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Qualification closes the year with good results

At the end of 2001, RNP's Qualification and Training Center (QTC) organized important activities of human resource formation on information technology. In October there was the course "Configuration and Use of IPv6 in IOS/Cisco", taught in partnership with Cisco Systems. In November, the course of system management was, for the first time, open to the public in general. Finally, in December, the traditional Seminar of Internal Qualification took place.

The difference of the "Basic Course on System Management" lies in its innovative methodology, developed in partnership with the Tamis Institute, specialized in teaching activities. The classes are mostly practical, taking into consideration the routine of the professionals working in the area. The sessions are held in the presence of an instructor and use techniques of individual guided study and group work, besides presentations made by the instructor.

The aim of the course is to form UNIX system managers with an emphasis on Internet networks and services. The classes took place in a laboratory equipped with microcomputers to all the students. The theoretical material distributed included texts to be read previously, laboratory guidelines, bibliographical references, a glossary of technical terms and a manual of administrative procedures.

IPv6 and internal qualification

One of the major roles of the QTC is to qualify the technicians operating RNP2 backbone and associated networks. In this field, the most important event in the calendar of the QTC is the Seminar of Internal Qualification, which has been taking place since 1995. This seminar is aimed at the professionals responsible for operating the points of presence of the academic backbone and has the goal of keeping the high technical level of its staffs. The themes covered this year were systems management; QoS; multicasting; and network and system security.

Another important activity of internal training which took place in 2001 was the practical course "Configuration and Use of IPv6 in IOS/Cisco." The IPv6 protocol is more and more used in experimental networks, even being the target of one of RNP's research projects. However, it is necessary to train the people responsible for the configuration of the network equipment so that the new protocol can successfully operate. This was the aim of the course, which had instructors from Cisco Systems. The training was directed to the technicians at RNP, in the points of presence of RNP2 backbone and partner institutions, such as CPqD, LARC/USP, Embratel, Telemar and Impsat. There were 36 enrollments.

More than 200 people participated in the III RNP2 Workshop

In May, RNP organized the III RNP2 Workshop (III WRNP2). The event took place in Florianópolis and gathered around 230 researchers. The RNP2 Workshop is dedicated to advanced applications and high performance academic networks. The target audience is made up of the elite of the network community in the country, representatives of governmental organizations, executives from telecommunication enterprises, suppliers of equipment and services for high performance networks, and representatives of the High Performance Metropolitan Networks (ReMAVs).

The III WRNP2 had three technical tracks: network engineering, middleware and advanced applications. Some lectures were transmitted in real time through RNP2 backbone using unicast and multicast technologies. The workshop participants also witnessed some important experiments this year, such as the TV broadcast through the network between Natal and Florianópolis, as well as the videoconference between the capital of Santa Catarina and Brasília, which made it possible for a musical duet to be formed at a distance, and for the executive secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Carlos Américo Pacheco, to participate remotely in the event.

Besides the courses and seminars promoted by the QTC, RNP's staff participates in external events, gaining and transmitting knowledge.

[RNP, 12.21.2001]