INSIDE

From Dave’s Desk
by Dr. David Schmidt, Director

Many speak of "Internet time" referring to the rapid pace of change occasioned by the Internet. For many of us the Internet is anything but fast, and so we welcome anything that will provide additional speed. A main component of speed is bandwidth. I want to address several kinds of bandwidth issues in this brief column.

DSL provides additional bandwidth for homes and small businesses here in Hays and other surrounding towns. This has the potential for providing a significant increase in speed and availability for users.

On campus, new Ethernet hubs will increase the available bandwidth to every desktop in academic buildings. This should increase the responsiveness of Lotus Notes and help with new applications such as video on demand.

Mp3 music files are a blessing and a curse - a blessing for those wanting to download specific songs over the Internet, and a curse for those trying to protect the bandwidth of Internet access.
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DSL Prospects

Early reports from DSL users have been positive. We are watching the use of DSL as possible solutions for the Sternberg Museum and for the SBDC. We have had mixed results using a cable modem solution at the SBDC, and we will test a Lotus Notes client over DSL at the first opportunity.

DSL is nice because it is like being on the Ethernet; it is always on. It uses a network card, not a modem, in a PC to connect to the DSL network. It does not have the speed of standard Ethernet, but it is considerably faster than typical modem speeds, up to 25 times faster than a 56 K modem, up to 1.544 Kbps (downstream). To put this in perspective, the 1.544 Kbps speed is equivalent to a T1 connection; the University currently has 2 T1's to serve the whole campus community.

The bandwidth that an individual receives at any given locality depends on the distance from the central office (not to exceed 3 miles) and the condition of the copper lines. Living in Great Bend where the prospects for DSL are bleak, I have twinges of envy towards those of you who have access to DSL.
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New Ethernet Hubs

Dan Pfeifer, Coordinator of Data Communications, has worked hard at identifying a good solution for upgrading the Ethernet hubs across campus. Since this project was funded by an Action Plan, all academic buildings will receive new hubs over the Summer.

Dan and Andrew Fleming reviewed proposals from Cisco and Cabletron, and the Cabletron chassis-based solution provides the best overall combination of cost-effective features. The new hubs will provide switched (dedicated) 10 MB to the desktop and switched 100 MB to servers across campus.

This means that instead of PCs and servers sharing 10 MG, each PC will have at least 10 MB of dedicated bandwidth. The backbone will support trunked 100 MB, meaning that it can be increased by increments as needed and increased to gigabit speeds as necessary. The analysis of current requirements at the desktop indicates that dedicated 10 MB should be adequate. When new technologies require 100 MB to the desktop or permit 100 MB speeds over category 3 wiring, these hubs can be modified to respond to those requirements and advances.

The newest generation chassis from Cabletron (just out this month) allows us to have more 10/100 MG ports in a smaller space, and it provides a lot of management options.

CTELT is purchasing a server that will provide video on demand. Video on demand will be delivered from this server over the network to PCs across campus. The video stream requires dedicated bandwidth because the server will continuously deliver video packets across the network.

The Cabletron solution allows the network administrator to provision bandwidth across the network to provide quality of service so that the video remains smooth (and not choppy because of dropped packets). It also permits filtering for various types of network traffic, including MP3 (see in a later article in this newsletter).
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Security

Because the new hubs provide switched 10 MG (or 100 MG) to the desktop and servers, the packets are going directly from the desktop to the hub as opposed to traversing the network in a building or across the campus.

When Ethernet was implemented initially, the packets sent from one PC would travel across the whole network because it was a shared architecture. This meant that every packet went across the cabling to each PC. This design means that the network was slower than switched networks, and it also has some security risks. If someone had the right kind of (packet sniffing) software, the transmissions could be intercepted. The security risk was lessened somewhat when Dan segmented the network so that much of the Ethernet traffic stayed local to a building; it was a shared network in a building.

