SHSU Information Resources Update

The Data Center

Did you know that SHSU has a Data Center? The ever overused Wikipedia describes a data center (also known as a server farm) as a “facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems,…redundant or backup power supplies, redundant data communications connections, environmental controls (e.g., air conditioning, fire suppression) and security devices.”

Sam Houston’s Data Center houses an impressive array of all these elements and has been described by outside vendors and technology professionals as one of the best they have ever seen. All SHSU University Computer Services (UCS)-managed services such as Internet access, SamWeb, e-mail, your S: and T: drives, profiles, Blackboard, and Instant Messaging are maintained in and operated from the Data Center.

Some interesting facts about the Data Center include:

Seven Air Conditioning units provide 41 tons of cooling.

2,200 sq ft of space is dedicated to this Center.

50,000 linear feet of Cat. 6 cable terminated to 4,712 ports

7,700 copper pairs of telephone cable are in place.

1,056 Gig Ethernet ports are in place for servers.

Routers/Firewalls are capable of 120 Gbps total throughput and 30 Gbps throughput of deep packet inspection.

Twenty Server Racks are in use, with a plan to add 11 more.

238 Servers provide two or more connections to the network for redundancy and/or throughput.

SHSU’s Data Center is a room that would make even the obsessive-compulsive TV detective Monk proud!

Internet Connection(s)

A redundant GigaMAN which facilitates our connectivity to the Internet is now scheduled to be installed at the end of August instead of October. This second GigaMan will permit us a back-up route. If a contractor cuts the fiber in Spring AGAIN, we will have a secondary path to help alleviate outages.

PINs and Passwords

Passwords: The campus expiration for passwords has been 365 days for Windows and Macintoshes. On Nell, the expiration has been only 90 days. Auditors have alerted us that since so many administrative duties are now accessible within SamMenu and SamWeb, the Windows password expiration has to be shortened.

We know that every three months just feels too frequent, so we negotiated a compromise of 180 days.

You can reset your password when logged in on a campus PC. Press CTRL-ALT-DEL and then Change Password.

You can reset your password from SamWeb. Select Computer Services, then Account Password Change.

You can reset your password in Outlook Web Access. Click Options, then Change Password.

PINs: You should only need your PIN if you forget your password or let your password expire. Take preventative action and reset it now to something you can remember. You may log in to SamWeb, and change it yourself, with PIN Change under Student Records.

Student PINs: If you are helping students, please let them know they can also reset their PINs if they have logged in to SamWeb. Additionally, current students who know their username and password can log in directly from SamWeb to Financial Aid, Self Service Banner without having to use their PIN.

AB1 Construction

Just wanted to give you a heads-up that renovations are underway in AB1. So please take care if you come to the Helpdesk in 208. Workers are all about, lights are sometimes off, and the halls are crowded.

Software

One last reminder that we've been posting a list of software which will be removed from the campus network as of fiscal year 2010. Please make alternative arrangements if you have been using any of these software packages.
For questions about Blackboard or eCollege, please contact Jacob Spradlin in the Academic Instructional Technology and Distance Learning (AITDL) division at 294.3929.
For questions about other software which you need for academic purposes,you may continue to enter a SamWeb WO and that will be referred to AITDL for review and approval.

Reach Out and Touch Faster

The campus modem bank life is coming to an end. If you have been using SHSU's dial-in as your access method to reach the Internet from off-campus, you have probably become increasingly frustrated with the slow response times. With ever more sophisticated, robust, interactive web pages in today's environment, a dial-in solution is simply not up to the expected standard.

Therefore, as of September 1st, you may contact the Helpdesk to find out if the modem bank is up. This will be the only support provided. Additionally, if the modem bank experiences an equipment failure, repairs will not be funded and the modem bank will be removed at that time. Some suggested alternatives are provided, and we encourage you to make arrangements now.

What's Good, What's Not, & What's Happening When

All SHSU technological purchases should be processed through the Computer Services SamWeb Work Order system. Reminder: Payment Approval forms for technology purchases with fiscal year 2009 funds must be received by UCS by August 14th.

The Helpdesk provides support for SHSU equipment and software on the local area network. Each month's update will include the versions of software and minimum requirements for hardware with the new or changed information highlighted and bolded.

Memory Sticks: Purchase (and encourage your students to buy) flash drives that are USB Mass Storage Compliant.

Floppy disks (3 1/2" or 5 1/4") should not be used as a storage device for University information.

Wireless peripherals such as mice and keyboards have proven problematic in the campus environment and should not be purchased and/or installed.

Operating Systems: The supported version of Macintosh machines is OS X, version 5. The supported version of Microsoft's operating system is Windows XP.

Software Packages: The supported versions of office suites are Microsoft's Office 2007 for PC's and for Macintoshes Microsoft Office 2008.

Hardware Configurations:

The minimum requirements for the SHSU local area network support for a PC are a 2.5 GHz processor, 1.5 GB RAM, and an 80 GB disk, with 15 GB free. Our recommended configuration is a 3.0 GHz Core 2 Duo, 2 GB memory, and a 250 GB hard drive.

The minimum configuration for a Macintosh on the LAN is a 1.6GHz PowerPC single processor, 1GB RAM, and a 40GB hard drive.

The Information Resources division may schedule significant periods of downtime for major system upgrades and maintenance. For your planning purposes, the weekend following each graduation will be set aside for scheduled outages. Additionally, certain systems may be unavailable on Friday nights after 6 p.m. and on holidays. To permit patches and routine updates, managed Macintosh nodes may be automatically rebooted between Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday morning at 8 a.m.

All offers, training, and software above pertain to faculty and staff at SHSU only. If you have any questions, compliments, comments, or concerns, please let us know.