PDF Bandwidth Use Policy - Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University

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Bandwidth Use Policy

Version 1.1 Policy Number:

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University of Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal – Bandwidth Use Policy

Document Control Information

Title Classification Version Status Bandwidth Use Policy Confidential 1.1 validated

Revision History

Version Author(s) Issue Date Changes

1.0 Dr. Zahid – ICT, IAU 11 July 2013 Draft

1.1 Muneeb Ahmad – ICT, IAU 21 May 2017 Updated

Review, Verification and Approval

Name Title Date

Lamia Abdullah Aljafari Quality Director

Dr. Saad Al-Amri Dean of ICT

Distribution List

Copy # Recipients Location

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Executive Summary

University of Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal provides high speed internet access as a service to its management, faculty, students, researchers and administrative staff. The purpose of the bandwidth usage policy is to enhance the internet usage of IAU users caused by improper management and control of bandwidth. The bandwidth is a precious shared resource and hence ought to be dedicated for teaching, learning and research purposes. Its usage should be in line with the university mission, vision and strategy. This bandwidth policy is prepared to define the appropriate use of bandwidth in the university so that optimum gains are achieved from the network.

Introduction

The aim of this policy is to manage bandwidth use proactively to avoid degradation of network performance. This policy applies to all users of

University of Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal accessing computing and internet resources, whether initiated from all devices connected through wired or wireless network located on campus.

Objectives

The following are the objectives of the policy:

1. to establish awareness and accountability for bandwidth use.

2. to educate the users of the priority related to internet traffic.

3. to provide guidelines for responsible use.

Entities affected by this Policy

This policy shall be subjected to all faculty, management, staff and students of University of Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal and guests who are given accesses to IAU network.

Policy Statement

General

1. Bandwidth may be used for any activity supporting teaching, research and consultancy in such a way that it will not prevent other users from using the same.

2. DICT maintains the right to use monitoring tools that log and analyze bandwidth usage of all users of the network. However, the collected data is to be used exclusively for enhancing proper bandwidth usage.

3. DICT maintains the right to block any traffic that is not in line with the university mission and vision and that wastes bandwidth.

4. DICT maintains the right to give priority for one type of traffic over the other based on predefined rules.

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5. Whenever necessary, DICT maintains the right to give priority to some users more than the other by giving more accesses to bandwidth. This will be based on the relevance of the work to the university's mission.

6. DICT maintains the right to enforce user authentication for using the Internet by assigning them accounts and keep the logs of usage history for analysis of user's usage behavior. Users will be responsible for all usage history registered in their account.

7. DICT Internet users shall use the proxy server to access the Internet for centralized bandwidth monitoring and management purpose.

8. Bandwidth may not be used for any non-educational activities or activities that consume bandwidth for a benefit of few users.

9. Users should not involve in activities such as hacking, cracking, spamming, streaming, web serving and p2p file sharing using the universities resource.

10. DICT users may not be allowed to do tasks that disturb the bandwidth management and optimization system on any machine connected to the network.

11. Bandwidth quotas are applied to all traffic passing between student computers and the Internet.

Excessive use of the network

1. To ensure that all qualified users making use of the internet resources receive a fair share of the bandwidth available, everyone’s bandwidth is limited to no more than 1GB in a rolling 24-hour period.

2. Individual bandwidth will be calculated as the combined network traffic from all personal computer systems used. This includes use of the wired network service, the vpn and wireless network services.

However, the internal university traffic including email services and access to central file servers will be exempted.

Exceptions

1. Users who have a genuine academic requirement for a larger quota should identify this need before exceeding their quota, and should then follow the below process:

a. Obtain authorization for a higher quota from user’s respective Dean or Manager

b. Present the request and supporting authorization to the DICT and be prepared for a discussion.

c. Properly supported requests will normally be granted, provided that their impact on the use of the network is not disproportionate.

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Consequences of exceeding the bandwidth usage

1. Users will be allocated to a restricted network which will allow access to only authorized university web based systems. This includes university website, departmental websites, VLE and SIS.

1. User should use this time to identify the cause of the high bandwidth usage. If user require help rectifying the problem then they should contact the ICT Service Desk.

2. This withdrawal of network services only applies to your personal computer. Your university account is still fully operational and you will be able to use computing facilities in your department or library.

Appeal

To appeal contact the ICT Service Desk and clearly state the grounds on which your appeal is based.

You should only appeal against the decision if you believe that:

1. You have not exceeded the bandwidth limits for the service (1GB in any 24-hour period).

2. You have mitigating circumstances to warrant a review of the penalty.

The following reasons would NOT be acceptable grounds for appeal:

1. You were unaware that your actions were illegal / in breach of the Conditions of Use of the network.

2. Your guest or friend made use of your connection.

3. You accidentally left your computer system switched on downloading copyrighted content.

4. You know of other users currently downloading similar content on the network.

Conclusion

By enforcing the acceptable use policy, we aim to achieve the following outcomes:

1. Better informed university community regarding acceptable and unacceptable use of university ICT resources.

2. Responsible IAU community regarding the value and use of ICT resources.

Policy Violation

Anyone who violate this policy will be subject to any or all the following actions:

• Suspension of the university internet account/access.

• The referral of the case to the University Legal Department along with supporting evidence for an appropriate action.

• The case may be forwarded to the Communication & Information Technology Commission (CITC), Saudi Arabia who may initiate criminal investigation per the e-crimes regulations. More information regarding these regulations may be found at the following link:

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English Version:

http://www.citc.gov.sa/en/RulesandSystems/CITCSystem/Pages/Cyber crimesAct.aspx

Arabic Version:

http://www.citc.gov.sa/ar/RulesandSystems/CITCSystem/Pages/Cyber crimesAct.aspx

Appendix

The following terms are used in this document.

Bandwidth: the transmission capacity of a computer or a communications channel stated in megabits per second (Mbps).

Monitoring tools: logging and analysis tools used to accurately determine traffic flows, utilization, and other performance indicators on a network.

Authentication: the process that validates a user’s logon information by comparing the user name and password to a list of authorized users.

Proxy server: A software package running on a server positioned between an internal network and the Internet.

Mirror site: A duplicate Web site that contains the same information as the original Web site and reduces traffic on that site by providing a local or regional alternative.

Hacking: using a computer or other technological device or system to gain unauthorized access to data held by another person or organization.

P2P file sharing: direct communication or sharing of resource between commercial or private users of the Internet.

Streaming: the playing of sound or video over the Internet or a computer network in real time.

References

1. Acceptable Use Policy