APAN South Asia Net Group Meeting
Bangkok, Thailand
18 December 2003
Research and Education
Network Nepal:
Problems and Prospects
Binod Vaidya
Center for Information Technology
Institute of Engineering
Tribhuvan University
Nepal
Introduction
Background
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4 Universities dealing with technology courses
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Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu - 1959
Kathmandu University, Dhudikhel - 1992
Pokhara University, Pokhara - 1997
Purwanchal University, Biratnagar – 1995
1 University (only Sanskrit Language)
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Mahendra Sanskrit University
Tribhuvan University (TU)
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Tribhuvan University is oldest and largest
University
61 Constituent Campuses
222 Affiliated Campuses.
Total number of students in Constituent
campuses – 138,500
More than 150,000 students in Affiliated
campuses
Distribution of Campuses – region
wise
Constituent Campuses
Central
Development
Region, 29
Eastern
Development
Region, 13
Far Western
Development
Region, 3
Mid Western
Development
Region, 5
Western
Development
Region, 11
Affiliated Campuses
Central
Development
Region, 120
Eastern
Development
Region, 34
Far Western
Development
Region, 13
Mid Western
Development
Region, 11
Western
Development
Region, 44
Overall Student Population
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Student population distribution in constituent
institute/faculty only
70,000
61,015
60,000
50,000
37,210
40,000
30,000
20,479
20,000
11,533
10,000
0
4,291
Science and
Technology
Engineering
1,667
Medicine
358
Forestry
564
Agriculture
and Animal
Science
1,390
Law
Management
Humanities
and Social
Sciences
Education
Institute of Engineering (IOE)
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Established in 1972
One of institutes of TU.
To produce technicians and engineers capable of meeting
national aspirations for accelerated development of country.
Four Constituent campuses –
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Pulchwok Campus & Thapathali Campus in Kathmandu
Western Region Campus in Pokhara
Eastern Region Campus in Dharan
Six private affiliated Colleges.
About 1800 students in Pulchowk Campus alone
Center of Information
Technology (CIT)
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Established in 1997
One of autonomous units in IOE
Objective is
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to provide IT facilities to faculty, staff and students
to conduct research and development and
consultancy works related to IT.
VSAT terminal and equipment for Internet
connectivity
Optical fiber backbone within Pulchowk premises
and large computing facilities.
Current Network
Infrastructure at CIT/IOE
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Network Link and Users
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VSAT link
LAN Users
Dial-Up Users
: 512kbps/128kbps (downlink/uplink)
Thaicom Satellite
C-band system
Bangkok as hub to internet
: 1800
: 300
Current Network
Infrastructure at CIT/IOE
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Equipment at Main Server Room at CIT
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No of Routers: 2
Satellite Modem (upto 2 Mbps): 1
RAS Server (96 pools of digital/analog modems): 1
Switch (24-port Opto Electrical Switch) : 2
DNS, Web, Mail, Proxy, DHCP Servers :
6
Existing IOE Network
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Optical Fiber Backbone cabling for Interdepartmental
Connections
About 900 PCs ranging from Pentium I to IV.
Research and Education
Network Nepal
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Establishment of RENN under administration
of IOE
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to cater national and international collaborations
for facilitating research and educational
developments
to meet growing needs of academic and
research community in Nepal
Non-commercial Network
Aims and Objectives of RENN
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To set up IT infrastructure to connect all universities / institutions and
campuses within Nepal
To develop self-study centers by providing electronic library databases,
Internet, multimedia, and other self-study material
To develop social-learning systems by creating multimedia courseware,
and providing knowledge databases and distance learning systems.
To deliver increased opportunities for collaboration in research;
To facilitate transfer of technology between academic and research
institutions;
To train teachers and assistants to be able to apply IT for educational
development
To establish national database for academic institutions and
educational research; provide systematic educational information to
help establish information application system for academic institutions.
