Completed Projects
Fall 2004
Data Protection & System Recovery for IT -Supported Systems-
This project was an expansion on the Protection and System Recovery - Version 2 manual, which was published in December 2004. New materials include detailed descriptions of testing and testing platorms. Backup and recovery information for each system and platform was updated to reflect recent hardware and software upgrades.
Data Protection & System Recovery for Academic Supported Machines - Phase 1
The objective is to minimizing systems downtime and data by documenting existing backup and recovery procedures. The procedures answer the question, "How would we operate if w had a short, medium, or long term outage?" Phase I covers five departments: Computer Science (CS), Extended Education, Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Mathematical Sciences (MA), and Mechanical Engineering (ME). Remaining departments and institutes will be covered in subsequent phases.
IT Lab - Phase 2
Due to the overwhelming success of the two existing IT Lab collaboration suited located on the third floor of the Gordon Library, the ATC in conjunction with the Library will be adding two new IT Labs. These new labs will be modeled after the two existing labs, and be located on the first floor of the library.
FY05 Classroom & Meeting Space Upgrades
During FY05, the ATC will upgrade the projection systems in GH227, HL116, HL218, SL115, SL412. Each room will have a dedicated 3200 lumen projector with a 3GHz workstation, VHS VCR, and DVD player connected to it. The rooms will also support laptop connections with all required cables resident in the room, and also support connections to any composite or S-Video device. Iomega Zip drives installed in classrooms will no longer be supported, but at any time you can borrow a portable Zip drive from the ATC. In FY05 the ATC will also upgrade control systems in the Campus Center meeting rooms to provide consistency in control systems across much of campus.
Campus TV Upgrade
Public campus televisions will be upgraded to allow for a centralized management system. This upgrade will replace all existing public TV's (Kaven Hall Lounge, Salisbury Labs Lounge, Goddard Hall Lounge, Atwater Kent Lounge, Library Circulation Desk), relocate the TV from the third floor Fuller Labs lounge to the second floor lounge at the top entrance of Perreault Hall, and add TV's in Gompii's Gutters and the Fitness Center. Part of the upgrade will also include new content on the WPI Bulletin Board channel (Dorm Channel 11).
Data Protection and System Recovery - Version 2
This project is an expansion on the Protection and System Recovery - Version 1 manual, which was published in October 2002. New materials include recommended next steps, backup and recovery documentation for Computing Services test and training platforms. The staff backup section was updated to better illustrate how responsibilities are covered. Since the last publication, University Relations completed their Business Impact Analysis (BIA), which was added alongside the Human Resources assessment (BIA). For more information, see Version 1 of this project.
Interlibrary Loan Pilot Project
The Voyager Interlibrary Loan module provides efficiencies and services that are needed due to continually rising levels of ILL activity. This module integrates with other Voyager modules and automates the former work process of manually entering citation information obtained from online and paper request forms, searching the catalog, emailing users and keeping statistics. The anticipated result will be increased accuracy, faster ordering and faster receipt of items.
Girona Printer Migration
Network printers shared from Girona have been moved to Uniprint to provide one location for all printing needs.
DVD Duplication Services
To meet increased demand and provide additional services to the WPI community, the ATC will offer DVD duplication services. DVD's that contain media or data will be able to be mass produced for applications across campus.
TV Studio Lighting Grid
In an effort to increase reliability and decrease operating costs, the ATC will convert the existing lighting grid in the television studio from an incandescent system to a fluorescent system. This new system will provide a higher quality, more flexible, system that will increase production quality, and also provide a lower operating cost.
Summer 2004
Student Affairs Division-wide Redesign
A complete overhaul of the structure, navigation, content, and appearance of the Web presence for the entire Student Affairs Division was conducted over the course of a year by the Web Development Office. To view the sites, start at the Student Affairs Web site.
New Web-based Form Script
This new script, webform.pl, replaces the capabilities of three older CGIs, now retired (mailform, mailto-require and survey). The script can produce either e-mailed or file-based output (or both), and additional features allow for time/date stamping of output, automatic receipt messages, and more. For more information, see the documentation.
