Use of network services like electronic mail, Just the Facts, Employee Essentials and the Cornell Library Catalog is constantly growing on the Cornell campus. Some 36,000 people with network identities (NetIDs) use Cornell network services on a regular basis. To keep up with the demand for services, Cornell Information Technologies (CIT) has upgraded the computers that provide e-mail and directory services. The mainframe computer that supports the Library Catalog and information access services, such as Just the Facts and Employee Essentials, also was upgraded.
In the summer of 1996, CIT installed two new larger-capacity e-mail servers to replace five older servers. During the 1995-96 fiscal year, CIT e-mail servers handled approximately twice as many messages as they had the year before. By the end of the spring 1996 semester, 24,000 people were using CIT's e-mail service; that number does not include this fall's new students.
In another effort to increase capacity and improve performance, CIT replaced the Cornell.edu server. This machine is the storage site for Cornell's e-mail directory with its current load of 36,000 Net ID entries; it is also a major e-mail routing machine for incoming mail. Cornell.edu is heavily accessed by people at Cornell and all over the Internet trying to find friends and associates at Cornell.
"By replacing these servers with the latest technology, CIT is attempting to provide efficient service now and to plan for the future as well. For the last four years, we have been upgrading existing servers and adding more servers as needed. With new technology, we can reduce the number of servers and still increase the capacity," says Barbara Skoblick of the Office of Information Technology (OIT).
Since 1991, information technology at Cornell has been shifting away from time-shared mainframe computing (where everyone logged on to a big central computer) and toward a client/server-based system. CIT's e-mail service has been client/server-based since 1992. As part of Project 2000, Cornell's goal is to move applications that are critical to the running of the university into the more flexible client/server style of computing within the next five years.
Client/server systems use software running on desktop computers (clients) to access information stored on computers located somewhere on a network (servers), effectively sharing the workload between the client and a server. For example, you read and compose e-mail on your desktop machine, then send that mail to a post office server to be delivered. This is possible in part because desktop computers are much more powerful than they used to be and can thus share the workload.
Because the change from mainframe to client/server technology is gradual, Cornell's mainframe computer (CornellC) will continue to play a significant role in campus computing. Popular services like Just the Facts and Employee Essentials rely on the mainframe to provide access to information stored in administrative databases. Use of those services, as well as use of the Cornell Library Catalog, has been increasing steadily. In addition, CornellC currently houses core administrative systems including Human Resources, Student systems, Payroll, Purchasing and Facilities. CornellC was upgraded to a smaller and faster machine in December of 1995.
"Cornell will need CornellC for at least five more years," says Jim Doolittle, CIT's associate director of Network and Computer Systems Operations Support, "until all of the PeopleSoft systems [for Project 2000] are installed and all of the university's core systems and information access systems are moved to client/server computing.... With this mainframe upgrade, we are pleased that we can continue our high level of service to administrative system users."
Dave Lambert, vice president of Information Technologies, recognizes the importance of keeping up with the growth in use of technology in all areas newer services like e-mail and information access, as well as traditional mainframe-based administrative systems. Speaking of the computer and network infrastructure at Cornell, Lambert says, "What was once considered an asset for a small number of technical people is now crucial to everyone. CIT has redoubled its dedication to making sure that systems we provide to support both exploding new applications and growing traditional applications are reliable and available."
For academic year 1995-96:
·Cornell e-mail servers handled approximately 170 million messages.
·Just the Facts was accessed approximately 1,032,000 times.
·Employee Essentials was accessed approximately 39,000 times.
·Cornell Library Catalog was accessed approximately 282,000 times.
All of these numbers are expected to increase during the 1996-97 academic year.