The University of Manchester has improved performance of its computer network by preventing students from downloading films, games and music over the infrastructure.

Using PacketShaper technology from IT firm Packeteer, the university has prevented most peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic, including file-sharing applications such as Kazaa and BitTorrent, from slowing down its network.

The university estimates that nearly 70 per cent of its available bandwidth was being used by unsanctioned downloads, before the new system was installed.

‘Deploying Packeteer at our network core enables us to block all unwanted P2P traffic while allowing useful P2P traffic such as Skype to transit the network,’ said Ben Horner, IT officer at the University of Manchester.

The technology has been deployed across the university’s wide area network, which spans the academic campus and 11,500 student bedrooms in halls of residence on 45 sites.

The system also helps to stop the spread of viruses, monitors network traffic and reports on applications being run. Bandwidth can be allocated to certain parts of the network and usage blocked when necessary.