SGI Altix 350 Implementation
Professor Mayer Humi of the Math Department used a grant to purchase an SGI Altix 350. This is a 16 CPU 1.5GHz Itanium2 system with 32GB of RAM. It runs SGI's Linux and provides shared-memory high-performance computing for Math Department research. It is available on a limited basis to the entire WPI community for long-term large compute jobs that can benefit from a large shared-memory environment. To request access, or for more information, visit the CCC's Web page for the Altix.
ACADEMIC Domain and Exchange Server Migration to Student
As a part of the migration of the ACADEMIC domain to the STUDENT domain, the exchange server used by students was one of the first resources moved to the new infrastructure. This move combines two separate exchange forests allowing for easier future expansion and support.
Combining the Global Address Lists
As a part of migrating the ACADEMIC domain to the STUDENT domain and combining the Active Directories, there is now one global address list for all WPI faculty, staff, and students.
Blackberry Enterprise Server Deployment and Client Integration
A server has been deployed to provide access to WPI e-mail via Blackberry devices.
Public Labs Upgrade: Windows 2000 to Windows XP
In an effort to remain current with the latest technology, all 13 CCC-managed public labs were upgraded to Windows XP during the summer of 2004.
Best Access Electronic Lock System Integration (Phase 1)
Over the last several years, WPI has seen the increasing prevalence of electronic locks on labs and offices. During the summer of 2003, the installation of networked electronic locks began on all of WPI’s Residence Halls and was completed over the course of the academic year. The CCC worked with Plant Services and Best Access Systems to integrate Best’s software with WPI’s Banner Database. This enabled automation of access to any electronic lock based on a community member’s ID card. The access can be granted based on enrollment in a class, assignment to a dorm room, or simply because they’re a member of the community. The flexibility and reliability of the system will help secure the WPI campus and improve availability of facilities to community members.
Winter/Spring 2004
iPAQ's in the Classroom Pilot
This project explored the use of personal digital assistants (PDA's) in the classroom for digital delivery of text materials (e-texts) and the usefulness and efficiency of administering electronic quizzes. Fifty-five Compaq iPAQ's were used to deliver course content and assess student learning. Students had access to the iPAQ's for the entire term both in and out of class. The pilot was completed in May 2004, and there are no plans to continue at this time.
Pharos Uniprint Upgrade
The Pharos software used for self service printing in the Library, the ADP Lab, and the Movie Lab was upgraded to take advantage of new features and to add support Windows 2003 server. The OS on the Uniprint server was upgraded to conclude the project. The Uniprint stations located in the Library, the ADP Lab, and the Movie Lab were upgraded to the new software, as well.
Office 2003 Deployment
In an effort to stay current with the latest software and to reduce the interoperability problems that arise with multiple versions of Microsoft Office (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook and Publisher), the CCC deployed Office 2003 to all systems on the ADMIN domain. This installed .
Windows 98 to Windows XP Desktop Upgrade
In an effort to remove outdated and unsupported software, CCC upgraded all Windows 98 PCs that can support the requirements of Windows XP to Windows XP Professional. Windows XP Offers support for some of the newest software requirements that our campus demands (Microsoft Office 2003, McAfee Virus Scan 7.x, and Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003; which facilitates software distribution).
Fuller Lab B30 Renovation
In order to meet increased demand for ATC resources, the existing FLB30 space was renovated to allow for one office space, one collaborative workroom, and storage. The workspace is a reserved resource for the WPI community, includes equipment to do copy stand work, edit rich media, and provides a private work and meeting space.
Fall 2003
Web Conferencing Evaluation Committee
The Academic Technology Center chaired an evaluation committee to select for WPI a web conferencing service to be adopted for campus use. Once implemented, the web conferencing application will provide the WPI community with a variety of media rich synchronous and asynchronous online conferencing options. The evaluation committee was comprised of a variety of WPI staff and faculty.