With the switched network, the risk is much less because the communications are direct and non-shared. The packet sniffers do not have access to traffic from other PCs. This helps us to keep the information contained in Lotus Notes forms, E-mail, and access passwords relatively secure.
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Paging

We have had problems in the past with knowing when Lotus Notes is down over the weekend or late at night (see Big Brother is Watching article in another part of this newsletter). Mark Griffin periodically checks on Notes on nights and weekends, but periodic checks inevitably lead to some down time.

Fortunately, paging software has been implemented that will automatically page the UNIX support personnel when an application or application utility is down. This will help us minimize down time for Notes, the web server, the DNS server, and other servers and server software.
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MP3

Developers want to create the next killer application, the software that everyone will want. Somewhat unexpectedly Mp3 may be the killer "ap" that may change how an industry functions.

Mp3 is a way of encoding music that compresses the amount of disk space required. The Internet provides vast resources for finding music in the Mp3 format.

Essentially, a person finds the song desired on the web, downloads it, and then plays it on the computer (or a hand held Mp3 player marketed by a variety of companies). If the user has a way to transfer the file to CD-ROM, it can be stored there. To play it back, one has to download player software; software freely available on the web. One internet site, www.napster.com has become famous or infamous for making it easy to locate, download, and play the Mp3 files.

Mp3 (and Napster) is controversial in several ways. Some users download copyrighted music bypassing royalties that usually go to the producers and the artists. Some users copy music published on CDs to the Mp3 format and make it available on the web. Many universities are also experiencing network congestion since Mp3 has become available.

Downloading large Mp3 files makes it a bandwidth hog. When students tell Napster they want to download a number of songs, they can go off to lunch and the program automatically downloads the files.

Unfortunately these downloads put a severe strain on shared campus resources, in particular the two T1s that provide access to the Internet. K-State networking staff estimate that the Napster traffic consumes roughly 2.5 T1s of Internet bandwidth at KSU.

When the Napster traffic is heavy, other users trying to access Internet sites find it hard to get to the sites that they wish to contact. I suspect that most Napster users do not know the burden this puts on the campus network.

Universities have tried a variety of schemes to minimize this traffic. We expect the new Ethernet hubs and network management software will increase our capabilities to control this kind of traffic and to protect the bandwidth needs of all users.

Since this is our last newsletter before summer, we at the CTC wish you well at the end of another school term, and we trust that the summer months will provide time for renewal. We wish each of you a happy and safe summer.
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Newcomer to CTC

We are pleased that Andrew Fleming has accepted an Unix - Networking position at the CTC. Andrew will graduate from FHSU in May with a B.B.A. in CIS.

As a student, he worked at the HelpDesk and with the UNIX servers. Since the University has funded an Action Plan to update the network hubs in every academic building, we are pleased that he is on board to help with that project.

Also, he will assist in changing the naming convention for student E-mail accounts to names that resemble students' real names (for example, ableiker@scatcat.fhsu.edu) for the fall semester. Andrew works in both the UNIX and the networking areas.

It is not yet known how long he will continue his role as the FHSU tiger at ball games.
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Big Brother is Watching
by Mark Griffin, Unix Network Administrator

Due to the demands for a higher level of service, a new monitoring system has been installed. The software is appropriately named "Big Brother". This system will watch various servers for potential and actual problems. Depending on the severity of the problem, either an E-mail will be sent to the appropriate system administrator or a system administrator will be automatically paged by the system.

We expect Big Brother will drastically reduce system down times, due to the instant notification of system problems. In the past, the CTC relied heavily on notifications from the users to detect problems. This worked fine during regular work time hours, but problems occurring at night or on weekends often went undetected for several hours.

