What is OpenRAP?

OpenRAP stands for Open Resource Access Point. OpenRAP is an open source software initiative to develop a modular & scalable localised CDN platform. Open Offline Localised CDN software is written to be hardware agnostic. Open source software community can use, validate and contribute to project.

Features


Individual choice

Select from the best collection of multimedia content


Fast

No Buffering, hyperfast streaming through our wifi hotspot.


Free

ZERO Cost for operators and users.


No internet required

Save expensive data plans for yourself.

Use Cases

Course Curriculum

Pre-Loading the complete Digital Course Curriculum (K12) onto the CDN and then accessing the content through any of the School Desktop / Tablet without internet connectivity.

Teacher Reference Material

Content especially designed for teachers can be pre-loaded onto the CDN and the same can be accessed by teachers from anywhere within the school premises through their own phones.

Digital Library

CDN can be used as a Complete Digital Library for schools (Offline Wikipedia, Khan Academy), content of which can be accessed through Desktops / Tablets without the need of Internet.

Admin Tools

Admin Functionality to take attendance and maintaining Students / teachers profile could be delivered via OpenRAP Solution which makes it possible to deliver the solution without use of internet.

FAQ's

  • CDN - A content distribution network (CDN) is a large distributed system of servers deployed in multiple data centers across the Internet. The goal of a CDN is to serve content to end-users with high availability and high performance/Speed. CDNs serve a large fraction of the Internet content today, including web objects (text, graphics and scripts), downloadable objects (media files, software, documents), applications (e-commerce, portals), live streaming media, on-demand streaming media, and social networks.
  • Localised CDN - Localised CDN is a platform to deliver content to a Localised Community or group of users. Content residing on these platforms are mostly curated to be consumed by the community users on a frequent basis. Localized CDNs can be either deployed on-premise or in the cloud based on the connectivity and requirements. On premise localized CDN, based on capacity & volume, can be classified as Micro, Medium and Huge CDN systems.
  • Offline Localised CDN - The term offline signifies the usage of the localised CDNs without the need of Internet.The need for OFFLINE are many, few outlined below:
    1. Disconnected geography and no connectivity
    2. Slow Internet Speed, not enough to Stream/Download high quality Video Content.
    3. Connectivity not affordable.
    4. Same set of Content to be consumed, doesn’t make sense to download it through Internet every time, caching is a good solution.
    Essentially an on-premise Localised CDN can be used to deliver content WITHOUT the need of Internet. As an example a school having complete class K12 content pre-loaded onto localised CDNs and Students/Teachers can access that content locally without the need of internet totally in an Offline Environment.
  • Open Offline Localised CDN - Is an open source software initiative to develop a modular & scalable localised CDN platform. Open Offline Localised CDN software is written to be hardware agnostic. Open source software community can use, validate and contribute to project.

Open Localized CDN devices are preloaded with Digital content (ebooks, Videos, Audio, Pictures..). Content can be refreshed either through Laptop or USB using the Admin Portal of the device.

  1. CDN will publish a Hotspot with the configured SSID when powered on.
  2. End Devices (Laptop / Desktop / Tablets / Smartphones) connect to the OpenRAP using the published WiFi.
  3. Post Connection, Laptop/Desktop to open the configured URL to access the Content residing at a local storage unit and Smartphones / Tablets can access the content through OpenRAP compliant App. Apps could further develop plug-ins to OpenRAP stack to automate data and content synchronization.

All the Analytics data gathered like “who is watching what, most popular videos watched, who all logged-in…” can also be seen on the Dashboard either Offline and Online.

Today the solution which is widely used in schools for content Browsing and Distribution is placing a dedicated Content server behind a Networking switch, so that all the Desktops / Laptops can connect to it and access the content stored Locally.

Below table compares the dedicated Content Server with Open Offline CDN.

Content and Application Server Open Offline CDN
1. Big and Bulky Hardware (Server class PC) Small and Lightweight
2. Needs Proper Deployment Plug-n-Play
3. Wired and needs Network installation Creates its own Wireless Network
4. Costly Low Cost Device
5. Needs a complex software to be Installed. Open Source Software, can be installed and configured Easily.
6. Content Browsing through Web Page, which can’t happen wirelessly Content Browsing through webpage and App.
7. Can only distribute Content Can distribute content as well gather data from end Users in form of Surveys, Forms, attendance tool, profiling teachers / Students, taking and evaluating Assessments and Quizzes.

The Tables below captures the Minimum Hardware and Software requirements / specifications to run Open Offline Micro CDN.

Hardware specification:

Parameter Specification Notes
Processor and cache ARMV7 Quad Core @ 1.2 Ghz or Equivalent With minimum 2400 MIPS integer performance
Memory 1 GB LPDDR2-900 SDRAM
Storage Minimum of 32GB, solid state storage Must be extendable
Networks supported Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g/n
Ethernet LAN, 100 mbps or more
Power consumption Under maximum load, must consume less than 12.5W Average operating wattages must be less than 5 W
Additional ports to be supported Two ports of USB 2.0 ports or more.
Additional Ports - Recommended HDMI 2.0 For connecting to the monitor
Performance Criteria Concurrent video streaming of up to 20 active connections.
Enclosure IP 50 Enclosure or more Dust Resistant enclosure, assuming CDN would be placed in an in-house.

Note - In order to protect the OpenRAP compliant device from rain, moisture, dust, heat, it is recommended that the device itself is housed in an additional enclosure and mounted on wall. It is also recommended that additional enclosure be designed in a way to provide easy access to USB ports. Since the OpenRAP solutions are small form factor devices, It is recommended that, the OpenRAP device is mounted in an enclosure that is locked, but easily accessible to administrator to refresh content via USB flash device.

Software Specification:

Parameter Specification Notes
Bootup time The device must boot and operate in normal mode within 15 seconds
Basic Services Must support, DHCP and DNS server, HostAP software, Python, Python-django framework, Nginx and udev services as a part of OS All services version as per Debian 8, with exception of django version 1.11.5
Localized offline CDN Software OpenRAP version 1.0 readiness

Note - OpenRAP solution is fast evolving solution with modules being added on daily basis. Vendors are requested to have the Offline local CDN solutions be updated with latest copy of OpenRAP solutions available in the GitHub.

Contact