Laptop Pilot Project
For two years (2001 - 2003), the Academic Technology Center conducted a series of laptop pilot projects to measure the effects of laptop implementation in the classroom. The ATC has moved out of the pilot phase with this project and institutionalized the availability of laptops as a resource to WPI faculty; it is now called the Mobile Computing Classroom.
FY 2004 Major E-classroom & Meeting Space Upgrades
During FY04, the ATC added full projection systems to Higgins Labs 154 & 230, Salisbury Labs 123, and Becket Conference Room. Each room has a dedicated 3200 lumen projector with a 3GHz workstation, VHS VCR, and DVD player connected to it. The rooms also support laptop connections with all required cables resident in the room, and also connections to any composite or S-Video device. Many of WPI's existing electronic classrooms also got computer upgrades, replacing 1GHz machines with 3GHz workstations with 1GB of RAM. There are also now front-mounted USB ports in all WPI's electronic learning spaces as well as CD-RW drives. Iomega Zip drives installed in classrooms are no longer supported, but at any time you can borrow a portable Zip drive from the ATC.
TV Studio Power Conditioning
To provide a layer of protection between power utilities and the sensitive equipment contained in WPI's TV Studio, the ATC in conjunction with NetOps installed power conditioning and battery backup. This will protect the TV Studio from any fluctuations in power and also provide time in a power failure to gracefully shut down equipment in this location.
Summer 2003
Computer Lab Upgrades
Several public access computer labs were upgraded during the summer of 2003 with money from the IT Capital budget. These labs include the ADP lab in FLB16, the Biomedical Engineering Lab in SL412 and the Chemical Engineering lab in GH012. In addition, IT Capital funding was provided to upgrade computers in several computer labs maintained by academic departments. These include the Bioinstrumentation Lab in SL311, the Biomedical Engineering MQP Lab in SL415, the ECE General Purpose Lab in AK317, the Management Telecommunications Course Lab in WB228 and the Engineering Experimentation Lab and Design Studio in the Mechanical Engineering department. The upgrades totaled 99 PCs and 6 workstations.
Movie Lab Upgrade
WPI's Movie Lab, located next to the circulation desk in Gordon Library, received all new hardware and many software upgrades. The existing computers were replaced with HP XW4100 Workstation running at 3.06GHz with HyperThreading. The machines now have DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW drives, 1GB of RAM, USB 2.0 and IEEE1394 ports. The lab also supporst reading from all popular memory types (compact flash, Memory Stick, SD, MMC, Smart Media) internal to each workstation. All monitors were replaced with 18" HP LCD monitors that support the pivot standards allowing them to be used in portrait or landscape orientation. 3DStudio MAX was upgraded to the current version and Maya Personal Learning Edition was also installed. Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Acrobat Professional, and Macromedia Flash were also be added to the lab and Adobe PageMaker and Premiere were removed from the lab.
Spring 2003
Instant Answers@WPI
The Reference Department at the Gordon Library is experimenting with AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) to offer real-time chat reference assistance. The new service, called Instant Answers@WPI, lets members of the WPI community, as well as others outside WPI, get an instant response to any question they may have about the library or about their research. Once the trial ends, library staff will reconsider the service and software used to deliver it. For more information, visit the Library's Instant Answers@WPI Web site.
Display Wall (Power Wall)
Currently under construction, the Power Wall is a large-scale data visualization system producing a 2x2 tiled stereo or a 2x4 tiled mono display. The images are generated by an eight node cluster of commodity PCs that operate eight high-resolution projectors. The use of the wall allows researchers to investigate large data sets impossible to view on standard workstations. The wall provides a development environment for computer science visualization research.
Linux Cluster
As part of the global shift toward cluster computing, WPI’s HPC group provides a distributed computing platform consisting of 10 compute nodes (20 Intel P IV Xeon processors). Available to the whole community for large scale computing, this platform provides supercomputing capability at a fraction of the traditional cost. The initial user community includes members of Biology, Bioinformatics, Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering.
