Community Briefing

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Community Briefing

• General Update
• Don Peterson DayTomorrow, November 22nd
• Student Town MeetingDecember 6th
• Student RecruitmentClass of 2011
• New Residence Hall Planning
• 19 New Faculty Positions
• FY08 Budget Development
• Life Sciences Building Grand Opening Sept
  17-21st
• Information Technology Update

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Information Technology
Mission The IT Division partners with faculty,
students, and staff in the quest for knowledge,
applying the power of technology to unite people
and content anytime, anyplace.
Infrastructure, Services, Content, Policy, Staff
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IT Agenda

• Information Literacy Helen Shuster
• Collaboration Resources Mary Beth Harrity
• Protecting Intellectual Property and Identity
  Sean OConnor
• Working Remotely Ben Thompson
• Computing Resources Sia Najafi
• Major Projects Allan Johannesen
• Information Access QA Tom Lynch

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Information Literacy

• An information literate individual is able to
• Find and access information effectively
  efficiently
• Evaluate information source critically
• Use information effectively to accomplish
  specific purpose
• Understand economic, legal, social issues
  surrounding use of information
• All of the above

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Information Literacy

• Library
• 248 sessions, 3049 individuals in 06
• Individual IQP project groups
• Course related developed with faculty
• Library and ATC
• Joint Liaison program with academic depts.
• 2 person teams updates and assistance
• Conduit to all IT services and resources

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Information Literacy

• Technology Literacy
• Software Applications training
• Consultations for individuals and groups
• Helpdesk support
• Scientific/Engineering software training
• Matlab, Fluent, Ansys
• 90 lectures, 400 attendees, 9 departments

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Information Literacy

• IT online content
• Web pages, video clips, tutorials
• http//www.wpi.edu/Academics/Library/Help/
• http//www.wpi.edu/Academics/CCC/Help/Services/
• http//www.wpi.edu/Academics/ATC/Instruction/

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Information Literacy

• Librarians have NOT assisted users on which of
  the following areas recently?
• Mobile source air pollution
• Stadium safety and construction
• Bile and gastric juices
• Historical architecture in Massachusetts
• Coriolis effect in the hemispheric flushing of
  toilets

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Collaboration Resources
Click picture to play video
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Collaboration Resources

• Web conferencing tools
• Interwise iMeeting-
• Features include application sharing, whiteboard,
  polling, with audio and low-level video
• Partnering with ECE department to create shared
  IP-based video conferencing room in AK (available
  in Jan. 2007)

Click picture to play video
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Collaboration Resources

• Access Grid
• Node in Morgan Hall
• Personal Node option

• Teaching with Technology Collaboratory
• Used by 222 organizations last year

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Protecting IP and Identity

• Network Security
• Firewall
• Intrusion Detection System
• Tripwire
• Anti-virus software
• E-mail spam
• Policies ISCP, Data Security
• System patching
• Note IP Intellectual Property

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Attack Question

• How many per day?
• A
• B
• C
• D
• E

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Policies
http//www.wpi.edu/Academics/CCC/Policies/

• Information Security Compliance Project
• Covers seven federal laws on data protection
• Information Security at WPI booklet
• Published and distributed in July
• Network Security Policy
• Defines roles and responsibilities for securing
  the WPI network
• Data Security Project (In Progress)
• Define roles and responsibilities for securing
  business data, personal records, and research.

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Network Security

• Firewall
• Used at network perimeter for blocking commonly
  vulnerable services and for temporary threats
  (Denial of Service attacks, etc).
• IT managed desktop computers also have firewalls
• Intrusion Detection System
• Monitors network traffic both the perimeter and
  internally for system exploit attempts.

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System Security

• Server Security
• Tripwire
• Anti-virus software
• Desktop Security
• E-mail spam marking
• Anti-virus software
• System patching
• WSUS for Microsoft software
• On-campus Fedora Linux mirrors

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Working Remotely

• If you work with information when away from
  campus you generally?
• A) Work on paper
• B) Work remotely using VPN and the same
  shares/files used in the office
• C) Work on the same notebook PC when in-office
  and traveling
• D) Work with information on/transferred with
  portable media (USB memory, Floppy, CD/CDR)
• E) Work with information transported between
  computers using e-mail

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Working Remotely - Security

• Extension of the WPI Network/Information
• Physical Security
• PC Network Management standards
• CCC Policy Standards

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Work Remotely Appear Local

• Proxy Server (Library Web service)
• VPN (appear on WPI network)
• Terminal Services (virtual lab)
• Alternate desktop platforms
• Software (hardware/license limitations)

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Working Remotely continued

• Software for use at home
• MS Campus Agreement
• McAfee virus protection
• Other software
• Cell Phones for international travel
• Blackberry and MS Push Mail Support

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Computing Resources

• How many devices (PCs, laptops, etc.) are
  registered to be used on our network?
• 2200
• 5500
• 7654
• 12700

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Computing Resources

• What do we have?
• Labs
• Hardware
• Software
• Storage
• Support

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Computing Resources

• Computer Labs and Classrooms
• 23 Public Labs
• 39 E-classrooms
• 3 year replacement cycle
• 7x24 Access

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Computing Resources

• Hardware
• Windows Cluster for Research Computing (new)
• Accessible using terminal services
• 2 Linux Clusters, 11 and 14 nodes
• Each node, 2x2.4 GHz Intel Xeon CPUs, 2GB RAM
  25Gflops
• SGI Altix 350
• 16 1.5GHz Itanium2 CPUs, 32 GB RAM,
  LinuxOS56Gflops
• A system with 16 CPUs, dual core 2.4 GHz AMD
  Opteron, 32GB of RAM 54Gflops
• Many other 2 and 4 CPU nodes, AMD Opteron 64 bit
  systems

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Computing Resources

• Software
• Over 250 software applications
• Productivity suites, Engineering and scientific
  apps, Compilers, developmental tools and
  libraries, etc
• 32 bit and 64 bit
• Supported platforms Windows/MAC/Linux

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Computing Resources

• Storage
• 750 MB network storage per user
• Other Storage arrays (EMC NAS-350, AX100) for
  research support
• Support
• MAC support (new)
• Resource Planning (volume and upgrade planning)

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Major Projects

• Web submission and archiving of Projects
• Undergraduate projects are a differentiating
  feature of WPI education.
• Builds on web submission of theses and
  dissertations which were mandated 6 years ago.
• Both Major and Interactive projects
• Second year of a pilot project volunteer only
• Working with faculty committees toward a faculty
  vote of mandatory electronic submission.

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Major Projects

• What percentage of projects were submitted via
  the web of all projects submitted in the past
  academic year?
• A - 8
• B - 17
• C - 39
• D - 57
• E - 74

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Major Projects

• Overall, 39 of projects were submitted via the
  web last year.
• 105 MQPs - 34 of 310 total
• 105 IQPs - 45 of 233 total

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Major Projects

• Gateway Park
• Working with construction project to assure
  campus network quality.
• Campus telephone extensions
• IP Videoconferencing for Seminar Room
• Presentation setups in 5 conference rooms
• Have proposed process changes to provide support
  for the building.

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Major Projects

• What is the length of communications cable which
  has been installed in Gateway Park?
• A - 6500 yards
• B - 6.5 miles
• C - 65 miles
• D - 650 miles

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Major Projects

• 65 miles of communications cable has been
  installed in the Gateway building. What is the
  length of communications cable which is installed
  on the campus?
• A - 28 miles
• B 56 miles
• C - 282 miles
• D - 560 miles
• E - 2,820 miles

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Major Projects

• Machine Room environment upgrade
• Generator
• Uninterruptible power supply
• Air conditioning backup

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FY07 Gifts

• Grants and gifts
• APC 80 KVA unit 289,950
• APC Racks 36,000
• Nortel Switches 50,400
• Nortel Call Pilot System 60,000
• Nortel Wireless 203,140
• Wireless Management Software 17,595
• NetOps Closet/Hall renovation 57,000
• Nortel VPN licenses 71,980
• Cyclades Terminal Server 50,000
• Gift - Gateway Park 40,000
• Total 858,470

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Focus Information Access

• Working with administrators, administrative
  business units, and academic departments to
  better define needs and set direction
• Institutional data
• Retention, academic advising, enrollment
  management, etc.
• Development, alumni relations, capital campaign,
  etc.
• Information architecture
• Systems view of the enterprise architecture Data
  Warehouse
• Process flow, optimization, efficiencies
• Information access projects (Banner)
• Array of access to meet skills and needs
• Graphical data displays data integrity catalogs
  of reports
• Direct access and analysis tools (Oracle
  Discoverer)
• Third party products
• Project management software super users
  training courses

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Q A