PERT training strengthens network performance through eduPERT

 Friday 5 December 2008, Cambridge, UK: Seventeen network engineers trained in performance emergency response team (PERT) skills last week, 27-28 November. This was the second time this hands-on course was run, to equip staff of national research and education networks (NRENs) to establish and operate national and local PERTs within the new eduPERT structure of federated PERTs. 

The eduPERT training course was jointly developed by TERENA, DANTE and the Swiss NREN, SWITCH, as part of the GÉANT2 project. The workshop was held in the SWITCH offices in Zurich and featured some improvements in the training materials based on feedback from the first, pilot course that was held in September 2007.

"The course was fully-subscribed and I was very pleased with its successful outcome,” said Peter Webster (DANTE), the course leader. “It's clear that the participants really appreciated the expertise of the SWITCH instructors.”

PERT training helps NREN staff to respond to complaints of poor network performance, analyse what is wrong and fix the problem. It includes both hands-on and theoretical exercises in various aspects of network performance monitoring and analysis, including the installation, set up and use of various software tools available to carry out these tasks. Additionally, the course gives an overview of PERT history and explains what steps to take in order to set up an accredited PERT.

Given the nature of the Internet, networking issues can originate many hundreds of miles away from where a problem appears. To enable effective handling, therefore, the eduPERT federated structure has been devised. This allows each national or local PERT to remain autonomous, while using the same tools and compatible software as counterparts in other countries or regions. Each participating PERT also agrees to set up certain procedures in order to be able to share information between PERTs.

The course was aimed at network engineers who work, for example, in a network operations centre (NOC) and have to maintain a high quality of service when it comes to network connectivity. This helps to keep scientific research data flowing through the backbone European research network. “By increasing the know-how of network engineers, courses like this are an important way of driving up the overall performance of the GÉANT2 network,” said Peter Webster.

All the course materials and an archived video stream including presentation slides will soon be available on the PERT Knowledge base webpage :
http://edupert.geant2.net/kbase/index.html

Further information
eduPERT website
http://edupert.geant2.net/

More about this and the first PERT training workshops:
http://www.terena.org/activities/training/pert/index.html
 

For further information please contact:
Helen Martindale
DANTE
Direct: +44 (0)1223 371 328
Mobile: +44 (0)7823 538090
helen.martindale@dante.org.uk