Information Technology News Archive

1996 - 2017

You are here: Home / Archives for About NACS

About NACS

New NACS Staff

by

NACS now has a full-time Receptionist/ Dispatcher at our help desk, Sylvia Bass, who joined NACS in June. Sylvia previously worked for Wyland Galleries as Executive Assistant to Wyland. Her background is in Fine Arts, and she is experienced using various Macintosh software. She is very organized, enjoys interacting with people, and will facilitate timely and professional handling of requests. The next time you call us at us at extension 46116, join us in welcoming Sylvia to UCI.

Leonard Megliola

In July, Leonard Megliola joined the professional staff of NACS’ Academic Applications Group. Leonard graduated UCI in June with a BA in ICS having worked as a student employee in NACS during his undergraduate career. Part of that work included creation of Zot-Dispatch, a tool for processing information submitted via Web forms, which is used extensively at UCI and at places as far away as Australia, France, and Hong Kong.

As part of NACS’ support of the UCI Electronic Educational Environment, Leonard will help develop and support the broad use of new technologies. He recently joined others from NACS in a presentation at the UC Computing Services Conference on “Web Tools for Building an Electronic Educational Environment.”

Jan Vescera

In late July, Jan Vescera joined NACS’ Departmental and Distributed Computing Support group. Her principal responsibility will be to foster communications among the technical support staffs in the schools and with NACS, but she will also be taking the lead within NACS to work with software and hardware vendors of importance to UCI, managing site licenses, the Workstation Acquisition Service, product fairs, non-disclosures, and technical forums.

Jan joins NACS from the commercial world, where she has undertaken such projects as designing and implementing a technical support staff training and certification program, but has over 8 years’ experience at UC, working at various departments in UCLA. One of the most noteworthy projects from her tenure at UCLA was the creation and nurturing of their Multimedia Users’ Group which survives (and flourishes) still.

Summary of NACS’ Organizational Groups and Functions

by

This edition of NACS-News lists the organizational groups within NACS along with their function and staffing. Please feel free to send comments and questions to NACS@UCI.EDU or to any NACS manager; management e-mail addresses are provided below. This information is maintained in NACS’ Web page at URL http://www.nacs.uci.edu/org/groups.html .

NACS Core Services

Operate and manage NACS’ central computing services, facilities and help desk. Services include NACS’ instructional labs, Educational Access (EA) student UNIX cluster, E4E, the DCSLIB UNIX software library, the Convex scientific UNIX system, and the Orion UNIX service, among others.

  • Manager: Allen Schiano, Schiano@UCI.EDU
  • Staff: Dawn Bergan, Joseph Farran, Mike Iglesias, Carol Jackson, John Mangrich, Son Nguyen, Alex Odyniec, Steve Okura, John Ward.

NACS Departmental and Distributed Computing Support

Provide a variety of services to UCI users of computing distributed around the campus. Support local supporters, provide campus-wide technical coordination. Make available UNIX and network administration expertise on an annual contract basis. Provide specialized PC and Macintosh expertise on a recharge basis. Coordinate UCI-wide site and bulk software arrangements.

  • Manager: Lyle Wiedeman, Wiedeman@UCI.EDU
  • Staff: Domingos Begalli, Sinclair Fleming, Bob Hudack, Andrew Laurence, Dan Stromberg, Jim Surlow, Tri Tran, Minh Vo.

NACS Computer Operations

Staff and operate NACS’ central facilities. Oversee instructional labs and machine room. Act as central NACS computer and network trouble reporting center, 24 hours a day.

  • Manager: Ray Ravelo, RIRavelo@UCI.EDU
  • Staff: Evans Curtis, Steve Pickett, Alex Wu.

Core Services, Departmental and Distributed Computing Support, and Computer Operations report to Associate DirectorDana Roode .

 

 

NACS Academic Applications Group

Support faculty and the academic mission via cross-platform applications and technology. Promote instructional activities using World-Wide-Web and computer-mediated communications including the Electronic Educational Environment (EEE). Support high performance computing.

  • Director: Stephen Franklin, Franklin@UCI.EDU
  • Staff: Shohreh Bozorgmehri, Donald Frederick, Garrett Hildebrand, Leonard Megliola.