The systems that are currently being monitored by Big Brother are tiger.fhsu.edu (Lotus Notes Server), bigcat.fhsu.edu (FHSU Web Server), scatcat.fhsu.edu (Student email Server), and alleycat.fhsu.edu (Dialup Authentication Server).
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Information Center News
by Jane Rajewski, Info Center Mgr

CTC Computer Lab Hours Changes

In order to provide more time for students to finish their class projects, research papers, and homework, we have extended the hours for computer lab usage. End-of-semester and summer hours for the CTC Tomanek Hall Computer Labs (TH123, 125, & 127) are as follows:

(Effective May 1 through May 9, 2000)
Mon - Thurs 8am - 11pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
Saturday 1pm - 5pm
Sunday 3pm - 11pm

(Effective May 10 through June 5, 2000*)
Mon - Thurs 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 12noon
Weekends CLOSED
*Note: Friday, May 12, labs are open 8-5pm

(Effective June 6 through July 28, 2000)
Mon - Thurs 8am - 8pm
Friday 8am - 12noon
Weekends CLOSED
July 4th CLOSED

As always, if you have questions, feedback, comments or suggestions regarding our labs, please let us know. For more information about our services, visit our web site http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/labs/ or stop by TH127 (next to the elevator).
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CTC HelpDesk News
by Nancy Geier, CTC HelpDesk Supervisor

CTC HelpDesk Hours

Please take note of the special hours that will be in effect after the Spring 2000 semester ends.

End-of-Semester Hours
(Effective May 1 - May 9, 2000)
Mon - Thurs 8am - 11pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
Saturday CLOSED
Sunday 7pm - 11pm

Semester Interim Hours
(Effective May 10 - June 5, 2000)
Mon - Thurs 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 12noon
Weekends CLOSED

Summer Semester Hours
(Effective June 6 - July 28, 2000)
Mon - Thurs 8am - 8pm
Friday 8am - 12noon
Weekends CLOSED
July 4th CLOSED

For more information, visit our web site at http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/helpdesk/. You may also contact the CTC HelpDesk by calling (785) 628-5276 or by sending E-mail to helpdesk@fhsu.edu.

Office hours are subject to change. They are posted outside our office (TH113) and may be viewed from our home page at http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/helpdesk/.
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Continued Growth Leads to Installation of Additional Modems

On 2/21/00, 48 additional Internet Dial-Up Modems were placed into service, bringing the total available to 189. Over 1000 of our 1700+ dial-up customers now connect through our service each day. Many people are achieving connection speeds in the 45K to 50K range. Please note that using a 56K modem does not guarantee a 56K connection. Many factors, including the quality of the telephone lines, affect the final connection speed achieved.

Although additional modems have been added on several occasions to increase capacity, we do still experience some times when all modems are in use. Thus, here's another opportunity for our standard public service announcement: Because the dial-up system is a shared resource, please remember to be courteous and disconnect when you are finished using your connection so that another user may dial in - Thanks! We are continuing to plan ahead for the installation and activation of additional modems, as needed, in the future.

A nice feature now available is a web site providing hourly dial-up activity statistics. The site displays the minimum, maximum, and average number of connections that occur during each hour. To view the statistics page, go to http://www2.fhsu.edu/dialup.

As always, we welcome feedback from our customers. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to call, stop by, or complete our online survey at http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/helpdesk/.
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Responsible Use of Your Internet Dial-Up Account

The Fort Hays State University Internet dial-up service is a heavily used system. Computing and Telecommunication Center staff closely monitor dial-up activity as one of our efforts to improve efficiency of its use. The Fort Hays State University Ethical Use of Computing Resources Policy, which prohibits excessive inefficient use of limited shared resources, governs use of the dial-up system. A copy of the policy is included in your account packet.

The Internet dial-up system is a shared resource; the number of modems available limits the number of users who can connect simultaneously. Remaining connected to a modem when the connection is not actively being used may prohibit others from being able to gain access. The dial-up system is provided to the University community for the primary purpose of supporting the FHSU's educational mission. Internet access has become an essential element of the education process; therefore, inefficient use can lead to unnecessary expansion costs.

