|
|
|
Department of Telecommunications Strategic Plan for Information Resources
Academic Computing and Instructional Technology Services Strategic Plan for Information Resources
Administrative Computing Services Strategic Plan for Information Resources
2001-2005
I. Executive Summary
Information Resources at The University
of Texas at Austin are provided by three major entities:
This plan addresses the Department
of Telecommunications’ portion of this overall support. Since its
origins in the 1930s, these voice and overall infrastructure functions
have existed within the organization of the Vice President for Business
Affairs. Now, as part of a major University reorganization, the providers
of these services will soon be combined with the data networking group
of ACITS and will report along with ACITS and ACS to a newly created Vice
President for Information Technology.
A part of the University's Information Resource Goal is the provision of telecommunications services and infrastructure to support the University's mission “to be a university of the first class through excellence in teaching, research, and public service.” The IR providers on the University campus, including those providing voice telecommunications and physical infrastructure, must be committed to providing resources and services which complement faculty and staff efforts to achieve this goal.
The major initiatives for the Department of Telecommunications during this period include participation in joint planning and implementation of service delivery, the use of new technology and the appropriate provisioning of new and renovated facilities and infrastructure to meet the University’s needs.
This activity must be planned in
accordance with funding availability and may be extensive enough to require
funds beyond those available through the existing cost recovery model.
Table 1: Goals, Objectives and Strategies
Agency Goal A - Provide institutional
support and ancillary services to students, faculty, and staff
Agency Goal B - Provide Infrastructure
Support
Agency Goal C - Provide Special
Item Support
| Item | Description |
| IR Goal #1 | Provide telecommunications services to support the University's institutional needs for faculty, staff, and on-campus students. |
| Objective #1 | Operate, upgrade and expand the Campus telephone system and associated services to meet user needs. |
|
Strategy
#1
|
Meet needs for additional capacity and features through the upgrading of existing hardware and/or the addition of line and trunk equipment. |
|
Strategy
#2
|
Maintain operating system currency through regular generic software and associated hardware upgrades. |
|
Strategy
#3
|
Evaluate new service delivery technologies, such as IP Telephony, and prepare to integrate into campus system. |
|
Strategy
#4
|
Pursue replacement of existing voicemail system with state-of-the-art, standards based, unified messaging system. |
| Objective #2 | Provide enhanced disaster prevention and recovery for the Campus Telephone system and associated services. |
|
Strategy
|
Upgrade two existing remote switching sites to allow them to have direct trunking to the local exchange carrier. Telephones served by these switching centers would have service in the event of a catastrophic event at the Host site. |
| Goal #2 | Provide Telecommunications Infrastructure to meet the needs of all of the campus IR providers. |
| Objective #1 | Optimize the use of the existing inter-building facilities, copper and optical fiber, to meet current needs. Follow this with the installation of media to meet long-term needs consistent with a campus-wide Network Master Plan. |
|
Strategy
#1
|
Consolidate smaller copper cables into larger pair counts to more efficiently use pathways, thus providing space for new media. Add metallic facilities only as needed to meet foreseeable requirements. |
|
Strategy
#2
|
While awaiting a master plan, continue the orderly installation of single mode fiber to meet immediate and foreseen networking needs. |
|
Strategy
#3
|
Where cost effective or required for other reasons, use electronic multiplexing over existing copper or fiber in lieu of additional facilities. |
| Objective #2 | Provide intra-building cabling and distribution systems to allow full exploitation of the campus networks capabilities. |
|
Strategy
#1
|
Install in a timely, and cost efficient manner, the copper (unshielded twisted pair -UTP) or fiber required to bring the capabilities of the campus telecommunications network to the desktop. |
|
Strategy
#2
|
Actively monitor the work of wiring/cabling standards organizations to insure that the University uses the longest-term solution for new building distribution systems. |
| Goal #3 | Provide support as need for specific special items. |
| Objective | Insure that both the physical infrastructure and the switching and processing capabilities remain technologically current and possess the capacity for meeting unforeseen needs in a timely manner. |
|
Strategy
#1
|
Insure that excess capacity is available in critical systems and wiring routes. This includes line connections on a switching system, cable pair in and between buildings, and fiber between major points. |
|
Strategy
#2
|
Provide advanced capabilities in switching, routing, call processing and messaging to meet user needs. |
Table 2: Information Resources
Policies and Practices
| Category | Brief Summary/Overview |
| IR Priorities | The management of IR Priorities falls into two areas; the provision of voice services, and the provision of campus infrastructure for all services. Voice services including local and long distance telephone and voicemail are driven by user demand and needs. Planning and implementation for optical fiber and copper inter-building infrastructure and for building wiring systems is strongly influenced by user need, but it is also standards driven. Implementation schedules are determined by inter-departmental agreement and, frequently, as a result of decisions of the University’s Information Technology Coordinating Committee (ITCC). |
| IR Planning Methodology | For many years, the provision of telephone and related services has been driven by the goal of providing the service the user needs at the lowest possible cost. The system has been managed to minimize user costs while maintaining consistency with good engineering and maintenance practices. As this plan is being written, a major organizational restructuring of Information Technology at the University has been announced. This change will formalize the ad hoc relationship that has existed between the various service providers and further enhance their ability to meet future needs in a more consistent way and without duplication of effort. |