 

 

NACS Electronic Communication Services – Operations

Plan, implement, maintain, and support campus data and voice electronic communications network infrastructure. This includes the fiber optic data backbone, copper telephone cable, Ericsson telephone system, building routers, and repeaters/hubs. Provide remote access to UCInet via UCI’s modem pool; coordinate and manage campus radio services.

  • Manager: Brian Buckler, BBuckler@UCI.EDU
  • Staff: John Dalenta, Jeff Hunter, Jon Iliescu, Jack Lockhart, John Schaefer, Michael Scott, Mike Simon, Todd Strand, Rich VanBuskirk, Con Wieland.

NACS Electronic Communication Services – Network Programming

Maintain software systems in support of UCI’s network including the on-line directory information database (QI), Domain Name Service (DNS), UCInetIDs, electronic mail delivery services (MTA), and network protocol and routing support.

  • Manager: Brian Roode, BGRoode@UCI.EDU
  • Staff: Keith Chong, Dana Watanabe.

NACS Electronic Communication Services – Customer Services

Provide customer support for telephone and data installation, repair, and change requests. Provide campus telephone directory, general information and console operator services.

  • Manager: Theresa Barnes, TABarnes@UCI.EDU
  • Staff: Deborah Ahlheim, Dottie Baker, Gayle Bonham, Ella Twaite.

Electronic Communication Services Operations, Network Programming, and Customer Services report to Assistant DirectorDon McLaughlin, who reports to ECS Director Dave Tomcheck. Bruce Cotsonas serves as a special assistant to the ECS Director and Assistant Director.

 

 

NACS Business Services

Provide support to NACS management and staff for all standard University administrative needs. Provide guidance and advice in areas including finance, planning, policy and personnel. Support key NACS activities such as marketing, Site/Bulk software licensing, and the Workstation Acquisition Service (WAS).

  • Manager: Marie Perezcastaneda, MariePC@UCI.EDU
  • Staff: Kim Gerrard, Liza Krassner, David McCafferty, Kathy Tavares, Ashley Vikander.

Business Services reports to Associate Director for Business Services, Cathy McFarlane.

 

 

NACS Directors

Director: William H. Parker, WHParker@UCI.EDU
Associate Director: Dana Roode, DRoode@UCI.EDU

  • Stephen Franklin, Director of Academic Applications, Franklin@UCI.EDU
  • Cathy McFarlane, Associate Director for Business Services, CMcFarla@UCI.EDU
  • Don McLaughlin, Assistant Director – Electronic Communications Services, DMcLaugh@UCI.EDU
  • Dave Tomcheck, Director of Electronic Communications Services, Tomcheck@UCI.EDU

Computing and Communication Service Upgrades and Enhancements, 1995/1996

by

This issue of NACS-News summarizes some of the improvements in Network and Computing services NACS has made during the 1995/1996 academic year. The demand for communications and computing access continues to grow at a fast pace. NACS is tracking the increasing demand and is making critical improvements as resources allow.

UCI Network Backbone

In September 1995, NACS pulled and spliced a significant amount of new fiber-optic cable around the campus to expand UCI’s network backbone. At the same time, the backbone was reconfigured into five switched Ethernet subnets, cabled in a star configuration. These changes not only accommodate current growth in campus electronic communication demand, but also increase UCI’s flexibility in responding to demands anticipated in the next five years and beyond. (See the Web document http://www.nacs.uci.edu/communication/backbone-1995 for detailed information).

Modems

NACS increased the number of modems in the campus modem pool from 220 to 300 in September, 1995 as a part of our Dial-up Remote Access Plan. To improve modem performance including file transfer speed and character echoing, two additional terminal servers were added to those servicing the modem pools in April 1996. Terminal servers are specialized computers with communications electronics that connect the modems to UCI’s backbone network. Further performance improvements resulted from balancing the 308 modems and incoming calls among all five modem terminal servers.

As previously announced, NACS has stabilized the free modem pool at approximately 300 modems at 14.4 kilobytes per second. See the Web document http://www.nacs.uci.edu/communication/Modem_Action_Summary.html for detailed information about 1995 modem changes. Enhanced modem services are now available through commercial Internet Service Providers (ISPs); for more information, see the Web document http://www.nacs.uci.edu/communication under “Internet Service Providers”.

