Present: Arlene Allen, Debbie Anglin, Kevin Barron, Eric Brody, Glenn Davis, John Davis, John Doner, George Gregg, Gail Johnson, Laurice Kennel, Bill Koseluk, Elise Meyer, Alan Moses, Joan Murdoch, Deborah Scott, Jamie Sonsini, Bob Sugar, John Vasi
Not Present: Art Battson, Ken Bowers, Bill Doering, Chuck Haines, Phil Handley, Rick Johnson, Tom Lawton, Ed Mehlschau, Larry Murdock, Stan Nicholson, Kevin Schmidt, Vince Sefcik
BEG reported that the intrabuilding wiring group is working on the issue of standard port density. It was also noted that the memo on this topic to deans and department chairs had generated a couple of responses.
The CalREN-2 group reported that Music/CREATE and CS Multimedia are now connected. The group has produced a procedure for requesting ATM connections (from both campus and CENIC) and a recommendation regarding additional connections to CalREN-2 equipment that will be forwarded to the BEG. This subcommittee has now completed its work and disbanded. Guidance for the operation of the CalREN-2 backbone will be provided by the BEG.
Communications Services reported that the PRI circuits to support the new modem equipment will be delayed, probably until late summer, because no tariff exists for adding PRI circuits to Centrex implementations (which means we cannot use an 893-xxxx number). To keep the project moving a test PRI circuit has been installed with a number outside of Centrex.
It was noted that UCSB costs for ISP service in FY 99/00 are now estimated to be $116K . Other campuses are moving to charge housing units based on ISP bandwidth consumed.
The Security group indicated that the pool of candidates for the new position is small. Recruiting continues.
Auth/Dir noted that a source memo outlining the philosophy of distributed email address maintenance has been drafted. Costs for adding students to the directory were also investigated. We have paid for 11,000 entries to date. We will probably need an additional 15,000 entries to add all students and affiliated groups. Estimated costs for adding students are an additional $13,200 for the first year and an additional $2700 per year thereafter. Work is commencing on design of the schema for student entries and web applications for maintaining one’s directory entry are in development.
The Administrative Systems Integration group has renamed itself DECAF (Distributed Environment Common Application Framework). The group has defined its mission to include the proposal of a common framework for access to UCSB on-line resources, and the facilitation of system and data integration. In response to a question it was noted that there is a separate group championed by Donna Carpenter that is discussing the next steps for the Data Warehouse. It was suggested that staff from Accounting also be invited to participate in DECAF. Membership in this group will probably evolve as different issues come into focus.
The Wireless Scouting Party is working toward presenting a pair of reports this summer. One will address on-campus wireless network technology such as 802.11 and the other will target the cellular data services provided by our local carriers. The group has decided not to host vendor presentations at this time.
Not to be outdone by the CalREN-2 subcommittee, the OIT Transition Team has also completed its work and gone quiescent.
The proxy server continues to be tested by about a dozen faculty and by Library staff members. The complete list of sites to proxy has been installed and work is progressing on documentation. Passwords will continue to be loaded into the LDAP directory manually until the web apps for self-service roll out.
Bob reported that the Chancellor was poised to send a letter announcing the search for the OIT Director. The search for an Associate Director is proceeding. As Acting Director, Bob was asked to provide input to the budget process. Using the documentation previously provided by ITPG and ITB, he was able to list several explicit needs including NGB Phase II and additional network support staff.
Laurice Kennel attended the meeting to discuss software license issues. She reported the decision to renew the Symantec contract for the Norton virus scanner at $3.77 per machine. There have been no complaints about technical aspects of the Norton product. Laurice indicated, however, that a technical evaluation of alternatives should be scheduled for the end of this calendar year in order to be ready for the renewal cycle next year at this time. Evaluations need to be done continually as technologies and vulnerabilities change. In response to a question, she noted that TAS chose not to accept the NAI proposal. There was a spirited discussion on the need to find an alternative to "pass-the-hat" funding for items such as this, but no one stepped forward with a solution. The desire to include all students in the license complicates matters because passing the hat to them is not feasible and a ready source of funding has not emerged. Housing does, however, distribute the program to 2500 users of ResNet. Logistics of distribution might be an issue if students were included. Laurice will get a quote for including all students to discuss before the next renewal date. It was suggested that we compose some guidelines for software that might qualify for campus core funding. It was then decided to defer this discussion until the OIT is in place.
It was reported that VC (Webmaster) Wiemann agrees that a new committee should be formed to address the campus web presence.
Alan and Bill reported on discussions regarding recruiting and retention of IT staff at various meetings. Although much concern has been expressed, the overall response was likened to putting up a "Caution, Wet Floor" sign when the roof is leaking – it doesn’t help fix the real problem. Extrapolating from the relative number of students per staff member at UCSB compared to the ratio at other campuses suggests that UCSB has a $20M/year shortfall, of which perhaps $6.5M is related to IT staffing. Historical reasons, including our state school ancestry and our relatively few graduate students might be accurate, but are not satisfying to current staff who would like to see a more activist approach. HR is aware of the problem and quite willing to work on the issues under their control, although availability of funding to support increases is not one of them. It was suggested that, in light of demand data, we might recommend deferring the NGB and using funding that has been allocated to that project to increasing staff salaries. In response, others suggested that this is not a "zero-sum game" and indicated that we need to stay ahead of demand in campus network capability. It was felt, nevertheless, that with current staffing levels we will not be able to operate features of the NGB such as management of Access Control Lists (ACLs). It was noted that Gartner suggests outsourcing those things that are commodity-like in nature and which we don’t have staff to do. This technique, however, might cost more and, moreover, it is unwise to attempt to outsource project management.
Handouts on the requirements of Electronic Information Security Policy IS-3 and a rationale and overview of the PKI project were circulated. IS-3 calls for all campus systems to be categorized with respect to "criticality" and "privacy." An inventory of systems known to IS&C was included. Those who know of other systems that might be considered essential to campus operation should send items to Glenn Davis at IS&C.
A report on the PKI kickoff meeting with UCOP and Verisign was provided. In summary, the campus needs to appoint one or more "Certificate Policy Administrators" and "Certificate Registrars". The Certificate Policy Administrators are responsible for specifying local certificate enrollment procedures and web page contents, managing reporting, and enabling Certificate Registrars. The Certificate Registrars perform local certificate functions, including manual approvals and rejections, face-to-face authentications and revocations, and general management of day-to-day certificate operations.
The UCCSC, "Portal to the Future," will be held July 23 through July 26 on the UC Davis campus. Visit the conference website for details. Funding might be available to help defray travel costs for staff wishing to attend (contact Alan Moses).
The spread of "I-drive" around the UC system was noted. How I-drive might work with Thin Clients was pondered briefly.
An invitation to attend an Internet-2 workshop on tuning applications for the network was circulated.
The next Meeting of ITPG is planned for 10:00 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, June 7, 2000.
Back to ITPG Meeting Schedule