| Operating System | The principal electronic system in the Telecommunications Department is a Nortel Networks MSL-100 central office type switch. Its operating system is Nortel proprietary, and as of this document, the system is at generic release MSL-11. The operating systems used on servers and personal computers include Windows/DOS, Macintosh, and Unix. A more detailed listing of these is shown in Table 3, Platforms, Systems and Telecommunications. |
| Development Methodology | This item is not applicable to Telecommunications. |
| Software Audit and management | The management of software right-to-use on the telephone switching platforms is performed by the system manufacturer. The monitoring of desktop software activity is provided by the departmental computer support staff. |
| Quality Assurance Practices | Quality assurance as typically associated with IT projects has not been applicable to the Telecommunications Department. The implementation of additional services or system capabilities might be considered to be a “project,” but typically such additions or changes are handled as simple additions of vendor-supplied hardware and software to existing systems or as the application of off-the-shelf solutions to immediate or near-future needs. An informal needs analysis is performed by analysts or engineers, and budgets and timelines are developed. Expenditures are monitored and final test results and performance are monitored to guarantee compliance with applicable specifications. Within this department, the term Quality Assurance is more usually linked to the performance of personnel and equipment in meeting users’ expectations and service requirements. The tools used for this purpose include internal analysis of work order completion times and customer satisfaction surveys. The technical performance of the switching and transmission systems is monitored against established manufacturer and industry standards. |
| E-Government | Not applicable to Telecommunications. |
| Change Control | Software change control is not a function of this department; however, records keeping for switch and facilities utilization is taken very seriously. |
| Security | Both password and physical security limit local access to software on the switching systems, and remote access is protected via multi-level passwords or authorization codes. Access to the long distance network is limited by authorization codes, which require additional security digits when used remotely. Desktop and server applications are provided with password and physical access protection. |
| Geographic Information Systems | Not applicable to Telecommunications. |
| Disaster Recovery/
Business
Continuity Planning |
Telephone systems
have traditionally relied on disaster prevention, but in a campus environment
and with today’s distributed processing architecture, it is possible to
achieve an enhanced recovery capability. In addition to having parallel
and redundant electronics in all common areas of the switching fabric and
on-line battery plants with generator back up for power, it is now possible
to add alternative physical routing of local and long distance service
connections to the prevention and/or recovery equation.
An image tape of the software load in the switch and a copy of the cable and facilities database are stored away from the switchroom. An essential telecommunications link between the main campus and the Pickle Research Campus is now on protected optical fiber with the older microwave system available as an additional back up. As the reorganization of IT at the University is completed, applicable disaster recovery and business continuity planning will also be integrated across the entire IT environment. The services of the West Texas Disaster Recovery Operations Center (WTDROC) or Austin Disaster Recovery Operations Center do not appear to be applicable to this user. |
| Resource Use | This department is a supplier of voice resources and does dictate use. |
| Contract/Consultant | With the exception of an ITCC joint effort to produce a campus-wide Network Master Plan, Telecommunications does not employ outside consultants. Contract labor has been used to augment installation and outside facilities staff, but an effort is underway to reduce the reliance on outside resources. |
| Information Sharing | All data, except that governed by non-disclosure or other proprietary arrangements, is available to others as needed. There are no formal sharing agreements in place at this time. |
| Training and Continuing
Education |
Training for technicians is provided primarily by vendors and manufacturers. Seminars and user organization conferences provide current information to management and staff. The services of on-campus organizations are used for personnel development and to familiarize staff with other University services. |
| Data Center Operations | Not Applicable to Telecommunications. |
Table 3: Agency Platforms,
Systems, and Telecommunications
|
Agency Platforms and Systems
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minicomputer
|
Universe
68
|
BSD
Unix
|
N/A
|
1
|
Modular
Command security system.
|
|
Server
|
IBM
|
AIX
Unix
|
PROGRESS
RAIMA
|
1
server
|
1
RS/6000 server, MySoft COMPCO MySoft Telephone Services Mgmt Client/Server
system and Host/Server system
|
|
Server
|
IBM
|
AIX
Unix
|
N/A
|
1
server
|
1
RS/6000 server, page-serv Intranet Web Server system
|
|
Server
|
COMPAQ
|
Windows
NT
|
MS
SQL
|
2
servers
|
Andover
Controls Building & Security Mgmt system
|
|
Server
|
Logic
Approach
|
Windows
NT
|
SYBASE
|
1
server
|
Cable-Mastercable
tracking system
|
|
Server
|
Macintosh
|
Mac
OS 10.0
|
N/A
|
1
server
|
Telephone
server, backups, file sharing, FileMaker Pro server
|
|
Workstations
|
COMPAQ
|
IBM
OS/2
|
N/A
|
3
|
Andover
Controls network
|
|
Workstations
|
DELL
|
Win
98
|
N/A
|
13
|
Desktops,
MySoft Workstations w/FileMakerPro clients, Word, Excel, Eudora, browser,
telnet TN3270
|
|
Workstations
|
Login
Approach
|
Win
95
|
N/A
|
23
|
Desktops,
MySoft Workstations w/FileMaker Pro clients ,Word ,Excel, Eudora, browser,
telnet TN3270
|
|
Workstations
|
Macintosh
|
Mac
OS 8.x
|
N/A
|
34
|
Desktops,
MySoft Workstations w/ FileMaker Pro clients, Word, Excel, Eudora, browser,
telnet TN3270, Aldus PageMaker (1)
|
|
Portables
|
Macintosh
|
Mac
OS 8.x
|
N/A
|
4
|
Powerbooks
w/ FileMaker Pro clients, Word, Excel, Eudora, browser, telnet TN3270
|
|
Portables
|
Various
|
Win
9x Win NT
|
N/A
|
4
|
Laptops
w/ FileMaker Pro clients, Word, Excel, Eudora, browser, telnet TN3270
|
|
Telecommunications
Information
|
|
Category
|
Type
|
Capacity/Size/Count
|
Comments/Descriptive
Information
|
|
Telephone
Switching System (PBX)
|
Nortel
Networks MSL-100
|
22
000 lines,
900 trunks |
Central
Office type switch with remotes at strategic locations on campus(s).
