Administrative Computing > Reports > Annual Report 2002-2003

Southern Connecticut State University
Office of Information Technology
Administrative Computing

Annual Report for FY 2004
Ending June 30, 2004

Introduction

During FY 2004, the Administrative Computing unit completed several important projects, including the creation of Active Directory (Windows login) accounts for students, continued upgrade of the administrative desktop environment, an upgrade to the WebCT service, and an expansion of the server and storage infrastructure to support a high availability environment.   While the desktop unit has maintained its high level of service to administrative users, additional maintenance costs have been reduced to an almost negligible amount.

Highlights

• Completion of the Windows 2000 migration, including creation of Active Directory (Windows login) accounts for students.   In cooperation with the Banner Programming staff, this login is implemented as an extension of the student's MySCSU ID, providing a simpler authentication model.   Plans for implementation of this model for faculty and staff are in place and it completion is expected during the Fall, 2004 semester.
• Campus messaging services have been improved by implementing server based virus protection and spam filtering systems.
• In cooperation with Academic Computing, a student e-Portfolio system was implemented and integrated with the campus MySCSU directory.
• Additional storage was purchased for faculty and staff network directories.
• Plans to implement a centralized backup system were developed.   All Windows and UNIX servers will be backed up using the Veritas NetBackup product to a multi-unit tape library.   As additional servers and storage are added, this will provide additional backup capacity and reduce the backup window time.   Installation is scheduled for Fall 2004.
• WebCT was upgraded to version 4.1 Campus Edition.   While providing additional features, and a friendlier user interface, the 4.1 edition positions faculty and staff for the up and coming WebCT Vista product, which will be implemented by 2006.
• The RealNetworks Helix streaming multimedia server was installed for faculty and staff usage.   Faculty can now provide a more efficient streaming method of delivering audio, video, and other multimedia files to their students.   The Graduate Commencement ceremonies were the first events on campus to be broadcast through live and on-demand streaming video. 
• The VAX 7000 was finally officially retired and removed from the Jennings Data Center .
• An Administrative Computing website was developed and is available at http://oit.southernct.edu/admincc .

Windows 2000 Migration

Faculty and staff accounts, personal and shared network folders, and print services have been created on the Windows 2000 network.   Automated student logins, which conform to the MySCSU ID standards have been developed.   Faculty and staff migration to the MySCSU ID for Windows logins is scheduled for implementation for Fall, 2004.   Plans for several new Windows applications have been developed.
 
Student Logins .  In cooperation with the Banner Programming group, effective Fall 2003, student accounts have been added to the Windows 2000 Active Directory.  As a result of this automated process, students will now use their MySCSU username and password to log onto campus PCs and access resources such as their personal web directories, and campus printers.   In addition, students can now use a single custom web page to reset their MySCSU passwords for all campus services.

Application Support.   The following Windows based applications were implemented or upgraded in FY 04:

• MP2 campus workorder system
• Uniprint student lab printing system
• SMS remote desktop management
• SUS automated desktop upgrade and patch management
• ePolicy Orchestrator automated virus protection
• AutoDesk/AutoCAD/Teamwork document management for Facilities
• NetFileManager folder/labeling management for the Registrar's office

The following applications are planned for implementation during the Fall 2004 semester:

• Ad Astra room scheduling system for campus classroom scheduling
• Quetel Inventory management system for Facilities
• Optika document management (multiple offices)
• DialVision/IAD call management system for the Development Office
• EMS/VEMS room scheduling for the Student Center

Web Services.   Support for student web pages has been expanded.   Quotas have been increased to 50MB for student web pages.   Support has been added for java, perl, C++, PHP and MySQL databases.  

Streaming Services.   The Helix streaming multimedia server from RealNetworks has been installed for use by faculty and staff.   This server supports a variety of multimedia formats in both live and on-demand modes. 

Email/Web Portal.   Email services have improved in quality and quantity this year.   Quotas have been increase to 100 MB for faculty and staff and 10 MB for students.   In addition, the McAfee VirusScan virus protection software has been added at the server level to prevent most viruses from ever reaching the desktop. Also, SpamAssassin spam filtering software has been added to isolate annoying spam messages from the rest of incoming email.

WebCT.  Use of the WebCT course management system continues to grow.  In the Spring 2004 semester there was a 51% increase in the number of faculty using WebCT over the Spring 2003 semester.   Plans were in place to upgrade the WebCT Campus edition to version 4.1 in August, 2004.   This upgrade will provide additional features, an improved interface, as well as a migration path to the new WebCT Vista product, which has been scheduled for implementation in 2006.

ePorfolio.   In cooperation with Academic Computing, a student ePortfolio system was implemented.   This system is based on the OSPI open source ePortfolio initiative and has been customized for our campus with SCSU graphics and integration with the MySCSU ID.

Storage / Backup Project. The Administrative Computing staff initiated a project to investigate an expansion of storage and backup capacity.   A variety of storage and backup architectures were researched.   While a storage area network (SAN) would have provided the best growth path and flexibility, the up-front costs were prohibitive.   The two priorities to be addressed were 1) increasing storage at a reasonable cost and 2) to provide a backup solution that would address current and future increases in storage and reduce the ever increasing backup window.  

To address those priorities, attached SCSI storage towers were purchased to increase storage capability on the Windows network.   In addition, specifications for a new backup network were developed and the purchasing procedure was started.   In addition to new hardware, backup software was standardized for both the Windows and Solaris platform on the Veritas NetBackup suite of products.   The new backup system is scheduled for implementation before the end of the 2004 calendar year.

VAX Removal. The VAX 7000 was finally removed from service during the Spring of 2004.   The space vacated by the VAX will be used for a variety of application servers, as well as the new backup hardware.

Data Center Security.   In addition to a card access system for the Jennings 128 Data Center, plans have been made to install security cameras in this room.
 

Desktop Support

The replacement cycle for administrative desktops continued through FY 2004.  188 new PCs were deployed during this fiscal year.

The administrative desktop staff received 2,210 help desk tickets during the course of the fiscal year.  This represents a 12% increase over the previous year (1,970).   In addition to new deployments, these consisted of 473 hardware/repair based calls, 1,445 software support calls, and 104 equipment moves.

As a result of our process to keep an on-hand inventory of re-useable parts, our costs for unexpected repairs for desktops and printers have dropped below $1,000 this fiscal year.   This is a 66% reduction over the previous year.

While much of the role of Administrative Computing is supporting administrative applications, this unit has migrated to provide infrastructure support for a wide variety of administrative, academic, and university wide applications, including many mission critical 24 by 7 services, such as email and web services.   Technology services have spread from administrative offices to faculty offices, to classrooms, and into the domiciles of faculty and students.   Administrative Computing is continually taking measures to increase reliability and capacity of these services.

While the number and quality of services increase, our staffing levels have remained consistent (8 full time, 4 part time employees), providing the university a greater cost benefit.   Although we have been successful in the past, the level of technology change is truly daunting and our ability to keep pace with this change is in serious jeopardy.   While an honest analysis of staffing levels is strongly recommended, the more immediate issue to be addressed is that of training.   Very simply put, our staff is not afforded the opportunities for training that they need to keep pace with the current level of technology change.   Without this training, we run the risk of not being able to adapt to the current technology needed to provide appropriate service levels for our customers.

In spite of these challenges, Administrative Computing has, and will continue to, expand and improve a wide array of services for student, faculty, and staff.  At the same time, measures will continue to be taken to reduce costs, wherever possible.  The Administrative Computing unit is proud of its contributions to OIT and to the University at large.