Networked Services Update 7/14/2004

Contents

Welcome to new faculty and IT staff

The Information Technology department is pleased to extend a welcome to the faculty and researchers who are joining us this summer! We ask all of you to please welcome Brad Harding who has joined us in June as the SIS Information System Manager. Brad formerly worked at UCOP and will have ongoing responsibility for our SCT/Banner system and related applications. Also, David Wasley, Assistant to the Associate VP/CIO for Information Infrastructure at UCOP, will be working part time for UC Merced over the next 6 months. David will serve as our project manager for our fiber optic connection to CENIC and will participate in other projects, including identity management.

New services

Wireless networking at Castle

Wireless networking is now available throughout the Castle facility. Because of security problems inherent in current wireless technology, we are requiring special software and authentication for wireless users (see the Networked Services site at myUCMerced for details). The client software has been tested with Windows, MacOS, and Redhat LINUX. Visitors to Castle can access Internet web sites without login ids, but will have to identify themselves via a web browser window that will automatically pop up.

Virtual Private Networking (VPN) facility

A general Virtual Private Network (VPN) service is also available. This allows someone using an ISP from home (dial-up, DSL, or cable modem) to connect securely (using encryption) to the UC Merced network. The principal uses for this service are for accessing sensitive administrative applications from off-campus and to access resources that are accessible only to users of the UC Merced network, such as electronic library resources. Faculty, staff, and students will be automatically authorized to use this facility; special permission must be requested for affiliates. See the Networked Services site at myUCMerced for details.

Mailing list facility

A new facility is now available for creating and using dynamic mailing lists - called Mailman. It is implemented with the GNU Mailing List application, Mailman, and offers a web-based management interface as well as built-in archiving, automatic bounce processing, digest delivery, and more. See the Networked Services site at myUCMerced for details.

Coming soon

Web site reconstruction

Following the web site face-lift that took place last April, Phase I of a major revamping of our web site is scheduled for mid-August. There will be significant changes to the site's look and feel. Phase II of this project, scheduled for completion in the Fall, will add facilities enabling our various departments and units to manage their parts of the web site and to incorporate more sophisticated graphics and multi-media.

Central file storage (UC Files) facility

A central file storage facility (UCM Files) will be piloted in August, providing file storage similar to that offered by traditional departmental file servers, but on a much more scaleable and manageable platform. The pilot will debut on a network appliance with 2.5 TB of capacity. UCM Files complements UCM Share (DocuShare) where document management capabilities (such as indexing, search, abstracts, versioning, web access, etc.) are not required, and will provide much faster and more natural access. More information will be posted on the Networked Services site at myUCMerced as available.

PAWS

The Personnel Application and Web-based Management System (PAWS) will debut in early August. PAWS will accept applications for both administrative and academic positions via the web, and automatically record relevant information in a database and in our document management system. Besides adding a lot of new functionality, this will effectively replace the use of Projectsolve. Future releases of PAWS will add tracking features and facilities peculiar to academic personnel.

ID Mangement project kick-off

We have been working hard on planning for identity management, and will hold an open project kick-off meeting on July 28th (1:30-3:00 PM) for all of those interested in what the project will entail. Identity management is the application that will manage the different roles individuals may have (student, faculty, staff, affiliate, alumnu(s)(a), etc.) and provide the interfaces that will allow us to issue ID cards, create class lists within the course management system, provide appropriate access within the portal, and, in general allow access to services such as the Library or wireless networking and automatically create e-mail and other accounts and for new arrivals.

DocuShare migration

We are getting closer to migrating UCMShare (DocuShare) onto a new UNIX platform. This version will be directory-enabled, i.e., the same password will be used by DocuShare as is used for e-mail, the calendar, the portal, etc. For most users, these passwords have been set to the same value, so the migration will be transparent. Should you encounter an access problem, please contact the IT Help Desk.


Looking for help?

We offer a number of tutorials and FAQs available in the Guides & FAQs section.

If you have any questions, problems, or comments, please contact the IT Help Desk via email at helpdesk@ucmerced.edu, via phone at 209.228.HELP (4357), or visit them in the Classroom and Office Building room 132A.