|
|
Telephone
Switching System (PBX)
|
Nortel
Networks M-1
|
3
PBXs approx,
100 lines each |
Smaller
PBX providing service at off-campus locations. Integrated dialing plan,
trunking and voicemail via PRI connection to MSL-100
|
|
Hubs
|
Allied
Telesyn
|
2
|
24
Port 10Base T hub
|
|
Hub
Routers & Switches
|
Cisco
Systems 4000
|
1
|
2
GigabitEthernet ports, 80 10/100B T ports
|
|
Hub
Routers & Switches
|
Cisco
Systems 2924
|
2
|
|
|
Internet
Service Provider
|
UTNET
|
N/A
|
Table 4. Agency Databases
|
Database
Name
|
MySoft
|
|
Database
Description
|
Database
used for Telecommunications Management. It contains records of telecommunications
users, equipment, services, account data, work orders, long distance activity
and other transactions. This is the heart of the MySoft Telecom Management
product from COMPCO.
|
|
Database
System
|
Progress
8.38
|
|
Estimated
Physical Storage Requirements
|
3
GB
|
|
GIS
Data Classification
|
No
GIS conversion or access is available
|
|
Sharing
|
Server
based with clients limited to the Telecommunications Department.
|
|
Future
|
This
system has been in full service for one year. Future enhancements
include switch integration, trouble reporting and directory lookup.
|
|
|
|
|
Database
Name
|
Telecommunications
Facilities Records (Cable)
|
|
Database
Description
|
Detailed
records of copper and optical fiber facilities serving the campus.
The system uses the Cable-Master product from The Angeles Group.
|
|
Database
System
|
Sybase
5
|
|
Estimated
Physical Storage Requirements
|
2
GB
|
|
GIS
Data Classification No.
|
GIS
conversion or access is available
|
|
Sharing
|
The
new version is a server-based product with clients onlyin Telecommunications.
|
|
Future
|
System
has been in use since 1989 and is in process of upgradeto version NN.
There is a possibility of including this functionin the MySoft system,
but there are no plans to move at this time.
|
|
Database
Name
|
Infinity
|
|
Database
Description
|
FCMS
and Security monitoring and control using Andover Controls Infinity product.
|
|
Database
System
|
MS
SQL 6.5
|
|
Estimated
Physical Storage Requirements
|
2.5
GB
|
|
Sharing
|
Used
by UT Austin Telecommunications and Physical Plant. No access outside the
campus.
|
|
Future
|
Major
expansion anticipated to integrate legacy systems and new buildings.
|
Table 5: Agency Applications
|
UNIX
Servers
|
|
|
Compilers
|
C
(vendor supplied )
|
|
Interactive
Interfaces
|
All
the standard shells, sh, ksh, csh, Common shells, bash, tcsh Window Systems
(X-Windows) X11R5
|
|
Languages
|
Perl
|
|
Common
Desktop Environment
(CDE 1.0) |
Motif
|
|
Text
Editors
|
Standard
UNIX editors (ed, ex, vi, emacs), Simple X11-based editors.
