamlessly integrate multiple types of wireless technologies has traditionally been both costly and cumbersome. The SAFARI™ Oasis™ system approach allows users to build multi-user networks supporting video, VoIP, and media using existing and advanced broadband wireless assets.

Why do I need to use the SAFARI™ Wireless Controller?

Each SAFARI™ Oasis™ network is built around the SAFARI™ wireless controller. The SAFARI™ Controller takes the challenge out of building wireless networks by integrating the functionalities of a network gateway, wired router, wireless router, and network security into a single, easily configurable package.

How is SAFARI™ Oasis™ different from other broadband wire systems on the market?

The Oasis™ approach frees the user from the constraints of proprietary radio solutions, while providing the wherewithal to meet most challenging requirements. Think of a telephone central office. One side of the central office offers subscriber voice and data access, and the other side (the “trunk side”) connects to other central offices via an infrastructure with links of fiber, wire, wireless, and microwave technologies. The SAFARI™ Controller acts as a mini central office interconnecting multiple subscribers (“users”) within the operating domain of one SAFARI™ or routing them to another location via a wired/wireless infrastructure.

Why can’t I just use a radio infrastructure to provide a wired point-to-point?

Most radio infrastructure solutions primarily create a point-to-point link between two locations. A large majority of radio systems do an excellent job of moving digital information from one location to another. The SAFARI™ controller provides the ability to net multiple links into a coherent routing fabric to interconnect subscribers into a secure, robust solution.

What can be done with a SAFARI™ Oasis™ to support other network and other specialized WiFi products?

The SAFARI™ network operational options allow the administrator to tailor each SAFARI™ Oasis™ element to one or more specific functions. For example, SAFARI’s enterprise capacity supports in0building and campus-wide roaming 802.11n service for 10s to 1000s of users.

What kind of link infrastructure radios can be used?

The SAFARI™ will support nearly all digital, radio, or microwave systems produced in the last 15 years. The SAFARI™ can connect with Ethernet, synchronous, serial, and fiber physical interfaces,. The SAFARI™ also easily connects to specialized communication and radio devices to support bridging between analog and digital facilities.

What kind of local area or subscriber radios can I use?

On the subscriber side, SAFARI™ connects with all contemporary wireless devices, including (but not limited to) WLAN, WiMAX, RFID, SCADA, and telemetry.

Where and who is using the SAFARI™ Controller today?

The SAFARI™ Controller is in use by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, major U.S. and international hotels, educational institutions, and manufacturing organizations.

Can multiple users share the system?

Yes, this can be done in several ways. The most common method is to create a secure VLAN for a specific group of users. Each SAFARI™ Controller can support up to 512 VLAN circuits within each VLAN. Multiple secure VPN point-to-point circuits are supported.

What about security? Is there any way my information will be available to other users?

No, because your information is safeguarded by four levels of security. A SAFARI™ Controller supports gateway security, password/authentication, wireless link security, and virtual link security. These combine to form an extremely high level of communications security.

How can I control who uses the network?

The network administrator of each SAFARI™ network can control which network device and which user has access to network resources, as well as determine the duration of access.

What types of network operations can be controlled?

All aspects of network operations can be locally controlled and managed. SAFARI™ supports SWMP V. 2/3. Access to all levels of network operations is safeguarded by strong password and authentication algorithms.

Can I encrypt point-to-point traffic using our own security?

For technically qualified end users and system integrators, MSC can provide an API that will assist in tailoring the SAFARI™ Controller to specific authentication and link encryption requirements.

Can I control the bandwidth or usage of a client by time, data rate, or user type?

Yes, you have complete control of bandwidth resources, passing through each SAFARI™ Oasis™ controller.

What type of network statistics and reporting does the SAFARI™ Oasis™ system provide?

SafariView’s diagnostic tool set allows authenticated users to validate network operations in real time. A status and alarm email alerting feature allows immediate alerting of network destination or faults.

Can the SAFARI™ Oasis™ assist in verifying coverage and continuity with clients?

The SAFARI™ provides detailed traffic reports by channel, by link, and by user. Customized reports can be generated to show usage by individual network clients.

What installation and training services does Metric Systems provide?

Metric Systems, in conjunction with its local systems integrator (SI) partners or value-added reseller (VAR) will provide local installation and post-sale service, if requested.

Does the SAFARI™ Oasis™ support multimedia services?

Yes, it does. The SAFARI™ Controller can support multiple high definition (HD) video streams while simultaneously handling multiple latency sensitive Voice over IP (VoIP) circuits.

Can Metric Systems assist us in designing a network solution?

Yes. Metric Systems can directly or in conjunction with your internal IT or third party SI/VAR assist in designing, deploying, and commissioning your system.

How do I purchase a SAFARI™ Oasis™ system?

Following a consultative period where Metric Systems assists in a preliminary design concept, Metric Systems will tender a comprehensive proposal.

Can I integrate mobile operations within a SAFARI™ Oasis™ network?

Yes. SAFARI™ can support mobile P25 and Tetra operations together with mobile video operations.

What type of redundancy does a SAFARI™ Oasis offer?

A SAFARI™ network can provide overall reliability levels of 99.9999% (comparable to fiber)—far better than telco and satellite. This is accomplished by carefully selecting the correct network topology and radio link technology.

What type of radios can I use with the SAFARI™ Oasis™?

Nearly any type of current digital broadband and microwave radio along with any unlicensed wireless gear. Non-digital radios are integrated into the Oasis™ network via standard digital-to-analog/analog-to-digital converters. For example, Oasis™ supports all radios from Motorola, Harris, and Siemens, etc.