Description of Government Cloud of Sri Lanka

1. Lanka Government
Cloud (LGC)
What, Why and How?
By Wasantha Deshapriya, Programme Director, ICTA

2. Lanka Government
Cloud is a
Government owned
“Community Cloud”

3. What is a “Cloud”?
Cloud denotes the Internet as well as
something in the distance

4. What is Cloud Computing?
Use of remote infrastructure for
your computing needs
A set of hardware, networks, storage,
services, and interfaces that combine
to deliver aspects of computing as a
service..

5. Key features of Cloud Computing
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Resource Pooling
Elasticity and Scalability
Self-service and on-demand service
No CAPEX and Pay-as-you-use model
Quality of Service

6. Type of Clouds
1. Public Cloud - Anyone
can use it by paying
2. Private Cloud - Only for
one organization
3. Community Cloud - A
cloud that can be used by
a group of organizations
which share similar
objectives and concerns
LGC is a
Government
Community Cloud

7. Types of Cloud Services
1. I-a-a-S: Infrastructure-as-a-Service;
This only provides servers
2. P-a-a-S; Platform-as-a-Service
This provides servers, operating systems,
database SW, DMS etc
3. S-a-a-S: Software-as-a-Service
This provides the entire package including
servers, databases and applications too e.g.
gmail, common HRM

8. Is a new technology used in clouds?
Virtualization
● This is not a new technology as it has been
used since 1960s in mainframe computers to
logically divide computer resources
● Virtualization SW creates virtual servers with
pooled resources
● So it makes it easy to create virtual servers,
allocate other resources on-demand, offer
those to various customers
● Management of cloud has become efficient
with Self-provisioning, billing SW etc

10. Why Cloud Computing?
● Server resource usage level in general, is estimated
approximately to be 20%. Other resources are idling until
the server is retired.
● In order to maintain data centers/server rooms,
organizations need HR with high level technical capacity
● Procurement of servers takes long and you cannot meet
your urgent server requirements through normal path.
● When you need more server power, you have to go
through the same lengthy procurement process.
● When sudden unexpected demand is created for your
website or eServices, you could never facilitate that.
● Cloud Computing provides answers to all above and
many more!

11. Benefits of Cloud Computing -1
1. Cutting down of procurement lead time
● Govt organization has no internal capacity
for defining server requirements/ specs
● Procurement process for buying servers is
cumbersome and takes long such as 6-9
months
● LGC servers can be bought and used in a
week
● server capacity upscaling can be achieved in
a couple of hours

12. An Example for “Long Procurement Lead Time”
President’s Fund Project:
● SW was developed by ICTA and HW (servers) to be
provided by IT Unit of Presidential Secretariat (PS).
● HW requirements was informed to IT Unit of PS in
June 2012 and SW was completed in March 2013:
● IT Unit of PS could not provide servers until Dec
2013, which delayed the use of the system by over 9
months.
● If this system was hosted in LGC, the system could
have been used since March 2013. i.e. 9 months
before it was finally used.

13. Benefits of Cloud Computing -2
2. Cost Savings, (achieving economies of
scale)
●
●
●
●
No capital cost
Only pay for what you use
Reduced cost for electricity, UPS, AC etc
Reduced cost for ICT professionals

14. Benefits of Cloud Computing -3
3. Elasticity
● When your system needs more
server resources (memory, storage,
CPU) the cloud automatically
increases the resources. When the
additional resources are no longer
needed cloud decreases the
resources in real time.
● Obtain the service when you need
and stop tomorrow if you do not
need it and pay-as-you-use

15. Benefits of Cloud Computing - 4
4. Scalability
● The ability to quickly
increase the number of servers,
memory of existing servers,
storage for existing servers
whenever an user organization
needs (on-demand)

16. Benefits of Cloud Computing - 5
5. Availability
All cloud HW, Networking and SW are
designed for high availability to ensure no
down-time

17. Benefits of Cloud Computing - 6
6. Efficiency
Reallocation of IT operational
activities offers opportunity for
agencies to focus on:
● R&D for new applications
● Creating new solutions that were not technically
and/or economically feasible without the use of
cloud services
● Providing the ability to de-couple applications from
existing infrastructure
● Enabling prototyping and market validation of new
approaches much faster and less expensively