|
|
Database
Software
|
Grep,
awk, Raima, Progress
|
|
Integrated
Packages
|
MySoft
server
|
|
Electronic
Mail
|
Common
user mail agents (Berkeley mail, xmail)
|
|
WWW
Services
|
Netscape
4.7
|
|
Remote
Login
|
Telnet
|
|
File
Transfer Software
|
FTP
|
|
|
|
|
Apple
Server
|
|
|
Database
Software
|
Claris
Filemaker Pro 4.0v3, Filemaker Pro Server 3.x
|
|
Network
Software
|
Appleshare
IP 6x
|
|
Network
Backups
|
Retrospect
4.2
|
|
Electronic
Mail
|
Eudora
3.1.3
|
|
WWW
Services
|
Netscape
4.7
|
|
Remote
Login
|
Telnet
|
|
File
Transfer Software
|
Fetch
|
|
|
|
|
Windows
NT Servers
|
|
|
Database
Software
|
MS
SQL 6.5 (2 Andover servers), Sybase SQLAnywhere 5.0 (CABLE server)
|
|
Integrated
Packages
|
Andover
Infinity server (2 Andover servers), Angeles Group Cable-Master (Cable
server)
|
|
Backup
software
|
Seagate
Backup Exec 2.0
|
|
WWW
Services
|
Netscape
4.7
|
|
Remote
Login
|
Telnet
|
|
File
Transfer Software
|
WSFTP
|
|
Remote
Control Software
|
PC
Anywhere (Cable server)
|
|
|
|
|
OS/2
Workstations
|
|
|
Integrated
Packages
|
Andover
SX8000 2.16 client
|
|
Database
Software
|
MS
SQL 6.5 client
|
|
Network
Software
|
IBM
LAN MAN 1.0
|
|
Backup
software
|
Seagate
Backup Exec 2.0
|
|
Remote
Control Software
|
Danware
Data NetOP 1.0 (3 platforms)
|
|
|
|
|
Departmental
Desktop Applications
|
|
|
Database
Applications
|
Claris
FileMaker Pro 4.0v3 (pc and mac platforms)
|
|
Network
Backups
|
Retrospect
4.2
|
|
Word
Processing
|
MS
Word 97 (pc) MS Word 98 (mac)
|
|
Desktop
Publishing
|
Aldus
Pagemaker 6.5 (one mac)
|
|
Integrated
Packages
|
MySoft
client (pc), ON Technology MeetingMaker v6.0
|
|
Spreadsheet
Applications
|
MS
Excel v97 (pc), v98 (mac)
|
|
Presentation
Software
|
MS
PowerPoint v97 (pc) 98 (mac)
|
|
Graphics
Software
|
Adobe
Photoshop 4.0, MacDraft, ClarisCAD or Vellum (on 3 macs)
|
|
Electronic
Mail
|
Eudora
Pro 6.5
|
|
WWW
Services
|
Netscape
4.7
|
|
Mainframe
Software
|
SDI
Bermuda Lmt TN3270Plus (pc), EncryptedTN3270 (mac)
|
|
Remote
Login
|
Telnet
|
|
File
Transfer Software
|
WSFTP
(pc), Fetch (mac)
|
|
Remote
Control Software
|
PCAnywhere
(3 pc), Timbuktu (2 mac)
|
Table 6: Interagency Data
Needs
|
List
|
Other
than numbering plan information which may be useful to theTex-AN system,
there is very little in these databases that would be of interest or benefit
to other state agencies or universities.
|
|
Obstacles
|
N/A
|
|
Needed
Assistance
|
N/A
|
ACADEMIC
COMPUTING AND INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
STRATEGIC PLAN FOR INFORMATION
RESOURCES
2001-2005
I. Executive Summary
The University of Texas at Austin office of Academic Computing and Instructional Technology Services (ACITS) provides information technology services to University students, faculty, and staff, to the UT System component institutions and, through interagency contracts, to eligible federal, state, and municipal governmental agencies.
A goal of The University of Texas
at Austin is to continue to pursue high standards of achievement in instruction,
student performance, research, and scholarly achievement. Access
to state-of-the-art academic and research information resources by students,
faculty, and staff is one of the most important components in providing
an environment conducive to achieving this goal. To provide the academic
information resources environment that will be required during the next
five years, ACITS will concentrate efforts in the following areas:
Table 1: Goals,
Objectives and Strategies
Using the guidelines established
in the Agency Strategic Plan instructions, provide goals, objectives, strategies,
and action items for the Information Resources function within the agency.
Agency Goal A -- Provide Institutional
Support and ancillary services to students, faculty, and staff
Agency Goal B -- Provide Infrastructure
Support
Agency Goal C -- Provide Special
Item Support
|
Item
|
Description
|
|
IR
Goal #1
|
Provide
state-of-the-art information technology services and infrastructure to
the students, faculty, and staff of the University. This goal
is directly related to Agency Goals A, B, C. In addition, this
IR Goal directly supports the mission, guiding principles and goals
1 through 3 and especially goal 4 of the 1999 "State Strategic Plan for
Information Resources …"
|
|
Objective
#1
|
Develop
academic computing infrastructure and services to support state-of-the-art
information resources environment.
|
|
Strategy
#1
|
Develop
requirements for distributed information technology facilities with representatives
of University colleges and departments.
|
|
Strategy
#2
|
Upgrade
current services and replace obsolete systemswith state-of-the-art, standards-based
systems.
|
|
Strategy
#3
|
Develop
high speed campus-wide network capabilities based on open systems and consonant
with campus information resource requirements.
|
|
Strategy
#4
|
Develop
facilities management services ensuring the integrityof distributed information
technology resources operated by various departments.
|
|
Strategy
#5
|
Develop
a University-wide database technology strategy in conjunction with Administrative
Computing Services and the General Libraries.
|
|
Strategy
#6
|
Expand
multimedia based technologies in instruction and research.
|
|
Strategy
#7
|
Incorporate
appropriate new technologies into the Help Desk to support distributed
information technology resources.
|
|
Strategy
#8
|
Negotiate
software and equipment discounts applicable to campus and UT System-wide
environments and operate on-campus distribution.
|
|
Objective
#2
|
Expand
and upgrade public-access information resources.
|
|
Strategy
#1
|
Continue
to expand capacity and support for information access via the World Wide
Web.
|
|
Strategy
#2
|
Continue
the expansion and enhancement of University-wide electronic mail services.
|
|
Strategy
#3
|
Upgrade
and expand departmental and University-wide desktop workstation facilities.
|
|
Objective
#3
|
Design
and deploy distributed computing and information environments based upon
desktop workstations connected to the campus network.
|
|
Strategy
#1
|
Develop
recommended configurations with faculty, staff, and student service organizations.
