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| The
Mission |
| Indian Universities
constitute one of the largest higher education system in the world.
With 265 universities and 13150 affiliated colleges it is a great challenge
to ensure effective coordination and communication amongst 88 lakh students
and 3.5 lakh teachers, it is a great challenge to ensure effective coordination
and communication. Fast changing
curricula and frequent introduction of new subjects impose a great demand
on the system in general. Indian Universities need to be given the required
trust to enter the third millennium with a leading edge.
Technology is a driving force
in contemporary education system. University Grants Commission has
launched an ambitious programme to bring about a qualitative change
in the academic infrastructure especially for higher education. Under
this initiative UGC is modernizing the university campuses with state-of-the-art
campus wide networks and setting up its own nationwide communication
network named UGC-InfoNet.
ERNET India, a society under
the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, is partnership
with the University Grants Commission in the setting up of UGC-InfoNet.
Under this programme it is proposed to use Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) and Internet to transform learning environment from
mono-dimensional to multi-dimensional. UGC-InfoNet will be a boon
to the higher education system in many ways:
| UGC-InfoNet will become
a vehicle for distance learning to facilitate spread
of quality education all over the country. |
| UGC-InfoNet
will be a tool to distribute education material and journals
to remotest of areas. |
| UGC-InfoNet will be
a resource for researchers and scholars for tapping most up-to-date information. |
| UGC-InfoNet will form
a medium for collaboration among the teachers and students not
only within the country but all over the world. |
| UGC-InfoNet
will be an Intranet for University Automation. |
| UGC-InfoNet will
encompass entire University System for most efficient
utilization of precious network resources. |
| UGC-InfoNet
will establish a channel for Globalization of Education
and facilitate the universities in marketing their services
and development. |
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Intranet for Universities |
| Availability
of reliable and stable network infrastructure will facilitate increased
usage of computers in the university campuses. Campus Management will
be more efficient and student friendly. Interlinking of the universities
will expand the reach of students and faculty to other universities
providing them with better avenues for wider horizontal growth.
UGC-InfoNet will establish a seamless
link between the UGC and the universities. This will help to provide
a more accurate and up-to-date picture of the universities, while at
the same time it will enable universities to have timely information
about the various schemes of the UGC. Consequently, this will bring
a qualitative change in the UGC – Universities interaction. The huge
and multi-faceted Indian Education system would achieve greater efficiency
through e-governance of UGC. |
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Technology Partnership |
| Information
Technology is evolving at a rapid pace worldwide to cater to the need
of providing information in any form, at any time, anywhere. The trend
is to set up networks which are device independent, thus enabling flexibility
of access, and also to meet the requirements arising out of convergence
of technologies. Regular technology input would be required to upgrade
the network infrastructure to ensure delivery of upcoming applications
and content to the education and research community in the country.
UGC and ERNET have come together to meet the challenges that may face
education community with respect to real time information.
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Implementation Methodology |
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The UGC-InfoNet will be overlaid on ERNET Infrastructure in a manner so
as to provide assured quality of service and optimal utilization of
bandwidth resources. The network will be run and managed by ERNET
India. The project will be funded by UGC with 100% capital
investment and up to 90% of recurring costs. Towards this end, an MoU
has been signed between UGC and ERNET India for implementation of
UGC-InfoNet and also for long term technology partnership. A joint
technical and tariff committee, consisting of leading experts in the
country has been setup to guide and monitor the design, implementation
and operations of UGC-InfoNet. INFLIBNET, as autonomous IUC of the UGC,
would be the nodal agency for coordination of the UGC-InfoNet and would
be a linkage between ERNET and the Universities. In long run, each
University will become a hub for the colleges affiliated to it. |
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| Network
Architecture |
| UGC InfoNet is
based on open IP platform, employing state-of-the-art technologies like
IP Multicast, TCP Spoofing and other Internet tools that provide
interactive education on PC or TV, enabling on-line response to
queries. Open systems architecture will ensure support for current and
future applications. Users from Educational Institutions would enjoy
high data rates while accessing Intranet and Internet resources.
Main
features of UGC-InfoNet are:
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Scaleable
Architecture to grow from Universities to affiliated Colleges |
| Nation-wide
Terrestrial Backbone using Fiber Optic links |
| Integrated
Satellite WAN supporting broadband and SCPC technology |
| Comprehensive
Network Management Systems for overall monitoring of the network,
down to each and every device. |
| Linkage
with other Academic and Research Networks all over the world. |
| Security
for data and virus protection using firewalls and Intrusion Detection
Systems |
| Dedicated
Data Center for Web hosting, e-Journals and Mail Boxes |
| Mirror
sites spread all over the country for content hosting |
| Broadband
Multimedia and Video Channels for Distance Learning |
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| Data
Center |
| A data center
with large server capacities is being set up for the UGC-InfoNet. Content
of common interest will be maintained at this data center. Each University
would have the option of hosting their website and the journals subscribed
through University Consortia. The
data center will be:
- Dedicated for the UGC-InfoNet
- Comprising of Email, Web, News and Proxy Servers
- Protected with firewalls and IDS
- Co-located with Satellite Hub
- Within single hop access to the Universities over VSAT
- Hosting a Portal on Higher Education in India |
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| Electronic
Subscription
of Journals |
| With
globalization of education and competitive research demand for the journals
has increased over the years. Due to insufficient funds, libraries have
been forced to cut on subscriptions of Journals. UGC has turned towards
the internet to cover the gap between the demand and supply by way of
e-journals that can be subscribed on line. Most of the journals are
available in electronic form. UGC is also exploring the possibilities
of alliances with the publishers for adapting a consortia-based approach
for e-subscription of journals. These journals will be available over
UGC-InfoNet to all the universities. Much of the new research publications
are also available on the net as free ware, there by making quality
information available to a wider academic scholar base spread across
the country at an affordable price. |
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| Connectivity
Options for Universities |
| UGC-InfoNet is overlaid
on ERNET Infrastructure including a nation wide terrestrial backbone
and a complimentary satellite Wide Area Network (WAN).
