UMP hub for MyREN IPT East Coast access

PEKAN, 11 October 2021 - The relocation of the East Coast Malaysian Research & Education Network (MyREN) Point-of-Presence (PoP) from Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) Gambang campus to UMP Pekan will improve PoP operations.

It gives an advantage to educational institutions on the East Coast to enjoy the best internet access services from MyREN to improve the quality of education and research.

MyREN was launched in March 2005 under the initiative of the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and managed by the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) with the aim of providing high-speed broadband to the education sector to expand research capabilities in Malaysia.

The MyREN community initially connected only 12 Public Universities (UA), but after 16 years, it has now covered 166 institutions, including 20 UAs, three private universities (IPTS), 33 Polytechnics, 102 Community Colleges, four University Teaching Hospitals, and four agencies under MoHE involving nearly a million users consisting of lecturers, researchers, and students.

According to Irman Khalil, who is performing the duty of the Director/Chief Information Officer of the Centre for Information and Communication Technology (PTMK), since 2010, UMP has been the main hub that connects the East Coast to the outside world involving Pahang, Terengganu, and Kelantan.

“MyREN broadband access connectivity in Malaysia consists of seven PoP hubs.

“It involves PoP in the Northern Region of Peninsular Malaysia (USM), Western Region (UM), Southern Region (UTM), East Coast Region (UMP), Sabah (UMS), Sarawak (UniMAS), and the Ministry of Education Malaysia Enstek Data Center (PoP Central 1).

“The MyREN hardware deployment must be equipped with a facility support system capable of maintaining a high uptime to ensure that this facility operates at the optimum level,” he said.

The UMP Digital Infrastructure Team, in collaboration with MoHE and telecommunication service provider Telekom Malaysia (TM), agreed to migrate hardware from the Gambang campus to the latest facilities at the UMP Data Centre on the Pekan campus with a more complete facility support system.

The migration process began on 15 September at 6:00 pm and ended on 16 September at 5:00 pm.

During the migration period, there were disruptions to all educational institutions on the East Coast connected to MyREN.

However, based on the initial planning and good cooperation of all educational institutions representatives, the migration work had been carried out smoothly.

Through MYREN, 166 institutions have direct access to the international learning and teaching and research network covered by the Trans-Eurasia Information Network (TEIN).

These include foreign institutions connected to TEIN through the Pan-European Research and Education Network (GEANT), INTERNET2 USA, Korea Advanced Research Network (KOREN), China Education and Research Network (CERNET), Japan Science Information Network (SINET), and research networks in ASEAN countries.
 

By: Mohd Rashid Abu Bakar, Digital Infrastructure Division, Centre for Information and Communication Technology

Translation By: Dr. Rozaimi Abu Samah, Engineering College/Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology