Julian Matthews, Kuala Lumpur

Kulim Park Pioneers Gbit Ethernet

Kulim Hi-Tech Park is setting up a Gigabit Ethernet network believed to be the first of its kind in the country for the delivery of a variety of electronic community services for the park's tenants.

The network is being set up by networking company 3Com Asia Ltd and systems integrator Stacks Technology Sdn Bhd in a joint project with Kulim Technology Management Sdn Bhd under an agreement signed recently.

Will Serve Region

Kulim Technology Management (KTM) group general manager Mazlee Md Ramli said the establishment of the network is aimed at not only serving the park's industrial tenants and estimated 250,000 residents, but customers beyond as well.

"We intend for it to become a multimedia corridor for the state of Kedah and the northern region," he said.

Among the various Internet and intranet-related services the network will deliver are electronic commerce, electronic banking, smart schools and online training.

Built at a cost of 1.5 million ringgit (about US$385,000), the network should be operational in August after an initial testing period, said Mazlee.

The network is built around a 3Com SuperStack II switch as the backbone supporting a seven collapsed Gigabit Ethernet segments and servers that are integrated with 3Com's Corebuilder 7000HD asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) connectivity.

Local-area 10/100 Mbps Ethernet connectivity to the desktop is provided by various 3Com SuperStack II switches, while 3Com's Netbuilder II router is used for the wide area network (WAN).

Under the agreement, 3Com provides the hardware and technical knowledge, while Stacks Technology serves as network integrator for the installation of the LAN and WAN.

Stacks Technology also provides training for the KTM staff and park tenants.

The network's operational centre will be housed in the park's new US$3.25 million information technology (IT) center which is scheduled to be officially opened in August.