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Coming SoonThe Office of Information Technology has upgrades and improvements planned for the upcoming semesters. Read on to see how we're continuing to provide superior technology, services, and support to the University of Alabama community. ComputersThe central academic computer, bama.ua.edu, has gotten faster processors, additional memory, and more storage space this semester. The eight 250 MHz processors were replaced by 400 MHz models. Memory has been doubled to 2 GB, and an additional 50 GB of storage brought the total space to approximately 200 GB. These upgrades will enable the machine to better support the number of applications currently running as well as meet future application and storage needs. The administrative system, UA2MVS, will also be getting an upgrade this semester. A new processor, the IBM 9672-R26, will more than double our processing capacity. An IBM F2105-F20 Enterprise Storage Server ("Shark") will replace our current RAMAC Disk Storage, increasing our disk space from 290 GB to 420 GB. We are also purchasing an IBM 3494/3590 Magstar Tape Library to replace the IBM 3480 tape units. In addition to having a greater storage capacity per tape (20 GB as compared to 200 MB), the new system will be robotic, speeding up our nightly backups and batch jobs. After all three upgrades are in place, users should see faster processing, quicker turnaround for batch processing, and increased online availability. Users will not need to make any procedural changes. NetworksLast summer the University's connection to the Internet was upgraded and its connection to Internet2 was completed. Now the focus has moved to upgrading the internal campus network to more fully utilize the potential of these connections. The campus backbone was recently upgraded to Gigabit Ethernet (1000Base-T). Currently most areas on campus have shared 10 Mbps Ethernet (10Base-T) access. Over the next several years, all divisions will be upgraded, bringing switched 10/100 Mbps Ethernet connections to every desktop, classroom, and lab. This upgrade is complete in the College of Community Health Sciences. Scheduled to be started this fall are parts of the College of Engineering; the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; the College of Communication and Information Sciences; and the College of Education. Some of the impetus for the network upgrade comes from the Internet2 project, and those areas with research applications and funding grants for Internet2 will be among the first to receive the new Ethernet network connections. For more information about the Internet2 project, please see the article on the next page. Telephone SystemThe Telecommunication Department has announced two major changes being introduced this fall: a new voice mail system and caller ID. The new voice mail system is already being rolled out to some campus areas. New features include separate messages for on- and off-campus callers, a temporary (e.g. vacation) message that will automatically expire on a given date, and message distribution lists. In addition, you will now be able to control the "zero" transfer and pager notification options from the voice mail system without needing to call Telecommunication. Service representatives will be contacting departments soon to assist in the conversion process. Caller ID services were added in September 2000. Further details about caller ID and the new voice mail system are available on the new Telecommunication Web site, telecom.ua.edu. |
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