The following actions are requested of you to help reduce inefficient dial-up system use:

* Always disconnect from the dial-up system when your connection is not being actively used. Note that simply closing your E-mail or browser software usually does not automatically disconnect the dial-up connection. For most computer systems, the setup instructions included in your packet give complete details on how to disconnect. If your setup instructions do not include a section on how to disconnect or if further assistance is needed, please contact us.

* If you believe someone else may be using your account, come to the CTC HelpDesk (Tomanek Hall 113) with a photo ID and we will issue a new password for you. You can be held legally responsible for any Internet activity that occurs while your account name and password are in use. If more than one person uses your computer for Internet dial-up access, each person should apply for his or her own Internet dial-up account.

* If a program that causes automatic redialing is in use, we strongly recommend disabling it. We strongly discourage automatic checks for E-mail because each time a request is sent to check mail, valuable server resources are used and response time is reduced. If it is absolutely necessary to use this option, please set it to check for mail only once every 30 or 60 minutes and to disconnect when it is finished.

For assistance with implementing any of the actions listed above or for more information, contact the CTC HelpDesk, Tomanek Hall, Room 113, at (785) 628-5276.

Thank you... for doing your part to assist us in providing efficient and affordable Internet service!

Where to Find E-mail Addresses

Student, faculty, and staff E-mail addresses can be found by using FHSU's E-mail address search page at http://www.fhsu.edu/esearch/. This search page can also be found by clicking on the "Search FHSU" link from the FHSU Home Page (http://www.fhsu.edu).

Note: All students are automatically provided with an E-mail account upon enrollment at FHSU.
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Expiration Date for Student Spring Semester Dial-Up Accounts

In the past, the expiration date for student Internet Dial-Up Accounts for the spring semester was set one week following the end of finals week. This made it necessary for those students completing course work or using the Internet for other FHSU-related purposes to reapply for access during the interim period between spring and summer.

To alleviate this problem, the expiration date for Spring 2000 student Internet Dial-Up Accounts has been set for June 6, 2000 (the first day of summer classes).

All students who wish to have Internet dial-up access during the summer semester must complete payment for summer classes and then come to the CTC HelpDesk (Tomanek Hall, Room 113) to complete a new application for a summer account. A new application is required for all students once each academic year, beginning with the summer semester. This gives us an opportunity to obtain current customer information and to provide updated materials and information for the students.

Any student who will not be enrolled for the summer but needs Internet access for FHSU-related purposes, must come to the HelpDesk to pick up a Special Account Request form. Complete details regarding the Special Account Policy for students are available at: http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/helpdesk/specialacct.htm.

Please note: Faculty and staff accounts do not need to be renewed.

For more information about CTC HelpDesk services, visit our web site at http://www.fhsu.edu/ctc/helpdesk/. You may also contact us by calling (785) 628-5276 or by sending E-mail to helpdesk@fhsu.edu.
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Lotus Notes Hint
by Viv Zimmerman, User Services

Bulleted or Numbered Lists

Your notes can be made easier to read and look more professional by using bullets or numbers when listing items. Either way is acceptable. To create a bulleted or numbered list, do the following:

• Your cursor must be in a Rich Text field [red brackets].
• Select the text where you want the bullets or numbers to begin.
• Choose Text - Bullets or use the Text Bullets smart icon OR choose Text - Numbers or use the Text - Numbers smart icon.

Where Do I Get LN Help??

If you encounter a problem when using Lotus Notes and you still need assistance after you have checked your training manual, the Lotus Notes 4.5 for Dummies book, and/or the LN on-line Help, call the CTC HelpDesk at 5276.

One of the staff will help you and if they cannot take care of the problem, your call will be routed to the appropriate CTC staff member.

Procedure for Using QWS3270 on Windows on Ethernet

If it's been awhile since you last logged onto CICS or you are having problems logging on, please follow the steps below.