|
|
Strategy
#2
|
Develop
or acquire systems to provide a consistent learning environment on or off
campus.
|
|
Strategy
#3
|
Incorporate
support services for distributed workstations into customer service center.
|
|
Strategy
#4
|
Develop
a strategy to provide students universal access to digital information
resources.
|
|
Objective
#4
|
Provide
services and facilities that promote, support, and integrate digital-based
technologies and instructional media in learning, teaching, and research.
|
|
Strategy
#1
|
Continue
operation of multimedia laboratories and consultingservices for faculty.
|
|
Strategy
#2
|
Evaluate
applicable information technology resources.
|
|
Strategy
#3
|
Assist
faculty in making effective use of technology-enhanced learning.
|
|
Strategy
#4
|
Provide
a database of distance education facilities and capabilities to assist
faculty in locating appropriate resources.
|
|
Strategy
#5
|
Promote
the understanding and use of collaborative technologies that support asynchronous
learning and provide students remote to the campus with learning opportunities.
|
|
Objective
#5
|
Provide
cost effective hands-on training to assist students, faculty, and staff
in utilizing information resources.
|
|
Strategy
#1
|
Upgrade
and expand desktop and central server training facilities.
|
|
Strategy
#2
|
Upgrade
and integrate new information technologies into training curricula.
|
|
Strategy
#3
|
Coordinate
computer training courses with other campus providers.
|
|
Objective
#6
|
Provide
disaster recovery services to return vital information technology services
to production in a fast and orderly manner with a minimumof impact to our
customers.
|
|
Strategy
#1
|
Maintain
two computer rooms, each with HVAC, electrical power, and network connectivity
capable of handling the addition of the other room’s equipment. Each
computer room is a “warm site” for the other.
|
|
Strategy
#2
|
Maintain
complete backups with off-site archives.
|
|
Strategy
#3
|
Maintain
services on standard, off-the-shelf vendor equipment. These systems, with
few exceptions, run standard vendor software.
|
|
Strategy
#4
|
Maintain
each critical defined service on its own hardware.
|
|
Strategy
#5
|
Maintain
staff desktop systems on standard, off-the-shelf vendor equipment.
|
|
Strategy
#6
|
Provide
recovery of critical services, Web, list, mail and news to be back in production
within 48 to 72 hours, depending on equipment availability. Some
services run simultaneously on the same equipment.
|
|
Strategy
#7
|
Provide
recovery for timesharing services to be back in production within 72 to
96 hours, depending on equipment availability.
|
|
Strategy
#8
|
Provide
recovery services for desktop computers to be operational within five working
days, depending on equipment availability. During this time,, provisions
would be made for staff to have access to sharing desktops for correspondence
purposes.
|
|
Objective#7
|
Maintain
a high performance research/technical computing facility that is state-of-the-art,
to promote advancement of computational science and engineering.
|
|
Strategy#1
|
Provide
advanced scientific and technical computing services to faculty, staff,
and students of the University, in the form of vector shared memory
multiprocessors and parallel distributed-memory multicomputers.
|
|
Strategy#2
|
Provide
associated scientific visualization systems, terabyte-to-petabyte-level
archival storage systems, and high performance networking infrastructure
in support of usability of these high computational platforms.
|
|
Strategy#3
|
Pursue,
in conjunction with faculty researchers, university, and state, commercial,
and national funding opportunities for high performance computing services.
|
|
Objective
#8
|
Formulate
new university processes using information technology (called e-University).
This can include e-services, e-business, e-outreach, e-academics, and e-research.
|
|
Strategy
#1
|
Form
a management team to oversee new information technology initiatives that
improve quality of service to faculty, staff, and students while increasing
customer satisfaction and lowering costs. This is done by changing
administrative and business processes.
|
|
Strategy
#2
|
Initiate
development of a student portal to provide access to all student services
and information through one gateway to the University.
|
|
Strategy
#3
|
Evaluate
reduction of the number of ID cards used on campus and develop an electronic
credentialing process of students, faculty, and staff. Investigate
combining with dormitory dining dollar program and improved billing and
collection processes.
|
Table 2: Information
Resources Policies and Practices
Use this table to provide a high-level
view of the agency's information resources policies and practices. If appropriate,
include references to internal agency documentation and/or supplemental
information available on the agency's Web site.
|
Category
|
Brief
Summary/Overview
|
|
IR
Priorities
|
The
Information Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC) was established
to oversee the revenue generated from the $6 per semester credit hour information
technology fee (est. $7M per year). The information technology fee
is used to fund academic IT projects proposed by colleges and ACITS
via their vision plans. ITAC reviews the vision
plans and allocates funds to fund IT projects that are especially
high priority for the college and the agency.
|
|
IR
Planning Methodology
|
Planning
for academic information technology activity at UT Austin is now being
done by the Information Technology Coordinating Council (ITCC), which was
formed in late 1997. The membership of the ITCC includes key decision-makers
from various sectors of the campus who identify, prioritize, and resolve
information technology issues within the context,of a comprehensive long-range
IT plan. Several task forces have emerged from the ITCC, including groups
to study and report on the accessibility of electronic information, digital
library data standards, electronic IDs, multimedia in the classroom, and
a network master plan for UT Austin. A comprehensive, integrated, long-range
plan for IT was developed previously and ratified by the ITCC in 1998,
and a new planning effort will be initiated in 2000-2001. In 1999,
ACITS and ACS staff and other campus IT leaders participated in an all-day
strategic planning session to outline the goals and directions for their
respective organizations for the next several years. Task force discussions
and the formulation of initiatives from those sessions are still in progress.
|
|
Operating
System
|
Staff
use commercial off-the-shelf software such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Database software is provided by Oracle and Cold Fusion. Multimedia
software utilized includes Adobe, Quick Time, Dreamweaver, Java, Macromedia,
Real, and Flash. Mail software includes Outlook and Eudora.
