Information Technology News

The latest news from the Office of Information Technology

You are here: Home / Archives for Lyle Wiedeman

Lyle Wiedeman

Register your Server

by

As the number and severity of security challenges continues to grow, NACS works hard to ensure that UCInet remains a useful, robust, and safe place to work. Towards that end, NACS now offers campus units the opportunity to block incoming network connections to their systems. Connections initiated from systems on your network will continue to work, so typical usage such as web browsing, email, instant messaging, and so forth, will be unaffected.

In order to support those services on your systems that do rely on incoming connections (such as web servers), NACS offers server registration. Using a simple form, you can identify which systems, and which services on those systems, need to be accessible from off-campus.

A number of departments are already using server registration in conjunction with inbound connection blocking in order to improve the security of their environments with great success. It is a good idea to begin using server registration, even if you are not yet contemplating inbound connection blocking. To learn more, or to get started, please visit:

http://www.nacs.uci.edu/network/servers/

More SmartClassrooms for Fall

by

UCI has for some years been engaged in a process of upgrading classrooms to make better (and easier) use of technology in instruction. Dubbed “Smart Classrooms,” these facilities include a PC, audio/video connections for faculty laptops, Internet access, video and overhead projectors, VHS and DVD players, and a touch-screen control system.

Smart Classrooms are a project of the Division of Undergraduate Education’s Classrooms and Computer Support, with assistance from NACS. UCI enjoys over 60 Smart Classrooms, and 13 new ones, many in ICS, were completed last summer. UCI’s goal is to have all general assignment classrooms upgraded by 2008.

To use the Smart Classroom, faculty must authenticate with their UCInetID and password. Faculty who activated their UCInetIDs many years ago are encouraged to call NACS to verify that their UCInetIDs can be used with the current version of the authentication system.

Once a faculty member has used one Smart Classroom, she or he will find the same interface in every other classroom. From the lectern, instructors can control the computer, the VCR and DVD players, the projectors, and even the room lights. Smart Classrooms can even be controlled by an associate by remote control over the Web.

More information on Smart Classrooms, including a current list of upgraded rooms can be found at the DUE-CCS web site:

http://www.classrooms.uci.edu/

Certified Installer Training

by

NACS hosted a free, hands-on training session on Molex Certified Installation Practices.

Mark Travers of Molex provided the Certified Installer training and Wayne Brushett of Beach Wire and Cable, Inc., arranged for the instructor, the training manuals, etc.

Class topics included: structured cabling systems for voice and data services, a standards update, and review of termination techniques.

Each participant, following the class, took a test to become a Molex Certified Installer.