18. Benefits of Cloud Computing - 7
7. Physical Safety
Since LGC is located in a state-of-art data centre LGC is
secured from
● Unauthorized entry and access to servers (equipped
with strict access control and CCTV recording)
● Lightning (use of lightning arresters and surge
protectors)
● Fire (Temperature monitoring system which would
trigger the release of fire retardant gas when
temperature goes up)
(Note that the entire eBMD system of Colombo District
including SW application, data, servers etc destroyed by
fire in 2013)

19. Benefits of Cloud Computing - 8
8. Less Management Headaches

20. What is LGC for?
1. LGC is to host central, web based and
cloud-ready eGovernment systems
developed by Sri Lankan government
organizations
2. Moreover Sri Lankan government
organizations can use the centrally
available software services provided by
LGC i.e. Common HRM system, eLocal
Government System, eRevenue License
System

21. What is in LGC
● Hardware
○ Server Racks
○ Blade Servers
○ Routers
○ Switches
○ Load Balances
○ Storage Devices (SAN)
○ Backup Devices
● Software
○ Operating Systems, Monitoring SW
○ Virtualization and Provisioning SW
● Peopleware
○ LGC Administrator
○ Security
○ Policies and rules

22. Where is LGC located?
LGC has been
set up at the
LGN HUb
which is
situated at IDC
of SLT

23. How big is LGC (By end Oct 2013)
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Rack area - 50 sq ft
No of racks - 3
No of physical blade servers - 25
No of possible virtual servers - 300
Memory - 4 TB
CPUs - 700 (virtual cores)
Storage - 60 TB

24. Who owns LGC
● LGC belongs to and managed by ICTA
● However once an agreement is signed by
an organization to use LGC, the particular
server resources belong to that
organization until the agreement is
terminated

25. What are the services on offer in LGC?
1. I-a-a-S: Hosting centralized, cloud-ready
applications
2. S-a-a-S; eRevenue License, Common
HRM, eLocal Government

26. What systems are currently
hosted in LGC?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Lanka Gate
eRevenue License
Sahana Disaster Management System
eLocal Government
eSamurdhi
Location Code and Village List

27. Who can use LGC?
Any Sri Lankan government organization
can use LGC after signing an agreement

28. How can a government
organization use LGC?
1. Understand what LGC is for; It is to host centralized,
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
web based, cloud-ready systems.
Study the cost involved; you can check it though ICTA
website.
Apply to use LGC by using the application form
Sign the agreement with ICTA.
Configure the LGC servers and install your eGovernment
system in LGC.
Maintain the eGovernment system by yourself.
Pay-as-you-use to ICTA monthly or annually for LGC
usage.

29. What should I need to have for
using LGC for running my
eGovernment system?
Cloud-Ready eGovernment System
Connectivity
Admin capabilities (In-house or outsourced)

30. What does “Cloud-Ready” mean?

31. What type of bandwidth is needed
to use an IT system located in LGC?
● It depends on your IT system
● Dept of Motor Traffic in Western Province uses LGC
for hosting their IT system. They have 17 online
users who use the system for connecting to IT
system and the system of DMT at Narahenpita. They
use 512 kbps line and it has been sufficient to carry
out their licence issuing functions on line
● Tests revealed that 64 kbps line is enough for issuing
revenue licenses at DSs o line by using the same ICT
system

32. What type of bandwidth is needed
to use an IT system located in LGC?
● It depends on your IT system!
● Dept of Motor Traffic in Western Province uses LGC
for hosting their IT system.
● They have 17 online users who use the system for
connecting to IT system and the system of DMT at
Narahenpita. They use a 512 kbps line and it has
been sufficient to carry out their licence issuing
functions on line by 17 officers .
● Tests revealed that 64 kbps line is enough for issuing
revenue licenses at DSs on line by using the same
ICT system

33. Is Broadband Connectivity
expensive in Sri Lanka?

34. What level of System
Administrator I should have?
● Since ICTA could assist you to setup and
configure your IT system at LGC, you
should have a System Admin who can
create users, assign privileges to them,
monitor system, generate reports and
report issues.
● ICTA could train your System Admin if
needed