Network Services

UCI’s network is not all wires and data communications equipment, it also includes dedicated computers that service network requests such as hostname to address correlation, mail transfer, and user authentication. In September NACS upgraded the “cpl2” network server to new hardware with over ten times the performance of the old. In March of this year we added an additional Mail Transport Agent (MTA) system which is used to post mail sent via LISTSERV mailing lists. Earlier in 1995 we upgraded the campus USENET News server (news.service.uci.edu). These changes collectively reduce the time required for electronic mail delivery, network computer name lookups, USENET newsgroup access, user authentication and campus directory database access.

EA – Student Educational Access Service

Accounts on our EA (Educational Access) student computing servers have grown from about 3,000 just a few years ago to over 14,000 this year. To accommodate that growth, NACS added a fourth system to the cluster in the Fall of 1995, effectively increasing capacity by about a third. Further configuration enhancements were made in January when two systems were added to handle high-volume “operating system” tasks such as mail transfer and user authentication. We also increased overall EA disk storage space several times to accommodate the additional users and large electronic mail storage need.

Over the summer of 1995 we changed the way students receive their UCInetID network identifiers and EA computer accounts. Students no longer have to visit NACS labs during the day to get their IDs and get started, they can go to any location with computers connected to the campus network. Further, they now use the same ID and password for modem use and logging into the EA systems. This ID is also available to each student as an electronic mail address of the form ID@UCI.EDU.

E4E – Faculty and Staff Electronic Access Service

NACS’ E4E service provides electronic mail and other services for over 3,000 faculty and staff. To meet increased demand there, the E4E server was upgraded in January to a new SPARCserver 5 system, which has approximately three times the computing capacity of the previous system.

NACS Instructional Labs

This past year, we have made several improvements to our Instructional Computing labs and more are planned for the summer. Our classroom Macintosh lab in Engineering and Computing Trailer (ECT) 120 has a new server and has been reconfigured to greatly reduce the amount of time required for programs to load. New user requested software, including ClarisWorks, is now available as well. In the ECT 123 Pentium Classroom lab, we have increased memory and updated software. We plan to move our PC labs to a Windows-NT environment over the summer which will improve system reliability and provide a current software platform for campus use.

UNIX File Backups

NACS has provided a file backup service for campus UNIX computer systems for a number of years. This service frees research groups and departments from having to maintain their own file save schedules and tape archives. In late 1995, this service was migrated from a homegrown solution to a commercial file save product, greatly increasing the efficiency of running saves. This change allows us to keep up with increasing demands for saves without increasing fees and will allow us to offer additional save services in the future for MS-Window and Macintosh computers.

 

 

Your Feedback is Important

What did you think of the first three issues of NACS-News? What topics would you like us to cover in the future? Please e-mail comments and suggestions to our NACS@UCI.EDU address — include “nacs-news” in your subject line to facilitate processing.

NACS’ “Response Center” Help Desk

by

Welcome to the second issue of NACS-News, the Network & Academic Computing Services electronic newsletter. Below we describe our help desk, which serves as a central starting point in NACS for obtaining information and service. You may utilize the Help Desk by visiting Engineering Gateway E2130, calling (949) 824-6116, or by sending electronic mail to the address NACS@UCI.EDU.

The Help Desk is also known as the NACS Response Center and is a part of NACS’ Core Services group. It is located in Engineering Gateway E2130 and is open 8 AM to 5 PM daily except during weekends and holidays. In addition to providing computing assistance and information, software kits including the Macintosh and Windows Anteater Access Kits (MAAT and WAAT) are sold here along with print cards and a few other supplies. Two Apple digital cameras are available as well for loans up to a day in length to those needing illustrations for reports and Web pages. E2130 is also the place to come to resolve any issues with UCInetID’s and passwords.

In-Lab Consulting

Student consultants are available in NACS’ Engineering Gateway E1140 Computing Lab to assist those using NACS lab facilities. They provide help activating and using UCInetID’s, and help using electronic mail, information retrieval tools and other software. The consultants also facilitate access to high-quality monochrome and color printing and flat-bed document and image scanners.

Student consultants are available daily between 8 AM and 8 PM except weekends, holidays and when school is not in session. All UCI students, regardless of major or class enrollment, may use NACS lab facilities and consulting assistance for educational purposes.

