Survey

In what way would you most appreciate your efforts at work to be acknowledged?

Results from last issue's survey question: Do you regularly (at least once a week) backup your computer?

There were 36 responses: 27 replied "Yes" and 9 responded "No."

Staff Profile

Erich Snow

Erich Snow manages the Facilities Engineering group in Shared Communication Services.



How would you describe your current job responsibilities?

I manage the Facilities Engineering group. My group is responsible for the design, construction, and management of the wiring infrastructure for the University, Hospitals (SHC and LPCH), and Stanford Management Company (SMC). We also engineer the fiber circuit paths on and off campus. I manage the Capital Utility Projects (CUP) funds that reinforce/upgrade our backbone fiber, copper, and conduit systems. We also provide consulting services.

Which aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?

Working with all of the different and diverse groups both—within the University and outside—is enjoyable. We work with the University and hospital construction groups, clients of all kinds, general contractors, sub-contractors, architects, outside vendors, wiring contractors, and internal IT Services work groups. Also, being on the front end of all the construction going on at the University and hospitals is exciting because we see first-hand the physical changes happening to our community.

What did you do before you came to Stanford?

Before coming to Stanford I was a communications contractor working on projects and managing my company's Stanford account. Prior to getting into communications work, I was a psych major (never finished...) and worked here at Stanford in various positions ranging from hashing in the dorms, to delivering booze, to working with Grad students on Educational Psychology projects.

What do you like to do when you're not at work?

I have two passions: playing with our three year-old and riding mountain bikes. Until our son was born, I raced mountain bikes and plan to do so again this season or next. I actually like anything that is high speed, high energy, and pushes my limits. Both of my passions do that in completely different ways. 

What is your favorite movie, book, song?

My favorite movie would have to be M*A*S*H. I would say "Jamjamberry"...but it has been quite a while since I have had time to sit down to "read a good book." As for music, I love it all—and I do mean all. But my favorite would be anything Irish.

Staff Happenings

Teresa Janeway, or TJ as most of us know her, has decided to move on to a new opportunity in the Controller's Office as Director of Student Financial Services. In the years that TJ has been with IT Services, she has had many roles, including directing the Campus Card service, the Order Processing operation, and, most recently, the Promotion and Publicity unit.

Please join me in thanking TJ for her years of effort with the organization and wishing her well as she goes from being our enthusiastic co-worker to being our enthusiastic client.

- Jim Knox
Client Support; Documentation, Training, Licensing, and Promotion

I'm very pleased to announce that Jay Stamps has joined the Desktop Systems Group in Shared Application Services after many years of working in the CRC. Having attended Stanford as a student before becoming a staff member, Jay has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and understanding of Stanford's complex desktop computing environment. His knowledge and experience will help us further develop and realize our vision for a more manageable and secure desktop environment for the University.

Jay joins us in Polya Hall and will share an office with his Desktop Systems teammates, Tony Silveira and Jim Brown. Please join me in congratulating Jay and welcoming him to his new role.

- Barry Magsanay
Shared Application Services; Windows Systems

Anne Pinkowski has joined the Shared Application Services team as a Business Analyst, effective Monday, July 24th. Among other things, Anne will have responsibility for the Remedy, Infra, and Journyx applications. Anne has worked most recently at Harmonic Inc., where she was responsible for support of the Remedy application and server environments.

In addition to her technical skills, Anne has a Bachelors in Fine Arts from UCLA. Her found object sculpture has been exhibited in major U.S. cities, and she has been published in three art anthologies. If you haven't met Anne yet, please introduce yourself at Polya 261 and welcome her to Stanford.

- Bryan Wear
Shared Application Services; Application Support & Database Administration

Comings and Goings

The following people have joined Information Technology Services. Welcome!

  • David Macia (Mark Miyasaki, Networking Systems)
  • Matthew Cochran (Eric Cummings, Production Control Group)

its in bits welcomes more detailed employee news submissions from all staff. Please submit to itsinbits-submissions@lists.stanford.edu

Tech Express & Briefing

Tech Briefing: Mailman

IT Services is happy to present a new feature-packed mailing list service called Mailman to replace Majordomo. In addition to numerous new features including spam filtering, fully moderated lists, and list archiving with an integrated web interface, the Mailman package also delivers much better performance and reliability.

