Information and Communication Technology Services (ICTS) Department at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham aims at identifying, providing and maintaining reliable computing facilities, computing network environment, communication facilities and related infrastructure to facilitate education, research, instructional and Institute - approved business services. The department is functionally grouped into Systems Administration, Hardware & Network Support, Lab Administration, Software Development, Multimedia and Web Designing.
The department is responsible for identifying the computing requirements for the various academic and administrative departments in the campus and provides necessary computing facilities. The department administers all computer laboratories in the campus. The campus is well equipped with over 2500 computers. The facilities are made available to the staff and students from 8.30 AM to 10.30 PM on all days excluding national holidays. The laboratories extend all facilities required by students to fulfil their requirements for academic purposes. The department staff in these labs also assists students in their academic work. All staff rooms are also equipped with sufficient computers to help faculty to carry out their day-to-day academic requirements and also to help them in their research activities.
The computer centres are accessible to students during college working hours. The Computer centres are also kept open beyond the college working hours and on holidays for the benefit of the students as per requirement. The computer centre lab time table is hosted on the campus intranet site : https://intranet.cb.amrita.edu/
| Day | Labs | Timings |
|---|---|---|
| Regular Working Days | All Computer Labs | 08:30 AM to 05:00 PM |
| Extra Lab Hours on Regular Working Days | Academic Block-1 Ground Floor CP Lab-II (Door No. W-109) | 08:30 PM to 05:00 PM |
| AB-1 Ground Floor CAD/CAM Lab (Door C-102) and AB-2 Second Floor Labs (Door No. D-301, D-302) | 05:00 PM to 10.30 PM | |
| Non-working Saturdays | AB-1 Ground Floor CP Lab-II (Door No. W-109) and CAD/CAM Lab (Door No. C-102) | 09:00 AM to 05:00 PM |
| AB-2 Second Floor Labs (Door No. D-301, 302) | ||
| All Sundays | AB-2 Second Floor Labs (Door No. D-301, 302) | |
| National Holidays | All Labs closed | |
Faculty who need access to computer labs for the purpose of conducting any online exams, conferences, workshops, placement drives, etc. can contact the Lab Administrators for allotment of labs for the purpose. All such requests may please be sent to computerlabs@cb.amrita.edu (link sends e-mail).
ICTS has designed and maintains a central data centre that acts as the central hub for all computing facilities and network services for the campus. The Systems Administration Group manages the data centre. The data centre hosts all the servers and central networking infrastructure for the campus. The Systems Administrators can manage the complete campus network from the central data centre. The data centre is provided with adequate physical and logical security solutions. The data centre is equipped with remote console management facilities, all servers, storage servers, backup devices, firewall, network switches, routers, satellite modems, etc. The servers include domain controllers, domain name service servers, email servers, proxy servers, university database servers, library management server, student ftp servers, etc. The Systems Administrators using inband or out-of-band monitoring technologies can monitor the data centre.
All computing facilities in the campus are internetworked. All buildings in the campus are linked through high-speed fiber optic cable allowing seamless connectivity between departments functioning at these locations. This seamless connectivity assist students to share files and access servers from any PC in the campus. The cables have spare capacities to allow scalability to accommodate more bandwidth in the future. Within a building infrastructure, computing facilities are interlinked via high-speed copper networking cables. Each wings/blocks/floors have their own network concentration points that allow easy administration and security. Network cabling within a laboratory or a block is designed and implemented using the structured cabling approach. This allows flexibility and scalability for expansions in the future.
All hostels and Academic Blocks at Amrita are covered by the Wireless network (WiFi). Faculty and students can connect to WiFi using their Campus Domain Controller username and password. The department has also setup WiFi hotspots in Academic Block – 3 which allows users to connect to the network from their classes.
Requests for support can be either send by email to campuswifi@cb.amrita.edu or through a phone call to Extn. 5334.
The Data Center also hosts all other network services related to the smooth functioning of the campus network. This includes Domain Controllers, Domain Name Servers (DNS), DHCP Server, FTP Server, License Servers, etc.
Requests for support can be either send by email to helpdesk@cb.amrita.edu (link sends e-mail) or through a phone call to Extn. 5331.
Email services of the campus are hosted on the cloud service. The campus has subscribed to Microsoft O365 services for all collaboration. The students are also allotted an email ID on the Google cloud. All faculty, staff and students are allotted email address on the University domain. The use of the email ID is governed by the University Email Use Policy.
Email : sysadmin@cb.amrita.edu
The department has laid out an IT Policy that has been adopted and to be complied by all the IT infrastructure users. The IT Policy is reviewed periodically and amended as required.
The department is functionally grouped into Systems Administration, Hardware Support, Lab Administration, Telecom and Audio/Video support. A staff in supervisory role heads each functional group. The department has one Manager – Systems and Networks and is headed by the Head – ICTS. The recruitment of staff is done after a written test, technical interview and a personal interview.
The Hardware Support group maintains the Computing Systems and Networks. The data centre maintenance is undertaken by the Systems Administrators with the help of the Hardware Support group. All Systems Support is managed and maintained through a support desk application. Users can log complaints either through phone or email. All issues registered will get a token number and the administrators, supervisors and the respective user can track the incident. This application allows easy management of the incidents and optimum allocation of available resources by the supervisor.
Requests for support can be either send by email to helpdesk@cb.amrita.edu (link sends e-mail) or through a phone call to Extn. 5331.
The department has setup all IT enabled infrastructure for the library. The library is completely automated to enable smooth and efficient functioning. All title details are available on the central database system hosted at the data centre. Users can search for books based on various parameters from any computer in the campus connected to the network. All transactions in the library are controlled via barcodes available on the books and on the ID cards of users. The department has also setup a digital library system with access to number of documents in various areas of engineering, medicine, etc. This digital library system is named ‘Vidya’. Vidya is accessible across the campus via intranet services. This portal also gives access to various prestigious journals of IEEE, ASME, etc. A digital library access lab is also setup in the library for the students.
The department has a separate group that manages all audio/video related requirements of the University. This includes providing audiovisual equipments and support technicians at all Auditoriums, Seminar Halls, Conference Halls, Language Laboratory and Hostels. The department is responsible for the upkeep of all the audiovisual equipments installed at these locations, which include amplifiers, speakers, audio/video mixers, microphones, projection systems, etc.
Email : audiovisual@cb.amrita.edu
ICTS hosts and maintains all surveillance devices in the campus. Surveillance systems are installed at vantage locations in the campus which includes security gate, hostels, academic areas, etc.
Email : cv_service@cb.amrita.edu
The department administers the Cisco Networking Academy in the campus. Cisco Networking Academy at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, managed by ICTS was established as one of the Regional Academies by Cisco Systems in India in 1998. The academy is currently an Instructor Training Centre (ITC), an Academy Support Center (ASC). The academy is authorized to conduct instructor training in for CCNA curriculum of Cisco Networking Academy Program. The support center offers support to other Cisco academies in India.
The academy during the past years has won various awards and accolades in recognition of its contribution to the Networking Academy program.
The academy offers Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA) and other IT courses offered under the academy to the students in the campus. The CCNA course helps the students to secure CCNA industry certification. Students who undergo this program can avail upto 58% discount for the CCNA Industry Certification.
The Cisco Networking Academy Program is a comprehensive e-learning program. The online course materials are designed to be used along with several other instructional tools and activities. Cisco Networking Academy is managed by the Information and Communication Technology Services (ICTS) department since its inception in 1998.
Web : netacad.com
Email : netacad@cb.amrita.edu