Net North West plays a VITAL role for Liverpool Students

Net North West has approved funding towards a new high speed link to the University of Liverpool’s Carnatic Halls of Residence, as the success of the University’s VITAL (Virtual Interactive Teaching At Liverpool) service has led to increased pressure on the existing network connection.

The Carnatic site is based approximately five miles from the main University campus, making a network link here essential; it connects some 1,425 students and more than 100 staff to the Net North West network, allowing them to share large amounts of information and data amongst themselves quickly and easily and providing them with internet access.

VITAL was launched in 2003 and is jointly run by the University’s Computing Service and the Centre for Lifelong Learning. It provides students with an online learning environment which offers access to teaching materials, discussion groups and tests.

By late 2005, demand for this service was huge and there were sometimes 2,000 students simultaneously logged into VITAL! The VITAL web pages were also seeing over 10 million hits every month, putting a considerable strain onto the existing connection.

The new high speed (1 gigabit) link will mean that even more information can be passed over the network at greater speeds, meaning an improved service for VITAL users and a more efficient network for staff and students at The University of Liverpool.

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