Turing Auditorium
Friday, August 4
2:00–3:30 p.m.
Tim Torgenrud and Kathleen Baker will be presenting.

The summer Tech Briefings schedule is light. Check the Tech Briefings home page for specials and last minute additions.

Technology Training Courses

Seats are still available for the following IT Services Technology Training class the week of August 14:

  • Access Level 2 (ITS-1712), Monday, August 14, 9:00–4:00, $275
  • IT Services Site Training (ITS-8301), Monday, August 14, 1:30–4:00, free
  • PowerPoint Level 2 (ITS-1323), Tuesday, August 15, 8:30–12:00, $150
  • Explore techport.stanford.edu Open Lab (ITS-0601), 1:30–4:30, free
  • Project Level 3 (ITS-2003), Wednesday, August 16, 9:00–4:00, $275
  • Using Email at Stanford (ITS-2100), Wednesday, August 16, 1:30–4:30, $100
  • Access Lite (ITS-1710), Thursday, August 17, 1:30–4:30, $150
  • Access Tips and Tricks (ITS-1714), Friday, August 18, 9:00–4:00, $275
  • FileMaker Pro Lite (ITS-1800), Friday, August 18, 9:00–12:00, $150

If you are interested in signing up for one or more of these classes, we advise you to register by Monday, August 7. Classes with low enrollments may be cancelled one week in advance.

Note: You can download a list or calendar view of summer quarter classes on the Tech Training Site. Click on the appropriate link near the top of the page.

More information on courses, registration, and training is available at the Technology Training Services site.

- Phyllis Olrich
Client Support; Technology Training Services

IT Employment Opportunities

There was one new job posting for IT Services this week.

Job ID #21346 posted 7/28/06: Computer Information Systems Analyst, 100% FTE, continuing position, Range 4P2, Kimberly Seidler, Manager.

The Computer Information Systems Analyst (CISA) provides contract (fee-for-service) desktop and local area network support to University departments. He/she also functions as a technical team member within CRC and will work closely with a Senior CISA Consultant/Team Lead or Computer Resource Associate on day-to-day work priorities.

To view the complete listings or to apply for a position, visit the StanfordJobs web site at: jobs.stanford.edu.

There are other open Information Technology positions at Stanford. To see what other opportunities exist on campus, link to the full list of all open IT positions at Stanford

Quote of the Week

"It is better to travel well than to arrive."

- Buddha

News

A Note From Bill...

Continuing on our discussion of changes in IT, I want to update you on some of the changes underway, and how they might affect IT Services.

Bob O’Leary and I did have a chance to sit down and discuss his leadership team’s new plan for Administrative Systems. The new organization will be refocusing on core technical skills and competencies, and less on the functional skills. While approximately eighty positions will be posted due to a significant change in responsibilities, there will be around a month’s time when only internal candidates are considered. There is no reduction whatsoever in the total head count. Bob has kindly agreed to come and speak to our Directors and Managers at a meeting this Thursday, August 3rd, so you will be able to discuss this further with them after that date.

In addition to these changes, both Administrative Systems and the Libraries will be posting positions for System Admins and DBAs. I have had open and productive discussions with Bob, and Lois Brooks from the Libraries, about their decision to perform this work in-house. The Libraries will actually increase some other services they have with us, so in their case they are re-balancing the types of services they need us to provide.

All in all, this affects about five or six positions in IT Services. I believe it is in these particular clients’ best interest to move these positions at this point in time. I also believe that in the long run, these services are best provided centrally; and that we, in some sense, lost this business because we were not delivering adequate service to our clients. Clearly, a top priority for IT Services in the coming year will be to improve System Admin and DBA services, and increase the efficiency while lowering costs. The Executive Directors will keep you informed as plans for doing this become more concrete. We need to address it with full vigor if we are to regain this business.

