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June 2006 Update

In This Update


New Service Provides Wireless Access for UW Visitors

Visitors can now get short-term access to the UW's wireless network through a new service offered by C&C. A UW employee can go online and assign a "temporary UW NetID" for a short time (one day to three months) to, for example, a visiting professor, a person taking a UW seminar, or a vendor giving a demonstration. Group temporary UW NetIDs, valid for one week or less, could be appropriate for those attending a conference or meeting at the UW.

More information and forms necessary to request a temporary UW NetID are available on the Web at http://www.washington.edu/computing/wireless/tempid.html


Student Retention Data Project Collaboration

A new project aimed at giving schools and colleges better access to student retention data is underway. The effort is an outgrowth of the IT Resource Sharing Group's work and a collaboration between UW schools and colleges, the Graduate School, Office of the Registrar, and C&C's Enterprise Data Warehouse team.

A key goal of the project is to allow schools and colleges to directly query UW retention and recruitment data. The initial work will focus on meeting the needs for the upcoming National Research Council Assessment of Doctoral Program. A long-term goal is to increase the integrity and availability of central student data that schools and colleges can access through the Enterprise Data Warehouse, thereby reducing the need for local shadow systems.


Future of Information Systems: Task Force Interim Report Out

The interim report of the Future of Information Systems Task Force was released May 9 and is available online. The task force, set up by Provost Phyllis Wise in March and chaired by Information School Chair Emeritus and Professor Michael Eisenberg, was charged to examine UW's current and future information technology needs. These preliminary findings and recommendations will be finalized this fall after the UW community responds.

To read the report, please go to http://depts.washington.edu/isfuture/report.shtml


New Project Strengthens Support for Departmental Windows Users

UW units will be able to use centrally managed UW NetIDs and passwords to log in to departmental Windows computers and services under a new project launched by C&C. The project will design and deploy a university-wide Microsoft Windows infrastructure. The project is a direct result of discussion at the Computing Directors group last year. The first phase is expected to be complete in time for Autumn Quarter 2006. A Web blog that can be accessed at the site below provides information about issues as work progresses and the opportunity to comment on the project.

For details, see http://www.washington.edu/computing/support/windows/UWdomains/central_domain.html


Vacation and Other Enhancements in Email Delivery Manager

The Web interface that lets you manage your UW Email vacation service, junk email filtering, and personal email filters, known as the Email Delivery Manager, soon will have increased functionality. Two key enhancements will be the ability to:

  • Preset a time to turn your vacation message off when you turn it on
  • Use expanded options in your personal email filter that allow you to filter your email based on words found in the body of the message or on message size

The new version will be available in early July. To use the Email Delivery Manager, go to https://uwnetid.washington.edu/manage/


UW Seattle Wireless Initiative: Phase II

Phase I of the UW Wireless Initiative for UW Seattle has to-date enabled wireless access in:

  • 24 UW Seattle buildings, including 7 departmental/branch libraries and more than 240 general assignment and departmental classrooms
  • 2 public spaces: the HUB lawn and the Quad

Phase II officially begins July 1, but work in a number of spaces has already begun, with 7 Phase II sites already completed.

For a list of areas in Phase II and to see a map showing how wireless is growing, see http://www.washington.edu/computing/wireless/wifi_map.html


New UW Minimum Data Security Standards in the Works

In response to significant new federal, state, and private industry requirements for data protection, the UW Privacy Assurance and Systems Security Council (PASS Council) has developed proposed new minimum standards for the protection of information in electronic form at the UW. The draft standards are intended to provide appropriate protection measures for the different types of data found on UW systems so that they are not at risk. The proposed standards:

  • Include a data classification scheme
  • Specify associated protection measures

The standards are becoming increasingly critical because of new data security requirements such as the state security breach notification laws and the Payment Card Industry (i.e., credit card) security and data protection requirements, which affect some 160 merchant contract holders in almost every department at the UW.

An initial draft of the standards is now complete, and the PASS Council is gathering feedback from the UW community, including the Computing Directors group and technical experts. The PASS Council welcomes additional feedback and suggestions. The standards will then be reviewed and considered for approval by the University Technology Advisory Committee (U-TAC), ideally before the end of 2006.


UW Data Center Update

A report outlining basic building requirements for a new primary UW Data Center facility has been completed by the Data Center Work Group, and the following five sites are being evaluated as a possible location for a new facility:

  • Master Plan Site 8C (the Cyclotron Shop below Haggett Hall)
  • Sand Point Building 5
  • An off-campus acquisition site
  • A leased facility
  • Space above the Sound Transit Crossovers near Husky Stadium (as a potential future site)

The evaluation includes cost and the ability to meet building program requirements. A "no-project" alternative is also being evaluated. The planning effort for the new facility will be completed later this summer.

Plans for interim space are also moving ahead. A recent equipment failure in the UW's current data center at the 4545 Building has necessitated leasing interim space in a commercial data center in Tukwila. The failed equipment has been replaced, but analysis has concluded that it is necessary to remove about one-third of the power demand from the building to prevent future equipment overloads. Affected co-location customers have been contacted about potential relocation.

Earlier plans to create interim server housing space through facility improvements to the Academic Computing Center and the North Physics Lab have encountered building problems, so additional interim space is being planned in the Tukwila facility. A pricing plan being developed for this interim space will be made available to the UW community soon.