To encourage institutions participating in bilateral cooperative
arrangements to bring them into multilateral relationships
RENN Organization
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Divided into 4 levels of organization:
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RENN Advisory Board
RENN Management Board
Education Network Panel
Information Resource Panel
Advisory Board
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Representative from Ministry of Education
Representative from Ministry of Science and Technology
Representative from Ministry of Finance
Representative from National Planning Commission
Representative from Ministry of Information and Communication/
Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA)
Representative from Nepal Telecommunication Corporation (NTC)
Dean, Institute of Engineering
Campus Chief, Pulchowk Campus
Director, Center for Information Technology, Pulchowk Campus
Representative from Kathmandu University
Representative from Pokhara University
Representative from Purwanchal University
Advisory Board (cont..)
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Representative from Faculty of Management, TU
Representative from Institute of Science and Technology, TU
Representative from Institute of Medicine, TU
Representative from University Grants Commission (UGC)
Representative from Royal Nepal Academic Science and Technology
(RONAST)
President, Computer Association Nepal (CAN)
President, Society of Electronics and Communication Engineers Nepal
(SECEN)
President, Information Technology Professional Forum (ITPF)
President, Association of Computer Engineers Nepal (ACEN)
Management Board
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Campus Chief, Pulchowk Campus
Director, Center for Information Technology
Head, Department of Electronics and Computer
Engineering, Pulchowk Campus
IT Expert from Kathmandu University
IT Expert from Pokhara University
IT Expert from Purwanchal University
IT Expert from Faculty of Management, TU
IT Expert from Institute of Science and Technology, TU
IT Expert from Institute of Medicine, TU
IT Expert from one of IOE Affiliated Campuses
Services
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Network infrastructure and services set up shall
include:
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Installation, maintenance and operation of large
Campus LANs
Seamless interconnection of LAN-WAN segments, and
multi-protocol capability provided
Deployment of wired and wireless networks for
Internet access
Provision of whole range of Internet services
Provision of e-learning and distance education
Current Status
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Central TU offices and Exam controller Office are
using dial-up connection
TU Constituent as well as affiliated Campuses
within Kathmandu valley are connected by dialup service
Ministry of Education is also connected to CIT
network
Proposed Network Infrastructure
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Network shall be build at three-layer
hierarchical principle:
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Main Networking Center at IOE
University Networking Centers in
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Central TU
Kathmandu University
Pokhara University,
Puwanchal University
Campus network in each campus
Proposed Network Infrastructure
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Main Networking Center
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is located in IOE at CIT Building
acts as gateway to Internet
Dedicated Intranet servers located.
Academic institutions and campuses are
connected either
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directly to Main Networking Center or
via University Networking Centers are located in
different parts of Nepal
Proposed Network Topology
Constraints and problems
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Lack of policies and regulations for non-commercial
educational network
No tax or license fee exemption for non-commercial
educational network
Lack of telecommunication facilities in all development
regions
Lack of ICT facilities in most of campuses outside
Kathmandu Valley
Lack of infrastructure and physical facilities
Lack of investment for educational network
High cost of internetworking devices
High cost of Internet Bandwidth through VSAT
Prospects
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Ministry of Science and Technology has assured
to formulate appropriate policies and regulations.
Ministry of Education is keen to support on
establishing RENN
TU as well as IOE authorities are positive on
establishing RENN
Foreign institutions are willing to help for not
only establishment but also sustainable
operation of RENN
Future Plan
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Upgrading the facilities of IOE;
VSAT Bandwidth - Increase to 1Mbps/512kbps
Connection to IOM and Central TU using dedicated lines
using Wi-Fi networks;
Connection to IOE constituent as well as affiliated
colleges Wi-Fi networks or leased lines;
Connection to Kathmandu University (KU) by leased
Building Intranet
Collaborations with foreign institutions/ organizations for
various ICT R&D and network connectivity
Q&A
Thank you!
bvaidya@ioe.edu.np