Labs, Networks, Telephones, and More

By Lynn Anderson, Director, Instructional Computing, Network and Telecommuncations Services

After a brief lull during the recent holiday break, staff members are once again at work on a number of special projects in addition to their regular ongoing duties. Major projects in 2008 will focus on significant upgrades to network switches, campus wireless, the Exchange e-mail system, and the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), the network login and password management service. Projects completed or nearing completion include the WH Mac Lab upgrade, the anti-spam solution upgrade to IronPort, the new Telident 911 database application, and the migration to new Juniper border firewalls to enhance network security.

Instructional Computing and the Welch Hall Computer Labs
Instructional Computing went through a transition period over the summer with the departure of the IT lab coordinator and the search to hire a replacement. The recruitment reached a successful conclusion in September and the new lab coordinator, Anh Lam, started work in mid-October. With staffing levels back to normal, projects that were on hold over the summer were resumed in December with expected completion by the spring semester.

And speaking of our new IT lab coordinator—please join us in welcoming Anh Lam to the Information Technology staff. He manages the day-to-day activities of the Welch Hall computer labs, administers the lab network and file and print servers, and supervises the lab technicians and consultants. Anh has worked in the university environment for a number of years and brings a wealth of technical experience to the job. He comes to us from UC Riverside, where he provided support for all of the labs in the Extension Center. Anh has a bachelor's degree from UC Riverside with a dual major in mathematics and computer science. You can find him in WH D160A or at x2121. His e-mail address is alam@csudh.edu.

The 24 older Macintosh computers in the WH F146 classroom lab were replaced in January with new 20" iMac systems running Mac OS X. While we didn't have the funds needed to upgrade the graphics software, we hope to do so within the next year. With the new Mac architecture, we have the flexibility to run Windows as well as Mac OS X if needed in the future.

Another improvement scheduled for early spring is the addition of a fourth network printer in the open lab in WH 160 to ease the printing backlogs that can occur during busy times of the semester.

Lab usage continues to rise from year to year. In fall 2006, there were over 122,000 sessions (logins). Through the end of November, there were 6,853 accounts in use and over 317,000 sessions.

Network Applications and Network Services
Network Services staff recently completed the migration of campus spam detection and blocking services from Spam Assassin to the Cisco IronPort solution. And yes, spam continues to increase at an accelerated pace. In June 2005, the campus received around 32,000 messages a day, 29% of which were valid. By December 2006, we were receiving 165,000+ per day with only 8% of them valid messages. By December of 2007, the average had jumped to 500,000 messages per day and only 5% were classified as "clean" e-mail. The new solution is better equipped to handle the ever increasing volume of e-mail.

The migration from the Cisco PIX border firewalls to the CSU-funded Juniper platform was successfully completed in October 2007. The firewalls have been running in production since then with no downtime or technical issues. The campus DHNet (LDAP network login and password management server) administrator completed the manual provisioning of over 50,000 faculty, staff, and student accounts in preparation for PeopleSoft HR self-service and the eventual migration to the PeopleSoft Student Administration application and the PeopleSoft portal.

The main campus network switch/router will be upgraded in early 2008. Planning is underway, with an expected project completion date in spring 2008. Over the next year, the majority of campus network switches will be upgraded or replaced at no charge to the campus as part of the CSU system-wide Infrastructure Terminal Resources Project (ITRP).

Also on the horizon in summer 2008 is a major upgrade of the campus wireless network, also funded by the Chancellor's Office. Wireless is currently limited to non-classroom common areas such as the student union, the library, and a few outside patios. Once the upgrade is completed, most campus buildings will have wireless access, including classrooms and labs.

Telephone Services
The staff is working on a project to enhance the campus 911 database. Once the Telident installation is completed, updates to the 911 database for changes to campus phone numbers and locations will be updated automatically. Currently, the changes have to be entered in a separate file and manually sent to the phone company. The new system also allows for more information to be stored about a location, such as a note that a classroom/lab contains flammable materials.

The staff worked with California Academy of Mathematics and Science (CAMS) administrators over the break to plan and install phone services in the new buildings once construction is complete. Also underway is an upgrade of the telephone billing system, since the current version will no longer be supported in late 2008. You can reach Telephone Services at x3800 or via e-mail.

The dedicated staff members of Instructional Computing, Network and Telecommunications Services keep the campus voice and data network, Exchange e-mail system, and the Welch Hall computer labs running smoothly throughout the year. The people to thank for your working telephone, network connection, e-mail account, and lab computers are: Maria Garcia-Barajas and Cristina Arroyo (Telephone Services), Mahabub Alam and Edgar Lazarian (Network Services), Nathlyn Hirohama, Yusuf Abdullah and Michael Foo (Network Applications and Exchange E-mail), and Anh Lam and Ken Leyba (Instructional Computing). In addition to their day-to-day activities, they are also critical to the implementation of the many projects to upgrade and enhance campus-wide technology such as those listed above.

Once again, I ask for your feedback on what could be improved and what is going well (so we don't change it!!). Everyone in IT is committed to providing good service to the campus community and look forward to your suggestions and support. I can be reached at x3777 or via e-mail.