CAT servers crash at a few centres

Updated on: Monday, November 30, 2009

Mumbai: There are reports that CAT servers in few centers faced overload problem and even though CAT convenor do not want to accept the word ‘crash’, they have mentioned that exams at few centers (Bangalore, Chennai, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Varanasi and Bhopal) were disrupted and students were asked to take a new date.

Prometric which won the contract (valued at $40mn deal) partnered with NIIT for the operational support. The reason for this failure has been attributed to inadequacy of servers. Triumphant Institute of Management Education (TIME), a test preparation institute headquartered in Hyderabad feels the servers were unable to take the load of so many people taking the test at the same time. “We have been conducting mock tests since July and in the initial days faced similar problems. It is possible that the IIMs and Prometric may also be facing similar issues,” an official from the TIME said. R Shivakumar, Head - Research and Development, Career Launcher expressed shock over Prometric inefficiency. He said, “It is surprising how Prometric could go online without having a built-in redundancy system and without alternate servers to take care of discrepancies.”

The launch of the computerised CAT involved the delivery of exams by Prometric into more than 360 testing labs at 104 individual locations. While a significant majority of the candidates successfully completed their exams on day one, various technical issues arose at selected computers in approximately 50 labs that prevented approximately 2,000 exams from being delivered.

Prometric scheduled closure of the affected labs on November 29, 2009. Candidates affected by this closure would be notified by Prometric and provided with new appointments within this year's testing period.

CAT servers crash at a few centres

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