Strategic Plan (PDF)
Organization Chart with Members
Opinions about Intallation of Wireless Technology (Survey)
Introduction
Final Reports
1. Orienting Principles
2. IT Infra-structure
3. Technology Laboratories
4. Technology Classrooms
5. Faculty Office Computing
6. Admin. Computing
7. Campus Servers
Survey Results
Meeting Dates
Procedures for Implementation of College Policies
Application for Creation, Renovation, or Change of Information Technology Labs or Classrooms
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Campus Servers at Penn State Altoona
Strategic Planning Committee for Information Technology
For purposes of this policy, a server will be defined as any computing device that is used to provide shared access to a computational resource.
- All servers connected to the Penn State Altoona network are subject to the conditions of these policies. Failure to conform to these policies may result in the denial of access to the campus network.
- Any proposal to connect a server to the campus network must undergo review to assess (a) risk to the security of the campus network posed by the server, (b) the adequacy of the proposed administration and maintenance of the server, and (c) obligations of future support of the server implied by its development. There are many ways in which initial funding of a server may be achieved—one-time funds, as start-up funds for a new program, internal competitive grants, and external grants, for instance, and each requires a unique budgetary approval process. However, in order to connect to the campus network as a server—regardless of how the initial funding has been obtained—the proposal must be reviewed and approved by the Manager of Network and Administrative Systems in consultation with the Director of Academic Information Technology and other academic administrators.
- As implied by its very name, servers are intended to support the educational mission of the university. Therefore, the college should encourage the further development of servers—including specialized servers dedicated to the support of specific programs—when they meet the programmatic, budgetary, and security requirements of the college.
- The adequacy of a server tends to be evaluated in terms of storage capacity rather than speed. Consequently, the replacement cycle for a server also tends to be longer (7 to 8 years) than that associated with a desktop computer (3 to 4 years).
- The decision to develop a specialized server in support of a specific educational program should have its origins in the academic needs of the program. That is, the selected technology should be determined by the pedagogical needs of a degree program. As such, the decision to develop a specialized server should be expected to have its origins with the program faculty in consultation with the appropriate division head.
- Technology labs will all have a specialized server associated with them. Some labs may, in fact, consist of nothing but a server—the "virtual labs" discussed in Working Paper #3 reside entirely in a server. In some instances, these virtual labs will complement physical laboratory facilities (an example may in the future be found in biology or nursing) while in others the virtual lab will stand alone (an example is found in mathematics). As noted in Working Paper #3, the decision about whether a lab is real or virtual should reside with the program faculty's assessment of the pedagogical needs of the program in consultation with their division head. In the event of disagreements over the establishment of a lab (real or virtual), the "Division Head(s), in consultation with the program faculty and the academic administrators, will be responsible for making the decision" (Working Paper #3, point 4).
- In the consideration of the merits of development of a new server, the following issues should be addressed:
- Initial purchase cost. Are the proposed uses of the server worth the cost of purchase? Is the hardware/software sufficient and/or reasonable for its intended purpose?
- Maintenance cost. How often is it anticipated that some portion of the hardware will need to be replaced during the installed lifetime of the device? How often will the software need to be upgraded or replaced and how expensive is the typical upgrade to a new version?
- Replacement cost. How expensive will it be to replace the proposed server at the end of its lifetime? What is the proposed replacement cycle?
- Personnel. Who will have administrative control over the server? The server administrator must have system-level access to the software and hardware and must have the skills and authority to perform necessary housekeeping, maintenance, and security related functions.
- Security. Those proposing the development of a new server must demonstrate that the security concerns outlined in this working paper will be
satisfactorily addressed during the life of the server.
- Impact on other Resources. What impact will this server have upon other campus resources such as the campus network (in terms of increased network traffic), client software needs (such as purchasing of database client software to access a database hosted on the server) and personnel (someone to administer the server)?
- Content. If a webpage placed on a server is linked to
www.altoona.psu.edu, its content and presentation needs to be reviewed by the campus webmaster for consistency with college policy. If the server is intended to contain information about students, it must be consistent with the university's Policy on Confidentiality of Student Records found in Administrative Policy AD-11.
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Copyright © 2005 Penn State Altoona; All Rights Reserved
L.A. Wilson, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, Committee Chair
W110 Smith Building, 3000 Ivyside Park, Altoona, PA 16601
Phone: 814-949-5768; E-mail: LAW21@psu.edu
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