Server crashes at some online CAT centres

Server crashes at some online CAT centres

November 28, 2009 16:29 IST

The first computer-based Common Admission Test for admission to the Indian Institutes of Management on Saturday got off to a troubled start with the server crashing in some centres, forcing the authorities to reschedule the examination for those affected. Nearly 2.41 lakh students across the country would take the exam for getting entry into seven IIMs and other B-schools in 105 centres in 32 cities in the next ten days.
"It has certainly not been cancelled in any of the test centres," Soumitra Roy, Managing Director, India [ Images ], Prometric, the agency conducting the test, said.
"As a result of isolated technical issues some candidates are being rescheduled and provided with a new appointment via email and SMS," Roy said.
He said that thousands of tests were successfully delivered in hundreds of test centres throughout the country. "To accommodate the maximum number of candidates, Prometric and IIMs delayed the start of the morning session by about half an hour," he said.
Students complained of glitches in certain centres in Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Delhi [ Images ], Mumbai [ Images ], Kolkata [ Images ] and Bhopal. However, IIM, Bangalore, Director Prof Pankaj Chandra claimed the first session of the examination was a 'smooth affair.'
The IIMs for the first time have entrusted the task of conducting the CAT to Prometric, an American firm, which is organising the computer-based test over a period of ten days.
There will be two rounds of test each day. The first round will start from 10 am to 12.30 pm while the second round will be from 3.30 pm to 6 pm, Prometric said.
A total of 2,41,582 students have registered for the exam this year, which is a marginal drop as compared to last year when 2,46,000 students appeared for CAT.
The candidates will vie for around 2000 seats in the IIMs. Directional maps detailing the locations of all test centres have been made available on the CAT website by Prometric.



# Rediff

No widespread server crash but just delays in CAT: Convener

PTI 28 November 2009, 05:47pm IST

AHMEDABAD: Convener of Common Admission Test (CAT) said there is no widespread server crash for their first ever online test but just delays.

"There are no widespread server crashes. What is happening is there are delays due to many process that we require to fulfill," Professor Satish Deodhar convener of this year's CAT said.

"This is the first day of the first on-line test. Such an attempt to take an on-line test of 2.41 lakh students in the span of 10 days is being carried out for the first time in the world," Deodhar said.

"We must understand that there are bound to be some problems on the first day of such an huge exercise but the exams is going on and it will go on for the next ten days," he said.

More than 2.41 lakh students are appearing for the test across the country for admission in different IIMs and other management institutes.

"There were delay in processing of candidates finger prints and photographs which are required. There is also delay as our test file are taking long to get download due to strict data security provision given to them. Students are also not familiar with the system," Deodhar said.

"But we hope that from tomorrow it will become more smooth," Deodhar further added.

tfssssssssss

I think few unpians are taking the test and that increased the load....

well my flen was appearing for the CAT,hope she made to give the exam and wake up at 6 am again

CAT may be extended by a day due to technical snag

New Delhi: The prestigious Common Admission Test (CAT) for admission to MBA course in seven IIMs which were to continue till December 7 may have to be extended by another day due to the technical snag developed yesterday in the online system for conducting the examination introduced for the first time.
The snag affected students mainly in Bangalore, Lucknow, Chennai, Bhopal, Kolkata and Delhi will have to make another attempt over the next nine days, according to Prometric, the US-based testing and assessment service provider to which the work of conducting the CAT had been outsourced by IIMs.
According to reports, as many as 105 centres were affected by the crash in the online system and nearly over 300 students were unable to take the examination. The candidates experienced problems like pages not opening on the screen, options going missing, and images not being downloaded properly.
This is for second time in recent years that CAT has come under a cloud. In 2003, there was question papers leak in these examinations.

....yupz....extension part z really required othrwise ths server crashing wd ve been a loss on d prt of aspirants.....

CAT exams crash on second day too, blamed on virus attack

November 29, 2009 21:26 IST

Technical glitches that disrupted the first on-line Common Admission Test for entry to the Indian Institutes of Management and top business schools at one-fifth of the exam centres were blamed on a virus attack, as the snag prevented hundreds of students to take the exam for the second day on Sunday.
Authorities rescheduled the test at 24 of the 104 Centres across the country to fix the glitches affecting more students. About 2,000 students could not appear in the test on Saturday due to the virus that swamped the computers at about 50 labs in the 24 centres.
CAT, being conducted through computers for a period of 10 days from November 28 to December 7, got off to a troubled start on Saturday after which the authorities decided not to hold the test at these affected centres.
Candidates, who could not appear the test, have been notified and their tests are currently being rescheduled within the testing period, said Prometric, the American firm entrusted with the task of conducting the tests for around 2.41 lakh candidates for admission to the IIMs and a few other B-schools.
"Exhaustive plans were developed and put in place well in advance of the start of the testing window. Unfortunately, the particular viruses and malware (malicious software) that attacked the test delivery system were not detected by the anti-virus software at the testing centres," said Ramesh Nava, vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific, Japan [ Images ] and Africa, Prometric.
Technicians have been dispatched to address these isolated problems, Prometric said.
Prometric said it has generated new appointmets for individuals who could not take the test and they are in the process of being contacted through SMS and e-mail messages.

..............nt again man.................wtz ths drama...............!!!!!!!!!!!

i think mcse de exams wi Prometric conduct kardi, pata nai o paper kive dindi janta

*phew*

CAT trouble on day three too

NEW DELHI: The competitive Common Admission Test (CAT) for institutes of management and business schools, which went online for the first time this year, ran into trouble for the third consecutive day when a computer crash stalled the exam at centres in three cities, a leading coaching institute said.

"We have received student feedback that the exam was cancelled at one centre in Bangalore and two colleges in Bombay in the morning schedule," Ulhas Vairagkar, director of TIME coaching institute, told IANS.

Some students also complained that the computers failed at the Institute of Management Studies (IMS) Ghaziabad exam centre, stalling the CAT session Monday morning.

"For the CAT exam scheduled in the afternoon slot there is no problem," said an official from the institute.

Earlier, however, another leading coaching institute said that day 3 of the exam was going smoothly.

"Until now we have not had any negative feedback on the test. So, after two days of computers crashing and bad management, the online version of CAT finally seems to have taken off smoothly," said Gautam Puri, vice chairman of Career Launcher, a coaching institute.

The CAT exam, which determines admission to the country's prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) and other business schools, went online for the first time Saturday, but several students had a harrowing time when computers crashed in around 40 centres across the country on the first and second day.

Technical glitches and poor management has led to the exam being rescheduled for students of the centres across the country, creating a lot of confusion among the MBA aspirants. The exam's staggered computer-based format has a 10-day schedule and will conclude Dec 7.

Ramesh Nava of Prometric, the US firm that developed the computer based CAT, said: "Exhaustive plans were developed and put in place well in advance of the start of the testing window."

"Unfortunately, viruses and malware that attacked the test delivery system were not detected by the anti-virus software at the testing centres," he added.

"All affected candidates have been notified and are currently being rescheduled within this year's testing period," Nava assured.

Around 240,000 students have registered for the CAT this year, which is scheduled at 105 centres in 32 cities, all linked to a main server.

^ hahaha, welcome back...