Computer Infrastructure Committee Meeting Minutes

19 March, 2007

Present

                P.C. Cooper

                R.  Pack (stand-in for D.G. Hull)

                D.S.  Snowden

                A.J. Wellings

2007.1 Support Staff

PCC and DSS gave an overview of the staff under their supervision and their current duties.

 

2007.2 Current Upgrade Plans

In general there is a rolling plan for upgrades:

·          The network infrastructure: every 5 years

·          The Software Labs: every 3 years.

·          The Hardware Labs: every 4-5 years.

·          Staff PC: every 3 years (normally 1/3 done each year).

·          BoS Laptops: every 3-5 years.

 

The following summarises the upgrades that are currently in progress

  1. New File Server with DR facilities. This has now been delivered and is waiting installation.
  2. Upgrade to Student PCs in the Labs. A proposal has been sent to HoD for approval. The proposal is for the Hardware Support Staff to undertake the upgrades themselves as this has a significant cost saving.  AJW mentioned that it was important to keep track of the staff time during the upgrade so that this could be used in future to determine the cost effectiveness of in-house upgrades. PCC indicated that this would be done.  ACTION: PCC to chase HoD for approval.
  3. Some network switches in the Hardware Lab have been cause some problems and may need updating but the cost is minor (approx £2K).  A decision on this will be made in summer.
  4. The NX Servers have been installed and are operational for staff and student trial.
  5. The XEN cluster machines (used for system development) were used for the NX servers and consequently need replacement. A proposal has been submitted by PCC to HoD for this.  ACTION: PCC to send copy to AJW.

 

2007.3 Wish List for Complex X

 

The following summarises the discussion:

  1. The machine room spaced required in the new building is approx 80 sq.m and the power requirement is approximately 150KW. These figures exclude the White Rose Grid support. A loading bay 48 Rack Units high (7' high, or 214cm), is needed to directly access the room (so we can move racked equipment from the delivery truck to the computer room without tilting it)  
  2. Potential goals for infrastructure support in New Building

·          Gigabits network capacity to the Desktop. CAT 6. This has an implication for wiring and requires that each desktop must be no more that 90 metres from a switch. (Currently we run 100MB which has a 180 metres from switch requirement).

·          Video conferencing facilities at the desktop (along with Voice Over IP support). It was noted that one of the University’s IT Strategy Group was looking at campus facilities in this area. As well as useful for cutting down on travel (reduce carbon footprint), the facility potentially could be used to interview students to ensure interviewee is the same as on the application.

·          Secondary large scale LCD screen attached to each PC to facilitate in-office tutorials, meetings, video conferencing. This might be expensive.

·          Possibility Virtual Labs beyond that provided via NX servers. ACTION: AJW to talk to NCA.

·          Active Door Plates on BoS offices to provide information for students.

·          Student Laptops versus Thin Client Hardware in each study bedrooms.  The HoD is considering the merits of giving each student a laptop on entry. The goals being a) to attract students, and b) to reduce software lap equipment and hence facilitate a simpler move to the new building. Results from student questionnaires indicate that some students do not want to have to carry a laptop around with them all day.  An alternative might be to provide thin client hardware in all study bedrooms. However, students off campus would not benefit from this. ACTION: DSS to consider.

·          Tracking of high-value items. A mechanism whereby the position of expensive items of equipment could be tagged and tracked. Possibly with alarms being sounded if they are removed from the building.

·          Better positioning of software and hardware support office to facilitate better interaction.

·          A more adventurous department web site providing a virtual tour of the building and campus for applicants and parents. ACTION: AJW to send out the URL or a college in Chichester that supports such a virtual tour.

·          ACTION: AJW to send out some email to research group leaders asking for suggestions to improve infrastructure.

AOB

A brief discussion was held on the savings that could be obtained by merging the support staff with their counterparts in Electronics and merging the labs.  The following points were made

·          Our labs tend to be more or less in constant use during term time with many students making use of the facilities outside contact time.

·          To share labs might have impose severe timetable constraints between departments.

·          Sharing support staff might mean that, under peak load, work would have to be prioritised between Depts, this might cause tension.

·          DSS counterpart in Electronics seems to be unaware of the proposal, PCC’s counterpart was aware. ACTION: PCC and DSS to have a dialogue with their counterparts.

Date of Next Meeting

 

Week of  11-15 June 2007.