University Times

Pitt is going wireless.

The University has committed to a two-year campaign to implement wireless network service across the Pittsburgh campus, according to a report at this month’s Faculty Assembly and Senate Council meetings.

John Close and Fran Yarger, co-chairs of the University Senate computer usage committee, reviewed highlights of a report on Computing Services and Systems Development (CSSD) initiatives, which had been compiled by the committee in conjunction with CSSD director Jinx Walton.

“There is a new campus-wide plan to implement wireless across the Oakland campus,” Yarger reported. “Currently, wireless service is available in high-traffic student areas and some classrooms and departmental spaces.”

According to Yarger, Pitt’s new commitment to wireless service is based on the following rationale:

• There has been growing demand from students and faculty as well as an increasing number of requests for departmental wireless installations.

• Student wireless service has reached its capacity.

• A campus-wide plan offers the potential for cost savings and efficiencies.

• A wireless campus will increase the University’s competitiveness and aid student recruitment.

“There’s a two-year time plan for implementing this service, and the building schedule is being developed along with a strategy for providing guest access for visitors,” Yarger said. Initial hardware orders have been placed and testing is underway, she added.

Pitt had flirted with implementing wireless service in its master plan, “An Information Technology Foundation for the 21st Century,” which was issued in 2000. But that plan took a wait-and-see attitude by continuing to monitor wireless technology for possible research and instructional applications, as well as for general access.

Other highlights of the computer usage committee report include:

• Portal upgrade.

According to Yarger, hardware and software supporting the University’s web portal (my.pitt.edu), which has approximately 41,000 users, was upgraded in August 2005.

“Some of the new features include the new Webmail client for IMAP e-mail — what is new there is spell-check; the ability to import e-mail list address books, and there’s a search feature now available,” Yarger reported.

Users also can save sent e-mails and create folders to store and organize mail. More than 36,000 users have connected to the Webmail system since the service was implemented, Yarger said.

“There’s also a feature called communities, and 70 communities have been created so far, and new communities are being created regularly,” including a portal community for the University Senate, Yarger said.

Student Government Board elections were held on line in November using the portal, she pointed out.

• Voice mail upgrade.

The first phase of the upgrade from Audix to the new Modular Messaging system was completed on Jan. 29, when service was implemented for about 8,000 Pittsburgh campus faculty and staff working in University-owned buildings, Yarger reported.

“Audix was more than 10 years old and they’re was no longer any support by its creator and manufacturer, so a new product had to be developed,” she said.

The voice mail systems for employees in buildings with Centrex service, students in Oakland residence halls and the regional campuses will be upgraded in phases over this spring and summer, the computer usage committee reported stated.

• Mailman e-mail list distribution service.

According to the committee report, a managed mailing list is a service that allows a list owner either to set up a specific list of e-mail addresses or to allow individuals to join an existing list. Two types of lists are available. Announcement lists are used to send bulletins that require no reply. Discussion lists allow any member to send a message to all the others or to reply to specific messages.

“The listserve system has changed,” Yarger said. “Majordomo had been used previously. For those who have used it, it was rather difficult, as the commands were made via e-mail. For those who were used to the functionality of the web, it seemed a little on the archaic side.”

The Majordomo system, which Yarger said will be phased out slowly, will be replaced by the Mailman mailing list service, which was made available on Feb. 20.

“What’s nice about it is that it is web-based and much easier to use,” she said.

Close added that the computer usage committee was part of the pilot testing of the Mailman system. “It is just a huge improvement over Majordomo and extremely easy to use,” he said.

New mailing lists can be requested through the Help Desk (4-4357). CSSD is working with the owners of 250 Majordomo mailing lists to convert them to the new service, Yarger reported.

• Responses to security threats in 2005.

“There were four major security threats to the University that were averted,” Yarger reported.

She and Close declined to specify what those threats were, but Close noted: “We haven’t had any major security breaches here.”

CSSD also issued 37 computer security alerts, remedies and protections, and 1,056 security incidents were resolved in 2005, Yarger reported.

CSSD provides network-based firewall protection to University units on request. “Currently, this service is in place for 85 units with 31 requests being made from additional units,” Yarger said.

Firewall service was implemented in the fall term for the Pittsburgh campus residence halls to help protect student computers from outside hackers and viruses. Since the service was implemented, there has been a significant reduction in the number of these attacks, Yarger reported.

Close added, “The firewall also keeps the students from using their computers in the dorms as a server, where they’re serving up entire movies, which they shouldn’t be doing. So, the firewall protects the student and the University.”

• Spam and virus filtering.

CSSD implemented its spam and virus filtering service in spring 2004. “Over 7 million e-mail messages contained viruses and there were 19 million spam messages in 2005 caught by the filtering service,” Yarger said. “Also at the University, 1 in 20 e-mail messages contained some sort of malware. That would include viruses and things like spyware.”

Worldwide, 1 in 44 e-mail messages is infected with malware, according to the computer usage committee’s report.

• Enterprise Exchange.

Enterprise Exchange is an e-mail platform that provides e-mail messaging services and additional functions including keeping a calendar, task lists, notes and journals. It can be extended to provide support for handheld devices such as a Blackberry.

“Currently there are 48 separate departments using their own Exchange servers, with approximately 8,000 users,” Yarger said.

The number of separate systems makes it difficult to implement security patches and upgrades uniformly. The new Enterprise Exchange service is a centrally supported service now available to University units. The system will have the advantage of centralized administration, upgrades and security.

“This program enables an Enterprise server to be introduced,” Yarger said. “It’s an opt-in program developed with CSSD, and there’s no charge to the units. This will eliminate the units’ need to purchase Exchange hardware or software or to maintain it.”

Approximately 20 departments with 4,000 users are scheduled to move to the new service beginning this term, she said.

• 10 gigabit network backbone upgrade.

The first two phases of the project to upgrade the University’s network backbone to 10 gigabit capacity are complete, Yarger reported. “Those phases included upgrades to the network equipment and to the hub sites in Oakland and at RIDC Park,” she said.

“The third phase, which will be done over the next several years, will be actually bringing the network backbone to all University buildings,” Yarger said.

“Right now, when you plug your computer into the port, you’re either depending on your building or on your unit running a 10 megabit or 100 megabit server. This is going to be changing to 10 gigabit. It’s essentially a much larger ‘pipe’ for the Internet. The additional capacity will accommodate video, video conferencing, larger files, multi-media, that sort of thing.”

• CourseWeb upgrade.

Hardware and software supporting the CourseWeb (Blackboard) system were upgraded in the fall.

“The upgrade improved functionality of the grade book and on-line discussion features, as well as improved user interface design,” Yarger said. “The hardware infrastructure was completely redesigned to provide better stability and to allow for the increase numbers of usage.”

The system includes more than 2,000 course sections and 15,000 students in the current term, she added.

• Telephone billing system.

“The telephone billing system is changing,” Yarger said. “CSSD is introducing on-line telephone bills as part of a larger project to replace its telephone billing software. The system is moving on line, and training will occur for the units during the spring semester.”

On-line bills first were made available several years ago, but with the new system billing statements will be available to units through the Pitt portal. The system is in place and is being tested by selected departmental administrative staff, Yarger reported.

Paper telephone bills no longer will be sent to units once the training is complete and the new system is fully implemented, she added.

—Peter Hart