Both Unix and NT are used in server installations (see Table 5 for more
complete information).
|
|
Development
Methodology
|
Very
little software development activity is done in Academic Computing; most
software is purchased.
|
|
Software
Audit and Management
|
Detailed
inventory records are kept on department software licenses. ACITS
reviews all software contracts and licenses annually. This ensures
that there are no licenses for software being paid for which are not in
current, active use. Software acquisition is managed by the Software
Distribution group. All software license costs are negotiated by
an Associate Director of ACITS, who oversees this group.
|
|
Quality
Assurance Practices
|
Major
applications are reviewed and approved through appropriate testing before
being placed in production. Technical designs are reviewed through
a cross-group team to ensure that all aspects are considered.
|
|
E-Government
|
The
University has recently undertaken a campus-wide"e-University initiative".
This initiative will result in the delivery of all services in a Web-based
customized individualized portal for each student, faculty, and staff member.
The portal will be used for thedelivery of all official university correspondence
and communication. The University is highly committed to and is aggressively
pursuing the new "e-business strategies" as a vehicle for improving service
and reducing costs.
|
|
Change
Control
|
ACITS
utilized project management techniques including setting fixed deadlines
and setting and communicating project goals and scope to interested parties.
This usually involves advisory groups from across the University.
|
|
Security
|
A
comprehensive set of security measures are in place and tested on a regular
basis. The electronic identities of all students, faculty, and staff
are obtained from a secure server and are based on EIDs. If the constituent
does not have one, then access to the service is denied. Further
the University is aggressively pursuing PKI (Public Key Infrastructure)and
Smart Card initiatives. Already in pilot projects, these initiatives
will result in the use of digital certificates and signatures for the transmission
of official University documents.
|
|
Geographic
Information Systems
|
N/A
|
|
Disaster
Recovery/Business
Continuity Planning |
ACITS
plans to put in place a more comprehensive disaster-recovery plan. One
concern is how quickly ACITS could procure replacement equipment. ACITS
will work with the UT Purchasing Office to understand what rules
will prevail in a disaster-recovery case. ACITS will acquire
a letter of commitment from the University administration as to monies
for emergency purchases. Due to the way we have implemented our services
with many smaller systems as opposed to a large scale system getting replacement
systems in place in a timely manner is much easier. Vendors have
indicated they are willing to make a "best effort" in case
of disaster.
ACITS currently has a "warm site" in the Commons Bldg. at the Pickle Research Center that will support computer equipment, namely sufficient electrical power, HVAC, and Internet access to support our existing computer equipment. Because of the rapid change in the computer business, we do not feel that it would be an economical use of financial resources to duplicate equipment for use in case of emergency. However, because of the nature of one of our most critical services, the Web server, it may be possible to split the system so as to reside in two locations. An impact study as to network traffic patterns must be conducted before this could be implemented. |
|
Resource
Use
|
ACITS
makes full use of a variety of electronic resources, especially the World
Wide Web. A master plan for the network infrastructure is being developed
to stay ahead of the increasing demand for high bandwidth. Staff
fully utilize the voice, data, and video network facilities of the University
as required.
|
|
Contract/Consultant
|
N/A
|
|
Information
Sharing
|
This
is not applicable to ACITS.
|
|
Training
and Continuing Education
|
ACITS
relies on its systems operations and applications experts to determine
the kind and amount of training staff require to hold a technical position.
Further, all Help Desk and Departmental Services staff are required to
take training provided by group managers. Help Desk and Departmental
Services staff are tested for effectiveness of training. All
training, especially that which is external to UT Austin and which requires
travel, is carefully monitored. Trainees are required to report to
senior staff on training workshops.
|
|
Data
Center Operations
|
During
the past two years, the University has had several reviews and discussions
with the operators (Northrup-Grumman)of the WT/DROC facility concerning
the transfer of operational support for the IT resources of administrative
computing. In the last such discussion, the size of the University's
administrative IT environment was such that it challenged the upper capacity
limit of the WT/DROC resources. However, the University will continue to
review this situation for appropriateness and timing. The University
remains committed to the principles of reducing IT costs and leveraging
state-wide economies of scale while ensuring no disruption of service to
its students, faculty, and staff.