35. How much cost is LGC? Current
pricing (subject to finalize in Dec 2013)
Server Name
Memory GB
Tentative monthly cost as
Storage -system
Additional
Partition
Storage (GB) per the Study (Rs)
(GB)
Tentative annual cost
as per the Study (Rs)
Small (64 bit)
2
30
100
10,000
120,000
Medium (64 bit)
4
30
100
15,000
180,000
Large (64 bit)
8
30
100
20,000
240,000
Ex-Large (64 bit)
16
30
100
30,000
360,000
Hi-Mem-Small (64 bit)
8
30
100
17,500
210,000
Hi-Mem-Medium (64 bit)
16
30
100
25,000
300,000
Hi-Mem-Large (64 bit)
32
30
100
45,000
540,000

36. How secure is LGC location?
● LGC is located in LGN
Hub.
● It can be accessed only
by authorized personnel
● They need to
authenticate themselves
with biometrics,
security PIN and access
control card
● Monitored with CCTV

37. Who have access to LGC servers
and storage? Have they been
vetted?
1. LGC Administrator 1 - He accesses servers
and applications
2. LGC Administrator 2 - He accesses only
the storage
3. Both have signed the Non-Disclosure
Agreement with ICTA
4. Their activities are governed by the IS
Policy of ICTA

38. Is my data secure in LGC?
Who else can access my system/data? (1)
● All necessary hardware
and software level security
mechanisms have been
applied to LGC.
● Virtual servers provided
for an organizations will
be virtually isolated. Only
the system administrator
has access to the virtual
servers via a VPN.

39. Is my data secure in LGC?
Who else can access my system/data? (2)
● Data encryption methodologies
can be used by users to store
data. So nobody can see your
data and use your data even
someone robs it.
● IS Audit: SLCERT will carry out
periodic IS Audits on LGC and
ensure the security of data. This
audit will detail out the security
of data in LGC.
● IS Audit reports will be available
to users.

40. What data should be encrypted
for ensuring security
● The entire database can be encrypted if
required.
● ICTA has finalized the Data Classification
Framework for ensuring data security
● Data classification will be a mandatory
requirement for eGov applications
● Following 2 slides show how the
classification framework could be used

42. Data Classification Framework

43. IS Audit by SLCERT will cover
1. Physical security
2. Network security
a. Intrusion detection
b. All network equipment
c. Applied security policies
3. Server security
4. Application security

44. Can I get back ups of my data in cloud?
● Yes. LGC will arrange you
to take back ups !
● Data in LGC are backed-up
weekly and daily.
● Alternative back-up
mechanisms which would
allow organizational
administrators to take a
back-up on a hard drive or
a tape drive.

45. Is there a Disaster Recovery Site
for LGC
● By default LLGC does
not have a DR site
● However DR facilities
will be provided ondemand

46. How can I know whether I have
been given what I asked for?
- The organizational administrator will be
given access to check the configurations of
the virtual servers.
- Organizational administrator can check
what is stored in each server (can get a list of
applications running on his server)

47. Will I get an individual attention?
1. Can I have a separate Audit Log server?
Yes
2. Can I access audit trails for my servers?
Yes
3. Can I get a separate IS Audit carried out
and have the report specially for my
servers and applications?
Yes

48. Help when needed?
1. 14 hour help desk support will be
provided to user organizations in
trilingual basis
2. LGC administrators will help you in any
difficult occasion
3. System and help manuals will be made
available on-line

49. If I decide to stop using LGC?
How can I get my data back?
- The organizational administrator can get the data back. LGC
administrator will provide data on request
Will ICTA stop billing me immediately?
- Billing will be stopped once servers are permanently removed
(deleted) which would happen immediately after we receive the
request
Will all my data be removed from LGC hard disks
permanently?
- The organizational administrator can remove data. LGC
administrator will remove on request. Since the common
storage is used, the data will permanently be removed only
when it is overwritten

50. How can you ensure nobody else
is using my cloud servers?
- Servers are virtually isolated; others can not
access your servers
- Your administrator can define your own
security policies
- Bandwidth and QoS control and
management control can restrict access
- Accessible only via a VPN
- Access logs can be checked to identify
visitors’ IPs & who did what

51. How can I pay for LGC usage?
Invoicing Monthly/annually
Ledger transfer
Pay-as-you-use by cash, cheques, credit
cards, mobile payments

52. Thank You!
by