project

Future-proofing our network

Not unlike a vehicle needing new tires, suspension, or even a new motor, the University’s network needs constant maintenance and upgrading if it is to take it longer distances while operating efficiently.

Parts of the network are 20 years old, installed when the University of Lethbridge connected to its first campus-wide data network, says Terry Kirkvold, Infrastructure and Maintenance Support Manager.

Typical network closet prior to upgrade

Typical network closet prior to upgrade

“As many of the current network switches and routers are nearing end of life, what we’re doing, in essence, is future-proofing our network. With this

upgrade, at a minimum, we’re able to maintain and increase the quality, and also improve our service. Users will probably not see a difference in their day-to-day operations, but if they were to look under the hood, they would see a very modern, clean and efficient engine.”

Over the Family Day weekend in February, new core network switches were installed and are currently in operation, as well as new Wi-Fi access points in many classrooms and learning spaces. Next will be the installation of a new Domain Name Server (DNS) and DHCP (IP address allocations).

As outlined in the August 2014 blog article, the upgrade provides a number of improvements:

  • Faster response times for core services such as email and internet
  • Increased wireless capacity which will provide better coverage in classrooms and other student spaces
  • Ability to grow and change with the University’s needs
  • Enhanced security which provides a more secure infrastructure

“We will flip buildings to the new network in a staggered manner, one at a time, over the summer,” says Kirkvold. “These moves will be during the day as a rule and IT resources will be available to troubleshoot any problems that may occur.”

The current closets  are a complicated maze of organic growth that accommodated previous upgrades over the years.

Teams of Infrastructure staff will be required to visit each of the more than 70 network closets to completely reconfigure the network devices, cabling and fiber connections. The current closets  are a complicated maze of organic growth that accommodated previous upgrades over the years.

“With 5,500 connections and more than 27 kilometers of patch cables that have to be moved, each closet, depending on its size, could take two to four hours a day to re-configure and turn up the new infrastructure. For example, the CCBN has three closets and our staff could spend a full day or more in just that one building.”

The move will consist of first moving the wireless access points to the new network followed by the wired computers, phones and other devices attached to the network, and cleaning up all of the cables which could take up to two or three hours to complete.

Go here to see the tentative schedule of the planned work.

For more information, please contact Terry Kirkvold at kirkvold@uleth.ca, or 403-329-2720.

Network upgrade at full throttle

Did you know?

  • Portions of the University’s current network date back to 1995 when the first fiber connection went live.Fiber_optic_illuminated
  • More than 5,500 wired users are connected to the network.
  • There are more than 600 wireless access point on campus.
  • On an average day, the wireless network is accessed 17,000 times.
  • If the network cables were attached end-to-end, they would stretch out 27 kilometers—the distance from Lethbridge to Welling.

Why are we telling you this?

IT Services’ Infrastructure team has been working on a major network upgrade project on the Lethbridge campus during the last nine months, and now is preparing to do the heavy lifting required to move all users from the old network to the new, says Terry Kirkvold, Infrastructure and Maintenance Support Manager.

For the next two months, Infrastructure staff will be visiting more than 70 network closets situated throughout campus to completely overhaul (move and/or replace) the switches and cables. This may or may not impact individual users. (see schedule below)

As buildings and areas are scheduled to be switched over, Information Technology will be emailing notices to users, posting up-to-date information to the Notice Board and sending out reminders of installation and completion dates. It will also provide an explanation of the changes, suggestions on how to fix known issues, and who to contact with questions or concerns.

Kirkvold adds that the upgrade will only affect devices attached to the current network. IT Services is aware of most but there are some that will be discovered as part of this migration process. “For example, we have to find all of the non-central printers that are hidden away in many offices in campus. We do not have a good idea of how many exist or where they are – but we’ll certainly be finding out once the new network is configured; these devices may need IT’s assistance with new configurations.”

By completing these upgrades during the day…we will be better able to respond to issues as they arise.

The other expected issue may only require a simple reboot of machines in order to bring them online with the new network. If users are experiencing any connection issues, they should first try to reboot their computers to see if the issue resolves. If not, IT Services will be available to assist. “While we have attempted to minimize the impact of this change on University clients there is always the risk of unanticipated issues.   By completing these upgrades during the day in manageable chunks we will be better able to respond to issues as they arise.”

Although exact dates and times are not yet confirmed, below is a rough schedule of the work. Service Notice updates will be sent to users as they are known.

Please contact Terry Kirkvold at kirkvold@uleth.ca, or 403-329-2720, with questions or concerns.

Go here to see what the current network closets look like, and read the full story on the network upgrade.

Planned migration dates:

University Hall……………………July 8 – 31
Centre for the Arts………………August 4 – 7
LINC………………………………….August 10 – 14
Students’ Union Building……. August 17 – 18
Turcotte Hall…………………….. August 24 – 28
Anderson Hall…………………… August 31 – Sept 1
PE……………………………………..September 2 – 4
CCBN……………………………….. September 7 – 9
Water Building………………….. September 10 – 11
Markin Hall………………………. September 14 – 18

NOTE: As of October 19th, this schedule has been updated. Please view it here.

Consultation results in collaboration

 

Technology can fuel the collaborative spirit in ways researchers of the not-too-distant past never thought possible. Collaboration tools, like many other types of 21st Century business interactions, are born of need and limited only by the imagination.NVivo

Faculty of Education professor David Slomp had been using a stand-alone version of an application developed to organize and analyze non-numerical or unstructured data, such as audio files, videos, digital photos, and a variety of text-based data. NVivo enables users to classify, sort and arrange information according to individual needs. But, as with all software, its capabilities and functions continued to develop and become more robust.