|
Table 3: Agency Platforms,
Systems, and Telecommunications
|
AgencyPlatforms
and Systems
|
|
|
|
|
|
COUNT |
|
|
Mainframes
|
Cray
T3E-AC88
|
UNICOS/mk
2.0.5.23
|
N/A
|
52.8
Gflops
|
88PE,
128mb memory/PE, 600Mflops/PE (supercomputers for scientific computations)
|
|
Mainframes
|
Cray
SV1-1A
|
UNICOS
10.0.0.6
|
N/A
|
19.2
Gflops
|
16CPUs,
16384 Mbytes memory, 1200Mflops/CPU
|
|
Mainframes
|
IBM
SP
|
AIX
4.3
|
N/A
|
40.9
Gflops
|
64
Nodes, 128mb memory/node, 640Mflops/Node
|
|
Server
|
SGI
Origin 2000
|
IRIX
6.5
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
4
CPUs, 2000 Mbytes memory, Data Archive File Server
|
|
Tape
Robot
|
Storage
Tek Timberwolf 9710
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
30
Tbytes
|
10
DLT7000 tape drives, Cartridge capacity of 500, 30 Tbyte storage capacity
|
|
Minicomputer
|
Sun
Microsystems
|
Solaris
2.5
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Sun
4/670-256, server for staff support
|
|
Minicomputer
|
Sun
Microsystems
|
Solaris
2.5
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Sun
4/670-256, server for staff support
|
|
Minicomputer
|
OpenVMS:(DIGITAL)
•AS 2100 4/275 •AS 2100 4/200 •DEC 1000A5/333 |
OpenVMS
v6.2
OpenVMS v6.2 OpenVMS v7.2 |
N/A
|
(TPC-B)
308.80174.21n/a
8 Servers |
UTXVMS
node violet
UTXVMS node yellow PRS node okra |
|
Server
|
WNT
Services: (Dell, Intel, Micron)
|
Windows
NT
WNT 4.0 |
MS
SQL
|
||
|
WAN
Servers
|
Mail,
Web, DNS Servers, Etc.
|
Primary
O/S used
|
Primary
DBMS used |
0
|
|
|
Server
|
IBM
|
AIX
|
ORACLE
|
1
server
|
1
server, ADS, ginger timesharing systems
|
|
Server
|
Sun
|
Solaris
|
None
|
1
server
|
USENET
news, geraldo, includes SSA
|
|
Server
|
Sun
|
Solaris
|
None
|
1
server
|
mailing
Lists, mcfeeley
|
|
Server
|
DEC
|
Digital
UNIX
|
None
|
1
million hits/day
|
4
servers, Web Central
|
|
Server
|
Network
Appliance
|
ONTAP
|
None
|
62
Gbytes
|
Software
Distribution Services
|
|
Workstation
|
NCD
|
NCDware
|
None
|
20
workstations
|
X-terminals
including lab
|
|
Server
|
Sun
|
Solaris
|
None
|
1
server
|
10
clients, staff server
|
|
Server
|
DEC
|
Digital
UNIX
|
None
|
3000
users
|
2
servers, UTS, curly moe time sharing system
|
|
Standalone
PC Workstations
|
Sun
|
Solaris 2.5
|
N/A
|
10
|
SS
II, Sparc 5(2), SS 10
|
|
Standalone
PC Workstations
|
Macintosh
|
Mac
OS 7.5
|
N/A
|
5
|
PPC
7600, PPC 8200, Quadra 700, MacIIsi (2)
|
|
Standalone
PC Workstations
|
Dell
|
Windows
NT
|
N/A
|
3
|
|
|
Server
|
Sun
|
Solaris
|
None
|
100-200
users
|
1
server CCWF, piglet time sharing system
|
|
Telecommunications
Information
|
|
|
|
SIZE/ COUNT |
|
|
Hubs
|
Cabletron
|
1
|
24
port 10BaseT hub
|
|
Hubs
|
Allied
Telesin
|
1,200
|
|
|
Hub
Routers & Switches (Remote)
|
Ascend
GRF-400 Giga Router
|
1
|
Supports
HIPPI, ATM, FDDI, 10/100 Ethernet
|
|
Hub
Routers & Switches (Remote)
|
Cisco
Systems
|
380
|
|
|
Remote
Bandwidth Analog
|
Southwestern
Bell/Time Warner
|
3,200
|
|
|
Remote
Bandwidth Digital T1
|
N/A
|
500
|
|
|
Remote
Bandwidth ISDN (BRI)
|
N/A
|
20
|
|
|
DTE/End
User Equipment Arrangement
|
Workstations,
LANs, Mainframe Devices, Other
|
34,000
|
|
|
Supported
Protocols
|
TCP/IP
|
N/A
|
|
|
Internet
Service Provider
|
AT&T,
Qwest (Via TEX-AN 2000)
|
N/A
|
|
|
Shared
Network
|
General
Services Commission, Texas A&M University
|
N/A
|
Also
have access to vBNS
|
Table 4. Agency Database
Identify major agency databases
critical to the administration or service of the agency's mission and briefly
describe their uses. This includes internal administrative databases, but
excludes simple databases used in the support of administrative functions
(for example, phone lists and address directories). Provide the following
information for each database.
|
UT
Person
|
Faculty,
staff, and students officially affiliated with UTAustin.
|
|
Database
Description
|
Database
of faculty, students, staff of UT Austin, as well as individuals with special
relationships (vendors, visitors, etc.).
|
|
Database
System
|
MS
SQL Server 6.5
|
|
Estimated
Physical Storage Requirements
|
275
MB Application
|
|
GIS
Data Classification
|
No
GIS conversion or access is available
|
|
Sharing
|
Data
are derived from other databases in the agency. UT Person is not
shared outside ACITS.
|
|
Future
|
UT
Person will continue to be an essential database for ACITS accounting functions,
account acquisition, authorization, and authentication.