Finally, in news that is welcome to all of us, the Provost has chosen to fund the Departmental Firewalls service for the entire campus. This is an important step forward for improving IT security across Stanford University. It is also a vote of confidence in IT Services that we must now deliver. While this will increase staff, we need to ensure we deliver a service that while very lean, exceeds our clients’ expectations.

I look forward to these challenges and to the other key initiatives for next year. We will discuss these at next week’s Town Hall on Tuesday, August 8th.

- Bill Clebsch
IT Services

Stanford Software Update

The Stanford Software update does more than update software.

For almost ten years, PC-Leland and MacLeland have been a signature presence on computers across campus, providing authentication services, distributed file systems, mounting services, and more. Gradually, beginning with the August release of this year's Essential Stanford Software CD which for the most part goes only to new students, PC-Leland and MacLeland will be replaced with "Stanford Sign-on."

Stanford Sign-on has a new look and will be available on the Essential Stanford Software (ESS) web site around the middle of September. It brings us one step closer to making true "single sign-on" authentication, including user authentication to web-based services, a reality for desktop computer users at Stanford.

It will also be delivered through an entirely new application, Stanford Software Update. The Windows System Tray icon or Macintosh Dock icon will provide all of the functionality that PC-Leland and MacLeland once provided, such as a Kerberos status and ticket management graphical user interface, AFS file system mounting and AFS directory permissions controls, plus the novel functionality that gives it its name: it will keep Essential Stanford Software automatically updated on a user-specified schedule.

Stanford Software Update is now going through a period of intense development and testing as part of the Kerberos 4 to Kerberos 5 infrastructure migration project. Documentation and training materials for support technicians are in preparation, and will be published when the new software is released, along with instructions for end users.

Of course, Stanford Software Update can update itself as well as other ESS applications, so in its early days you can expect to see changes and improvements even as it becomes widely used.

- Jon Pilat and Jay Stamps
Kerberos 4 to 5 Project Team

Stanford Network Self-Registration

The Stanford Network Self-Registration (SNSR) service combines a web-based, self-registration process with a basic Health Check tool. The service is available to register new computers on SUNet for those who have a SUNet ID. 

The SNSR is provided as an opt-in service available on a per network and/or per department basis.  The Local Area Network Administrator (LNA) contacts IT Services’ Networking department to set up their network(s) for SNSR.

The SNSR service meets two major goals:

  • Providing more accurate information on registering computers,
  • Providing a basic level of “health check” to help minimize possible infection to other SUNet attached computing devices.

Any LNA who is interested in opting-in to SNSR for their network should visit the web site, and follow the links to contact IT Services Networking for further information and set-up details.

http://www.stanford.edu/services/selfreg/

- Steve Loving
Client Support; Project Management Office

WebEx Licenses Going Like Hotcakes

Our new flat-rate agreement to use the WebEx application is proving to be very popular. As of today, we have dispensed all 100 licenses that we have in our pool, and have an order for 50 more licenses pending.

The basics of the arrangement are simple; the WebEx product suite covered by the new flat-rate pricing agreement (200 attendee limit) consists of the Support Center, Meeting Center, Training Center, Event Center, and Sales Center.

A "Named Host" model is in place:

  • $38.50 per month per "named host" (Single named user, no shared accounts)
    • Note: Only "hosts" need a license; all attendees to any session/meeting do not need a license to participate.
  • No limit on the number of sessions, number of participants, session duration, etc.
  • Telephony supporting conference calls not included in flat-rate. Billed on actual usage.
  • We are investigating options for better telecommunication rates and comparing WebEx services to those of the Link Conference service (our current teleconferencing provider).

Online demos for interested users can easily be arranged using the tools. If you are interested in a demo of any of the products, or in obtaining a license or learning more, please contact us by submitting a HelpSU request.

- Chris Lundin and Lori Wisneski
Client Support; Help Desk Services

A Multimedia First

You may have seen the article in a recent Stanford Report, but did you know that the IT Services Streaming Media group assisted in the Digital Collection project? The Media Services staff of Bob Drewes, Joerg Pope, Jeff Bornstein, and Jennifer Clegg converted over 400 hours of Buckminister Fuller archival footage going back over more than 50 years of his life.

