Exeter On-Line
Summer
Changes from IT/Telecommunications
by Shelley Nason
Each summer I take a moment from our busy schedule to reflect upon the changes that we are making on the voice and data network that will impact everyone at the start of the new school year. As I gather my thoughts, I recall memories of a traditional school essay, "What I did on my summer vacation?"
In addition to supporting the regular session departments and summer programs, preparing for the start of school, wiring buildings that are being renovated, responding to individual and department requests, and, numerous behind the scenes projects needed to maintain and upgrade performance and security we have accomplished the following:
We expanded the Internet bandwidth access from one T1 line to two T1 lines. Although this expansion is not noticeable during the summer, the boarding students and dorm faculty should notice a difference at the start of Fall Term. We will need to balance load for maximum performance when the students return and we have a full complement connecting to the network.
A new feature that will be rolled out this fall is VPN (virtual private network) services for day students and perhaps the employee community. VPN allows the user to connect to network file resources from home providing the user has a computer connected to an ISP. Similar to a modem connection, it is not designed to download software from the Academy to one's personal machine. Configuration instructions will be provided to day students during orientation.
Our desktop staff tested Office 2000 and initially it will be deployed on Academic lab machines. Unlike previous Office upgrades, it allows older versions to read newer file versions (and vice versa). This upgrade provides for increased functionality and easier web page creation and conversion. MS Access files will require conversion from previous versions and MIS plans on doing extensive testing before any existing Academy supported databases are converted.
In conjunction with MIS we have been building a web interface to our existing internal network. I sometimes hear members in our community say that we do not have an Intranet but, after visiting a number of schools this summer, I would describe us as having an extensive internal network that currently lacks a web interface and perhaps, universal access to the data. MIS and IT/Telecommunications staff are working collaboratively to build the infrastructure that will pull together many of the electronic services and databases into systems that will appear more integrated to the user community. Although our work will be extensive and on going, it pales compared to the work departments and committees will need to do to define the required functionality and access. Examples of what will be implemented include a campus wide calendar, electronic forms that should decrease manual processes and access to data by more than the people who enter and maintain the information.
Please contact me at extension 3692 if you have questions or request more information.
IT/Telecommunications
by Donna Archambault
Our department has adopted IT (Information Technology) as our name. We are the department on campus that maintains data, voice, cable wiring, computers, hardware, software, telephones, and the voicemail system for Phillips Exeter Academy. Generally, Telecommunications refers to voice and voice/data/video cabling infrastructure, which does not incorporate the network management, hardware, software, and support components of our functions. IT currently has 18.5 positions.
Vi Richter assumes a new role for one year to teach computer science applications courses and to work with Susan Keeble in defining and expanding academic and student technology support and training.
Our work and staffing are organized in the following categories:
- Administration, projects and development
- Data and voice Networking
- Desktop systems
- Support services - Support Desk and Document Support
Regardless of the name, our mission is to support technology on campus. The telephone number for faculty and staff support is ext. 3693 and for students is ext. 3310.
New
Phone and VoiceMail Features
by
Tracey Lulek
Calling Party Privacy
Override
Last year you
may have been unable to place a call to a home or business that chose
to block calls not displaying caller id information. (The Academy does
not supply caller id information in order to protect the privacy of our
residential community.) As of August 29, 2000, Academy callers will have
the ability to override call blocking on a call-by-call basis. To override
call blocking once you have received an error message (such as "your call
could not be completed because the number you have called does not accept
blocked calls"): *82-5- and reenter the number.
Voice Mail Change
The voice mail system upgrade will not only automatically delete read
messages but also unread messages after a specified period of time:
- Students: after 10 days.
- Employee community: after 20 days.
This new setting should reduce storage capacity problems encountered previously.
Need
Voice Support?
Local Calls and
Voice Mail:
Faculty and Staff: ext. 3693. Students: ext. 3310.
Long Distance Calls
using a PSC*
Dial: 5 +
1 + 800-569-0554.
Please have the
following available:
1. Your service account number.
2. Your Personal Security Code (PSC).
3. Date and time problem occurred.
Desktop
Computer User Setups
If you are working from a different computer or have relocated to a new classroom this fall, please call the Support Desk (x3693) to schedule a user setup.
Academy Password
Criteria
In order to create a password that will allow you to log into all platforms
on campus (Mac, Windows, or Terminal), please choose a string between
six and eight characters, with at least one uppercase and one number (e.g.
Orange1, 59Ford, or Saab2000). For security reasons all users are
required to change their passwords every 120 days.
Network
Backup Process
The IT department performs backups on a regular basis. Below, you will find a description of our backup process.
Daily backup of file changes are copied to a separate drive at night and the actual backup takes place during the next working day. It runs in the background and does not affect the performance of the network.
The weekly backup process includes file changes as well as user profiles. It currently takes approximately 11 hours to complete and is scheduled over the weekend. Weekly backups are rotated every four weeks.
A year-end snapshot of all files is taken as of June 30 and is retained indefinitely.
When a file is deleted from your shared or home directory, it does not go to the Recycle bin on your "C" drive. The only way for you to retrieve it is to contact the support desk at which time our network staff will try to locate and retrieve the most recent copy of the file. In addition to the file name, we need to know the path and date the file was last seen. Please note that if the document was created the same day, and then deleted, it is not on our backup tape and the file cannot be retrieved. Also, files that are created and deleted after the backup rotation are not available to retrieve, i.e. files deleted more than a month previous to the date are no longer available.
Due to the media costs, IT does not keep the backup tapes outside of the above-described parameters.
Dialing
Instructions
These are instructions for students and faculty when placing calls from dormitories or Academy telephones in public areas.
- On Campus Calls: Dial the 4 digit extension number.
- Local Calls: Dial 5 + 7 digit number.
- Long Distance Calls Using AT&T PSC*: Dial 7 + PSC + 1 + area code + 7 digit number.
- International Calls using AT&T PSC*: Dial 7 + PSC + 011 + country code + city code (if needed) + local number.
- Toll Free Numbers: Dial 5 + 1 + 800 or 888 + toll free number.
- Operator Assisted Calls using a (Calling Card): Dial 5 + 1 + the 800 access number for the carrier of your choice.
- Long Distance Directory Assistance using an AT&T PSC*: Dial 7 + PSC + 1 + area code + 555-1212.
*Long Distance includes calls to the 50 United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. If you want to make calls to other countries you will need to specify that upon sign up for an account with AT&T.