After doing some initial investigation through NVivo, Slomp knew he needed the ability to share files with his research assistants in Ottawa and Halifax in order to work on them collaboratively.

“David knew the desktop version had its limitations and approached us about support for the server version,” says Wim Chalmet, Application Support Analyst.

Slomp says going from a simpler desktop version to a server version with multiple people using it required a level of expertise he did not have, and the ability to rely on people who understand the technology has been a relief. “The value for me is that I don’t have to worry about the complex technical aspects of integrating the technology. I have a lot of confidence in the IT team’s abilities. Wim has been pretty dedicated to the project. I know that when issues arise, he’ll be managing them.”

When Trevor Butler, Manager of Technology Services in the Faculty of Management, became aware of the product, he obtained permission from the Faculty of Education to share the server. It was simply a matter of purchasing the licenses after that.

“Sharing the same resources provides great economy of scale,” says Chalmet. “But it also gives users additional benefits because we gain a significant amount of product knowledge through the experience, allowing quicker resolutions to any issues. Also, it fosters collaboration and enriches the experience with peers.”

Slomp concurs. “Working on a project like this requires lots of negotiation with the vendor and, through the use of University resources like IT Services, creates a higher level of collegiality and understanding. I think, too, there’s a high degree of competence. Technical experts like Wim and Daryle Niedermayer know what they know, and know what they don’t know.”

Next steps for the project include providing access to an additional research team in the fall.

For more information, please contact Wim Chalmet at 403-380-1837 or wim.chalmet@uleth.ca.

IT Projects – how does the University decide?

Cartoon people holding jigsaw pieces https://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1251&bih=687&q=project+managment&oq=project+managment&gs_l=img.3..0i10l10.3444.10120.0.14050.27.16.8.3.4.0.111.863.14j2.16.0....0...1ac.1.35.img..0.27.894.GBMmu68k1k4#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=PZJoJycWJ2xUzM%253A%3B1r9YRcbd4nyrWM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.globalnpsolutions.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2012%252F04%252Fcartoon-of-mgmt.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.globalnpsolutions.com%252Fservices%252Fnpd-resources%252Fwhite-papers%252Fproduct-vs-project-management%252F%3B1210%3B1104From the University’s three-year-long Enterprise Recruitment and Retention Program, which includes the Student Portal project, the Business Intelligence project, and Strategic Roadmap project, to the three-month-long Canada Wide Science Fair wireless project, Information Technology Services is constantly juggling the number, length, complexity, importance and costs of IT-related projects for the U of L.

In order to determine which projects provide the best value to the University, an IT Projects Committee has been struck to tackle these large and critical decisions. “This is huge – it’s a very big step for IT,” says Chris Roberts, Manager for IT Services’ Project Management Office. “Prior to this, we had to use a ‘best effort’ approach to deciding which projects we had the capacity for, but this is obviously not ideal.”

Purchasing AtTask, a project portfolio management tool, provided a concrete solution to corralling and tracking all IT project requests into one central location. The next logical step was to form a committee to evaluate and prioritize all requests coming to ITS. “Leveraging this tool will help us report and sustain all projects by balancing resources with demand,” Roberts adds.

The IT Projects Committee, which will meet monthly, comprises representatives from across campus: Chris Horbachewski (VP Advancement), Chris Nicol (University Librarian), Charles Jorgenson (Acting Registrar), David Hinger (Director, Teaching Centre), Ken McInnes (Executive Director, HR), Carrie Takeyasu (Executive Director, Financial Services), TJ Hanson (Executive Director, Facilities), Jim Booth (Executive Director, Ancillary Services), along with IT Services reps: Mark Humphries (CIO), Darren Schell (Manager, Transformation), and Chris Roberts.

Roberts says the Committee is hoping to start its intake process later this spring, but further communication and details will follow.

 

 

Project & Portfolio Management tool selected

Over the last year, the IT Services Project Management Office (PMO) has conducted a project to identify the requirements for an enterprise-class Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) tool.  During this time, many meetings were held to communicate the project objectives and collect  requirements from departments and units across the University, with focus placed on those that conduct projects on a regular basis.  An online survey was also used to collect functional requirements of a potential tool.

Using the results from the meetings and survey, the PMO sent out a request to 14 PPM tool vendors, in Dec 2012, for information and pricing for their PPM solution.  After a rigourous selection process, including demonstrations of a number of the candidate tools, the selection committee chose AtTask Inc. (www.attask.com) as the PPM tool vendor.

Over the next two months, IT Services will work with AtTask to implement and configure the system to our needs.  We anticipate launching the new PPM system on April 1, 2013, after which it will serve as the focal point for project management and project governance in IT Services.

During the implementation of AtTask within ITS, we would be happy to discuss our experience with other units on campus who may be interested in utilizing this tool as well.

For further information concerning the PPM Tool project, please contact Chris Roberts.

IT Services Weekly Update

Critical Services (Banner, Moodle, Wireless, Internet)

All services functioning normally.

KPI Spotlight

The IT Services project register is used to track project initiatives within IT Services and ROSS (Student Information Systems):

Active Projects: 32

Proposed Projects: 10

Projects completed within the past year: 67

Service Improvements

The Registrar’s Office noted that students were having difficulty locating the Academic Calendar.  A new link has been added to the Home Page to facilitate access.

academic_calendar_link