As such ERNET can provide a complete range connectivity options
to the universities depending upon their location and bandwidth requirements.
Since terrestrial media offers greater scalability and performance efforts
will be made to connect the universities on the terrestrial media. Alternately
a Satellite connection will be provided through VSAT.
Digital Leased Lines
In
the localities where telecom network is well-developed dedicated leased
line will be hired from basic telecom service providers. Such links
are primarily for 64 Kbps and 2 Mbps speeds. Since fiber optic connections
facilitate better connectivity, efforts will be made to bring fiber
links as near to the university as possible. Most of the universities have potential to become hub of communication
for the affiliated colleges. Therefore, basic service providers will be locating their terminal
essential at the university premises.
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Radio
Link
The universities located within 30 kms of the ERNET PoPs will be provided with dedicated radio links operating from 64
Kbps to 2 Mbps speeds. These links require line of sight clearance from the network node to the concerned university.
Radio links are very reliable and operational cost includes only
maintenance of the equipment and a nominal license fee.
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Satellite
based Wide Area Network
ERNET operates a Satellite base Wide Area Network (SATWAN)
using C-Band transponder on INSAT-3C. SATWAN hub, located at
Bangalore, supports Broadband VSATs with up to 45 Mbps shared bandwidth
and Single Channel Per Carrier (SCPC) VSATs capable of providing up to 2
Mbps dedicated bandwidth.
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Broadband
VSAT
Most of the remote universities will be served using broadband VSATs.
These VSATs operate in a shared bandwidth mode for optimal
utilization of the precious satellite resources. Since Internet traffic
is asymmetric in nature Broadband VSATs are optimized to receive high
bandwidth (shared beam of up to 45 Mbps) and relatively smaller capacity
for outgoing traffic (shared channel of up to 307 Kbps) from a
University. |
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SCPC
VSATs
Single Channel Per Carrier (SCPC) VSATs will be used for
establishing dedicated two-way channels of 64 Kbps to 2 Mbps from Hub.
SCPC VSATs are ideal for those universities which are located in remote
areas but wish to host their own Internet server for providing access to
their information through Internet from all over the world. |
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Campus
LANs at Universities |
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Infrastructure at the
University campus is also critical to take full advantage of the UGC-InfoNet.
Campus LAN technologies is evolving rapidly and many universities may
not have expertise to setup most modern and cost effective LANs. ERNET
India has participated with many institutions in planning and implementation
of their campus computing facilities. The expertise generated thus will
be extended to the Universities so that every university can have a state
of the art infrastructure. |
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Network
Access Center |
| For maximum benefits
of UGC-InfoNet, the Universities should preferably set up a campus wide
network and ensure uniform access all over the campus. Wherever campus
LAN is not in place it is suggested that the university sets up a
network access center, which is open to all students at the university.
This will work on lines similar to the terminal rooms in
traditional computer centers.
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| Network
Trained Manpower |
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Trained manpower is
one of the most critical resource for successful implementation of
high-tech programmes like UGC-InfoNet. ERNET India has setup a modern
training laboratory to train network system managers and users of
UGC-InfoNet. Technical staff from each of the participating universities
will be trained to take maximum advantage of the infrastructure.
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University
Grants Commission |
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The University Grants Commission (UGC) is a statutory organization
established by an act of Parliament. This is a national body for the
coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of University
education. The UGC serves as a vital link between the Union and State
Governments and the institution of higher learning. In addition to its
role of giving grants to universities and colleges, the University
Grants Commission also advises Central and State Governments on the
measures necessary for the improvement of university education. It also
frames regulations such as those on the minimum standards of instruction
and qualifications of teachers, on the advice of subject specialists and
academicians with whom it frequently interacts in connection with the
formulation, monitoring, and evaluation of programmes.
More than 294 Universities in the
country are directly under the purview of UGC. These Universities are uniformly
spread all over the country from metropolitan cities to very remote
areas.
Implementation and operation of
UGC-InfoNet will be coordinated by INFLIBNET, an autonomous
Inter-University Center of the University Grants Commission of India.
INFLIBNET is providing a variety of services to the academic community
of the country and helping libraries in their automation efforts. About
142 university libraries are on way to computerization. |
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ERNET
India |
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ERNET India, an
autonomous society under Ministry of Information Technology, is
providing Internet access to Education and Research community in the
county for over 10 years. ERNET is a nation-wide terrestrial and
satellite network with points of presence located at leading education
and research institutions in major cities. ERNET infrastructure is a
judicious mix of satellite and terrestrial networks ideally suited for
the Education and Research community in the country.
ERNET has pioneered the Internet
Revolution in the country. Way back in 1986 ERNET started as an R&D
programme of the Government of India and UNDP with an objective of
enhancing the national capabilities in the area of computer
communication and networking. After successful completion of the R&D
phase ERNET became an Autonomous Scientific Society under the then
Department of Electronics (Now Department of Information Technology), to
provide the best network resources to the Indian academic community.
Marching towards this goal ERNET India is participating with UGC for
implementation of the UGC-InfoNet.
Apart
from providing Computer Network infrastructure for the academic
community ERNET is playing a role of total service provider for the
institutions. ERNET provides High End education in the area of computer
networking, undertakes R&D for evolving newer solutions and also
assist the universities in establishing their in-campus infrastructure,
like campus LANs. Content provision is a major thrust area for ERNET.
ERNET has designed and made operational many portals to supplement the
information for students and teachers alike. |
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