The Streaming Media staff encoded and converted the content into the Windows Media streaming format and then edited many hours for video quality and audio clarity. The staff was able to complete the project several days before the deadline of going live on the Internet. Currently, we are hosting all of the files on our streaming servers and the project manager at the library has reported to us that there has been strong interest from users who have streamed the files.

If you missed it, there's a full story about the first digital multimedia collection in the July 12 Stanford Report.

The R. Buckminster Fuller Digital Collection is available to registered users from the Stanford Libraries digital archive site.

- Jeff Bornstein
Shared Communication Services; Media Services

Service Naming Assistance

A couple of months ago, Joyce Dickerson, the director of our Project Management Office, raised an issue about how best to name the services and tools that IT Services provides. A few of the project teams her staff manages were concerned that the lack of process caused confusion and inconsistency in addressing this task. Joyce asked if this was something with which my group (particularly the documentation and promotion groups) might be able to assist. Teresa Janeway, Christopher Kittle, and Dave Ream volunteered to become knowledgeable about the organization's client-facing service names as well as any related University guidelines (e.g., acceptable use of the Stanford name) and try to help improve service naming.

It is not the intent of this group to come up with original names for all of the new services and tools IT Services provides. Rather, those most familiar with the service or tool would brainstorm and propose names. The "Naming Team" would counsel these individuals/teams as to whether the proposed names are consistent with the organization's and University's naming conventions. The final name is decided by those responsible for the service or tool, but must meet those naming conventions.

Given the recent creation of this team, its work to date has been mostly reactive. However, the sooner you think about service naming, the better. The team expects to become involved at a much earlier stage; perhaps at the time of proposal/charter creation.

Here are a few service names determined by project teams with assistance from the naming group:

  • Stanford Sign-on (for the Kerberos products that will replace MacLeland and PC-Leland)
  • Unix Computing Resources at Stanford (to replace Sweet Hall Clusters)
  • Stanford Network Self-Registration (to replace Host Self-Registration)

If you have any questions or comments about the Naming Team, please contact me.

- Jim Knox
Client Support; Documentation, Training, Licensing, and Promotion

MySQL

IT Services has announced the availability of a MySQL database hosting service for Stanford departments and groups. MySQL is an open source database product that can be used to link a database to your web site to build dynamic, data-driven pages.

This service offers automated database registration, a database management console, daily backups, and connections via secured SSL tunnel. More than 50 MySQL databases have already been created.

For complete information, visit the MySQL web site.

Many thanks to the following people whose contributions made the new service possible: Scotty Logan, Andrew May, Nan McKenna, and Hua Zheng.

- Susan Feng
Project Technical Lead; UNIX Systems and Applications

Fun in the Summer Sun

An IT Services summer picnic is in the works and you're invited to the fun. The good times are scheduled for Thursday, August 24th beginning at noon. More details will be available as we get closer to the date. Please mark your calendar now; don't miss out on the food and fun times.

- The Summer Picnic Planning Crew

IT Services Town Hall

The next Town Hall meeting is scheduled for August 8 at 10:30–12:00 in Tresidder Union. You should see this noted on your calendar. The agenda includes meeting new staff, announcing Quarterly Exceptional recipients, a review of FY07 priorities and expected initiatives, as well as time for questions and answers. The room will be open at 10, so you can come early to get a seat, grab your refreshments, and chat with friends.

- Nancy Ware
Planning, Metrics, and Communication

About its in bits

A regular summary of IT business, news about personnel, and pointers to other information of interest to IT Services staff. Coordinated, compiled, and published by the Communication Strategy and Standards Team. its in bits is published on the first and third Wednesday of the month.

Submissions are due by Noon on the Friday before the scheduled issue, to itsinbits-submissions@lists.stanford.edu for consideration. its in bits is distributed via email to its-all-staff@lists.stanford.edu and the new subscription list itsinbits-subscribers@lists.stanford.edu. People outside of IT Services can self-subscribe via majordomo.

The next its in bits will be published on Wednesday, August 16, 2006