|
|
|
|
|
ENAB
|
|
|
Database
Description
|
Database
of student resumes
|
|
Database
System
|
MS
SQL Server 6.5
|
|
Estimated
Physical Storage Requirements
|
275
MB Application
|
|
GIS
Data Classification
|
No
GIS conversion or access is available
|
|
Sharing
|
Data
is for use by College of Engineering students and for authorized recruiters.
|
|
Future
|
|
|
|
|
|
Visual
Resource Collection
|
|
|
Database
Description
|
Database
of slide catalog information. Currently only text is stored.
|
|
Database
System
|
MS
SQL Server 6.5
|
|
Estimated
Physical Storage Requirements
|
1
GB
|
|
GIS
Data Classification
|
No
GIS conversion or access is available.
|
|
Sharing
|
Data
is for use by Visual Resource Collection.
|
|
Future
|
Currently
under development.
|
Table 5. Agency Applications
Identify major software applications
and provide a brief description of their uses. For this plan, major applications
are those critical to the administration or service of the agency's mission.
Provide the following information for each application.
|
Open
VMS Systems
|
|
| Programming | FORTRAN, ADA, MACRO-32, Awk, FORTRAN-90, COBOL, BASIC, Pascal, DEC C, C++. |
|
Stat
& Math
|
IMSL,
MapleV, MATHEMATICA, SAS, Minitab
|
|
Text
Editors
|
EDT,
ex/vi, LSE, EVE, EMACS
|
|
Text
Format
|
RUNOFF,
DECwrite, TeX/LaTeX
|
|
Database
|
Rdb/VMS,
SAS, DECwindows/Motif
|
|
Graphics
|
GKS,
SAS/Graph, PHIGS, RENDER
|
|
Other
|
Simulations,
Command, IFPS, Posix, SIMAN
|
|
Conferencing
|
ANU
NEWS
|
|
WNT
Domain
|
|
|
Interative
Interfaces
|
Interactive
login to the WNT domain is providedvia Citrix WNT 3.51 for MacIntoshs,
PCs and X-terminals
|
|
Client
Services
|
Disk
storage via Microsoft (MS “shares")
|
|
Database
Applications
|
MS
Sql Server and MS Access. Publishing of databases to the Web via
Cold Fusion
|
|
Office
Applications
|
MS
Office (Word, Excel, Access, Power Point)
|
|
WWW
Services
|
Publishing
via MS Internet Information Server. Browsing via Netscape and MS Internet
Explorer
|
|
E-mail
|
Netscape
Mail, MS Internet Explorer or MS Exchange
|
|
UNIX
Servers
|
|
|
Compilers
|
Fortran77,
Fortran 90, C (both vendor supplied and GNU compiler), Pascal C++ (both
vendor and GNU compiler)
|
|
Interactive
Interfaces
|
All
the standard shells, sh, ksh, csh, Commonshells, bash, tcsh
Window Systems (X-Windows) X11R5, ICA
|
|
Languages
|
Perl,
Java, C, C++
|
|
Common
Desktop Environment
|
(CDE
1.0) Motif , OpenWindows (Sunmachines only), GNOME
|
|
Statistical
Software
|
SAS,
SPSS
|
|
Mathematical
Software
|
Mathematica,
Matlab, Maple, Cplex, Essl , IMSL Libraries Lisrel, prelis
|
|
Text
Editors
|
Standard
UNIX editors (ed, ex, vi, emacs), Simple X11-basededitors
|
|
Database
Software
|
Grep,
awk, dbm, Oracle
|
|
Electronic
Mail
|
Common
user mail agents (pine, Berkeley mail, xmail, MH, Netscape), Pop and IMAP
clients and services
|
|
Text
Formatters
|
Troff,
TeX , LaTeX ,Adobe Acrobat Reader
|
|
USENET
News
|
rn,
trn, Netscape, tin, IRC
|
|
WWW
Services
|
Netscape,
Lynx
|
|
Student
Microcomputer Facility
|
|
|
Database
Applications
|
Claris
FileMaker Pro 3 (MAC and PC platforms)
|
|
Word
Processing
|
MS
Word 97 (PC), WordPerfect 7.0 (PC), MS Word 6.01(Mac 3.5, WordPerfect 6)
|
|
Desktop
Publishing
|
Aldus
Pagemaker 6.5 (both platforms)
|
|
Integrated
Packages
|
ClarisWorks
4.0 (Mac and PC)
|
|
Spreadsheet
Applications
|
Lotus
1-2-3 v97 (PS) v1.1 (Mac), MS Excelv97 (PC) 5.0 (Mac)
|
|
Presentation
Software
|
MS
PowerPoint v97 (PC) v4.0 (Mac), Freelance Graphics 97 (PC)
|
|
Graphics
Software
|
Adobe
Photoshop 4.0 (both) Deneba Canvas5 (both) Hypercard v2.3 Caere OniPage
Pro 7.0 (both)
|
|
Math
& Statistical
|
Maple
V Release 4, Mathematica 3.01, Matlab5.1, Minitab 11 (pc)
|
|
Texas
Advanced Computing Center
|
|
|
Programming
|
Cray
C, C++, Gnu C
|
|
Fortran
90
|
Portland
Grp HPF
|
|
Fortran
90
|
Cray
C, C++ , Gnu C< |