Logon CICS:

* From theWindows Menu, double click on the QWS3270 icon.
* See the FHSU screen.
* Tab to the Command line - do not enter the USERID or PASSWORD on this screen.
* Enter mis in lower case on the Command line.
* See the Multiterm Menu.
* Enter 3 at selection.
* Enter your CICS Name (last name space first initial) and Password; leave the Language field blank. NOTE: If the Name and Password prompt do not appear, press the CLEAR key (the plus key (+) on the number keypad) and then key in cssn and press ENTER. The Name and Password prompt should appear. Continue with the logon procedure.
* See the FHSU CICS Menu. You may work with whatever system(s) you have security for, usually: Student - register students or look up advisee information, Course - view your rosters, enter grades, or view other course information, and/or Transcript - view your advisees transcript information

Print a Screen:

If you need to print a screen, for example, a student registration screen, do the following:

* Click on Host.
* Choose Print Screen.
* Remember, you MUST be connected to a printer in order to print!

Logoff everything and disconnect:

* Return to Multiterm Menu by holding down the ALT key and pressing F1.
* Enter 4 at selection to Logoff all Sessions - the Multiterm Menu will still display after you press Enter.
* Click on the X in the upper right corner or click Host and select Close.
* See message Do you really want to close your Telnet session? Click on OK .
* Click on Start in the lower left corner and choose Shutdown.
* A box is already pre-selected for you to Shut down the computer. Click on Yes.
* Wait while your computer shuts down properly. When you see the message It is now safe to turn off your computer, you may shut off your computer. Do NOT shut off the computer before you get this message.

If you need assistance with this or have questions, contact Viv (vzimmerm@fhsu.edu) at 4031 or Jane (jrajewsk@fhsu.edu) at 5819.

End of Semester Acct Maintenance

With the end of the semester rapidly approaching, it is important that you notify Viv Zimmerman at vzimmerm@fhsu.edu when faculty, staff, or student employees terminate employment with your office so that we can remove their IDs and update our group mailing lists and security tables.

It is imperative that all security is removed for those who no longer work in your office.
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In the Spotlight...

In this issue of the CTC Newsletter, we'd like to feature Dan Pfeifer, Coordinator of Data Communications, at the CTC.

Dan has worked at the CTC for about 13 years. His principal job has been to deploy and manage the University's computer network infrastructure. Dan points out that he has not accomplished this task alone -- all of his fellow employees at the CTC have been participants in the networking of computers.

Over time, the network has reached out from the campus to the Internet and even to student and faculty homes with the installation of the dial-up system and the networking of the Residence Halls. Since he has been here, computer networking has gone through two distinct phases and is embarking on a third phase with a major upgrade to the campus Ethernet starting with the academic buildings this year.

Dan attended high school at St. Joseph's Military Academy (predecessor to Thomas More Prep). He attended FHSU for two years following his high school graduation and completed his undergraduate studies at Kansas State University with a B.S.E.E. degree. Throughout his life he has continued his education by undertaking formal course work in business studies and religious studies and independent study as his job careers have required it.

Besides raising a family and religion teaching, he has had three distinct job careers, so far. After receiving his undergraduate degree, he worked as an Electronics Design Engineer in the defense and aerospace industry for fourteen years. He returned to Ellis County to farm full-time for fifteen years and still continues to farm but on a much-reduced scale. He maintains a small cow-calf herd. In mid-summer of 1987, he began his employment at the CTC.

Dan considers Hays his hometown. He has lived in Ellis county two-thirds of his life. He and his wife Emily have been happily married for forty years and have five children and sixteen grandchildren.

Dan doesn't have any favorite web sites. He uses the Internet principally in his job function for information provided by vendor web sites. Beyond that, while eating his lunch, he connects up with abcnews.com and cbsmarketwatch.com to keep himself abreast of current news.

He enjoys his work at the CTC because the people and the technology and the interaction of the two are challenging and stimulating. Of course, some of the tasks are wearying and monotonous; he thinks that goes with any job but the gratefulness shown by students and faculty when he helps them with a problem overcomes all this.