Novell the new rage

Having to log on and off the network when printing, as well as having the privilege of two 24 hour computer labs, Biggs Commons and Harvey House, are only two of the extensive upgrades and enhancements which were completed over the summer by the Center for Information Technology.

Further improving resources and technology, the College purchased 70 new iMacs, upgraded four out of five servers from Netware 4.11 to version 5.0, and created a Location for On-Campus Keeping of Electronic Resources space on the Novell servers for student and faculty use.

Cynthia Murnan, Director of Client Services at CIT, said, "[the upgrade to Netware 5.0 was necessary to] provide more and better service, and because the old version of Netware wasn't Y2Kcompliant. It is a more capable operating system."

Not all five servers were upgraded, however, because Macintosh systems don't use the same protocols as Netware. The remaining server will be upgraded over fall break, allowing enough time to ensure that anyone currently still using Appletalk is able to install and use Netware Client 5.12.

Additionally, the registration process, which provides students with their own internet addresses, has been automated on the web. So far, over 1200 students have successfully completed the process.

Even though so many students are registered, they are still unaware of the resources which the upgraded server provides. The LOCKERs, for example, offer 20 megabytes of space for student use, just under half of the 50 megabytes allotted to professors.

"I think we will see it more widely used as people become more aware of the location," Murnan said of the space on the network which wasn't offered last year.

As well as having an individual space on the network, students can also download software from www.oberlin.edu/cit/download.

"We've made a lot of common software; Mulberry, virus protection for Windows and Macintosh, and other internet utilities available on the web," said Chester Andrews, also of the CIT.

Still, people seem to be inconvenienced by the fact that one must log on to the network on both the Macintosh and when using Windows. If a user is not logged on, then files are not able to print. This confusion may not only prevent a document from printing, but may prompt notification from the computing center.

Because CIT is tracking the number of pages each student prints, due to increasing use and abuse of the printers, they are tallying how much paper the individual uses. If this is excessive, CIT will notify the student. When someone doesn't log out, he/she is likely to have others printing pages on his account.

Eventually, CIT may need to start charging if paper is continued to be used excessively. However, a full year's worth of data will be examined before any decisions are made.

"We used to, we don't want to, but we have to get a handle on the volume we're printing," Murnan said.

It's not solely the systems which have been updated. Over the summer, the wiring in Rice was re-done. The thin-net wiring of the eighties and early nineties was replaced with twisted pair or 10 base T wiring. This is to prevent one error on a single computer from affecting the others on the same circuit.

Now, the only area on campus with the old style wiring is a small section of Wright Hall. But this will be fixed with the creation of the new science building. Other projects are scheduled, but with technology changing so fast, it's hard to say what will happen. After Fall Break, faculty will be required to log on to the systems in their offices because of Netware. Winter term will be focused on the upgrading of software.

Murnan points out that technology is always changing, and therefore the College must as well. She said, "We're on a constant look-out there in the community to see where we need to go. We keep striving to keep abreast of new technology."