NACS@UCI.EDU E-mail

The NACS@UCI.EDU electronic mail address provides an additional way to ask questions, report problems, and provide feedback to NACS. The address is staffed by a combination of student and career computing support staff with assistance from area specialists throughout NACS. Our goal is to provide an initial response to inquiries within one business day of receipt. Electronic mail is an excellent way to make non-urgent inquiries, especially those that require specialized or in-depth expertise.

What the Help Desk Does Not Do

The Help Desk does not generally assist with hardware and software purchases, issues requiring on-site visits or other longer-term matters. Our help with installation and configuration issues for home computer systems is limited to phone-support as time allows and to those following standards we communicate (the UCI Macintosh Anteater Access Kit based on MacSLIP, the UCI Windows Anteater Access Kit based on Trumpet Winsock). On-site PC and Mac support needs are best provided by local departmental staff.

Recent Improvements

We have recently gone to a “receptionist / dispatch” scheme at our help desk to make it easier to reach us, ensure that urgent matters are handled without delay, and improve overall service quality. Callers and visitors now interact with one or two trained receptionist-dispatchers who determine the most effective way to respond to their needs. We have also implemented a call tracking system to enable us to respond to requests in a timely manner and ensure each receives appropriate attention. The system tracks outstanding problems and will provide key information concerning help desk trends to accommodate continuing service refinement.

Supported Software and Services

Support for the following areas of expertise is offered by front-line Help Desk staff. Included is campus standard software, software of widespread use, and items of critical importance to the computing mission of UCI and NACS:

  • Operating environments: Microsoft Windows 3.1 (Windows 95 and NT support coming), Macintosh, basic UNIX
  • Network Applications: Telnet, FTP, Web browsers (Netscape, Lynx), Electronic mail (Eudora, Pine)
  • Other Network services: UCInetID network authentication, campus directory database, modem use with WAAT and MAAT packages, access to campus-wide information services, LISTSERV mailing lists
  • Productivity Applications: Microsoft Word and Excel
  • NACS Services: “EA” Student computing, “E4E” Faculty and Staff electronic mail, Orion UNIX service, Convex research computing service, NACS instructional labs

The Help Desk also provides limited access to specialized assistance in other software as expertise and staff time allow. Please direct your questions about other software to us via electronic mail to NACS@UCI.EDU.

Director’s Welcome

by

Welcome to the first mailing of “NACS-News”, the electronic newsletter of the Network & Academic Computing Services. Our goals for NACS-News are to regularly share important information about our services, organization and activities; and to share our observations about the rapidly changing environment of computing and electronic communication.

Two themes will most likely dominate campus discussion of computing and electronic communication during the next several months.

First, the distinction between computing and communication will become smaller every day. I am fond of saying that the box on our desk that was once called a computer is, in reality, a communication device. We use that box to communicate with each other through a variety of multimedia modes (today with text and graphics, and tomorrow with voice and video), and to interact with on-line data sources for research, educational and administrative purposes. These communication capabilities already are changing the way the university functions. Two years ago, few of us knew of the World Wide Web. Today most of us use a WWW browser as our primary tool for accessing electronic information; I suspect that most of us have little idea of what computing and communication tools we will be using two years from now.

Second, the campus is committed to the development of the Electronic Educational Environment. All universities are challenged today with the introduction of educational technology into the curriculum. At UCI this takes the form of improved electronic communication between and among faculty and students, and of access to information in electronic form. We will be challenged to provide an adequate number of access points and server/infrastructure capacity for our students, to provide training to thousands of new students in basic electronic communication and information retrieval skills, and to provide to our graduates the skills and wisdom to survive and prosper in the new information era. Another challenge will be to provide sufficient personnel both at the department level and within NACS to maintain the electronic educational environment.

In order not to overwhelm your already crowded electronic “in basket”, we will post to NACS-News no more frequently than once a week.

If you have any questions about NACS services or activities, please send an electronic mail message to our service address, nacs@uci.edu. You are also encouraged to contact myself, or Associate Director Dana Roode (DRoode@uci.edu), at any time, with issues of concern to you, or to share observations or recommendations concerning NACS services.

William Parker
Director, Network & Academic Computing Services
WHParker@uci.edu