Winter 2003
Access Grid
Once completed, the Access
Grid will support large-scale distributed meetings,
collaborative work sessions, seminars, lectures, tutorials and
training. The Access Grid design point is group-to-group communication
(thus differentiating it from desktop-to-desktop-based tools that
focus on individual communication). It consists of multimedia display,
presentation and interactive environments, interfaces to grid
middleware, and interfaces to visualization environments. Initially
WPI’s AG node will be used for research, seminars, community events
with an international perspective and support of WPI’s global project
centers. WPI's Access Grid is located in
Daniels Hall. For more information on Access Grids, visit the Argonne Futures
Lab. (Logo courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory)
Voice Directory
Since February, the WPI campus phone number, 508-831-5000, has been answered by a voice recognition system that is able to recognize the names of staff and faculty as well as the names of services at WPI. WPI has operated its own phone system for decades, enabling bulk purchase of long-distance service and other economies. However, an operator has only been on duty for the working day. This new Voice Directory is on duty 24 hours a day, directing calls around the campus without people needing to look up or memorize numbers.
Fall/Winter 2002
Major E-classroom & Conference Room Upgrades
During fiscal year 2003, AHB30, FL311, FL320, GL208, SH303, WB229, WB323, FLAUD and KH116 received technical facelifts. Each room now has a dedicated XGA Projector, PC with DVD player (except AHB30), network and laptop connectivity, and VCR. The IGSD Conference room and Math Lab in Morgan A also received upgrades. Installed in each room now are a projector and dedicated VCR. The Math Lab is also equipped for laptop connectivity.
TV Studio & ATC Renovations
Approved in April 2002, the Academic Technology Center was renovated during December 2002. Three new offices, an equipment check-out island, and a brand new entrance were completed. During the summer of 2002, the TV Studio also received an upgrade with new student viewing stations and an improved instructor viewing station installed. The TV studio was also fitted with new student microphones and new carpeting.
WPI Network Operations Center (NOC)
WPI's new Network Operations Center provides centralized office and monitoring functionally for the WPI Network Operations staff. Node status, bandwidth usage, security incidents, and other system stastics can be viewed, cross-referenced and acted upon from this central location. The center also provides offices for Sean O'Connor, manager of network operations, as well as on-site engineers and technicians.
Data Protection and System Recovery - Version 1
In response to concerns of the trustees, the IT Division undertook a disaster recovery planning project to strengthen WPI's business continuity position. The project scope was the Information Technology systems and processes supported by the IT Division. The project addressed three risk reduction principles: response, recovery and reconstruction. This enhanced our ability to respond to situations that might interfere with the smooth operations of our computing, communications and information systems. The project team developed a formal document, called the Data Protection and System Recovery Plan. This manual consists of six major sections: Risk Assessment, Business Impact Analysis, Recovery Strategies, Backup and Recovery Plans, Plan Testing, and Plan Maintenance.
Printing in the Library
The library had provided free printing at the public access catalog (PAC) computers in the library for several years. As more and more people discovered this free printing option, the volume of printing increased dramatically, as did the amount of paper and toner consumed and the amount of staff time involved in servicing the printer. Despite limiting what could be printed to Web pages and PDF files linked to Web pages, the increase continued, reaching 210,000 pages printed in academic year 2001-2002. The library staff felt that free printing could no longer be supported. During 2001-2002, along with staff from the CCC and Administrative Services, the library staff investigated various options for recovering the cost of printing. In June 2002 the decision was made to purchase the UnipriNT print management system and to link it to WPI's existing CBORD ID card system to allow WPI students, faculty and staff to pay for printing and photocopying with their ID cards by placing money on their CBORD accounts. CCC underwrote a sizable portion of the hardware and software cost and was instrumental, along with Administrative Services, in the setup and implementation of the system. During Term B2002, when the library began pay-for-printing, 3,700 pages were printed, compared with 59,000 free pages printed during Term B2001. For information on using the system, see the Library's printing page
Maintained by itwebLast modified: Nov 06, 2006, 10:44 EST
![[WPI]](/Buttons/seal.gif "WPI Homepage"){kind=small}
![[IT]](/Admin/IT/Buttons/ithome.gif){kind=small}
![[Back]](/Buttons/back.gif){kind=small}