Dual email addresses (netid@tennessee.edu and netid@utk.edu ) have been completed for the Knoxville campus. Memphis data has been received and plans are to continue with the integration of their data into the directory. UTSI data has been requested but is not available at this time. Conflict resolutions with UTSI will be handled afterwards. Ms. Muly has informed Jim Lewis of our plans and he will expedite the required user information.
Eighty percent of the utenn.edu machines have been moved to either utk.edu or tennessee.edu as appropriate. Administrative Systems has indicated that the remaining 20% of machines to move will be difficult and time consuming. Because the utenn domain name will no longer be available after January 1, 2001, the move must be completed by this date.
The consolidation of the Administrative Services Groupwise post offices into one central post office will be accelerated to address the continuing problems that have been experienced by Groupwise users. A new server will be acquired and contract employees will be employed to complete this process by December 1, 2000. An LDA position will be created to continue management of the system after the initial conversion.
Preparatory work has been completed in clearing floor space in the Humanities and the SMC machine rooms for installation of core servers and equipment. Racks have been ordered and installed and are ready for equipment deployment. The PP28 for an SMC generator was completed and signed. Work is scheduled to begin in mid-February with completion estimated for March 31, 2001.
Plans are to utilize as much of the existing Cisco electronics as possible to build out the initial VolNet core in SMC and Humanities. An order has been placed with Cisco for additional electronics needed to complete the first six months of core cutovers.
The new DNS/DHCP servers that will handle the assignment of IP addresses on the Knoxville campus were ordered and have been received. Configuration of the machines continues for their deployment, one each in HSS and SMC, to be in production mode by November 13. The commercial DNS/DHCP software bought from Nortel Networks (NetID) (the identical software that Statewide Network has purchased) has also been installed.
All buildings on campus have been reviewed and prioritized and an initial cutover list for November, December and January has been determined.
| November | Burchfiel, Claxton |
| December | All 13 dormitories plus Presidential Court |
| January | A&A, Ayres, Claxton Addition, Hoskins, Jesse Harris, South College |
The cutover order of the remaining buildings will be determined as experience is gained from the first buildings. Ultimately the goal is to cut over approximately 10 buildings per month to allow for completion of all buildings by December 31, 2001.
Plans are to meet with building representatives for each month's list of buildings as early as three months prior to cutover. The first month's building representatives met on October 5 & 6.
There will be a total of six teams from DII that will be responsible for the building cutovers. Two teams per month will evenly divide that month's work leaving the remaining four teams to support legacy network for a given month.
The procedures for desktop conversion are currently being developed so that during the building cutover a standard plan can be followed to ensure desktop stability.
A plan for IP re-numbering has been developed and documented based on the receipt of a new Class B address. (Editor's note - The new Class B address was received 10/26 and is ready for use.)
Telephone Services has installed 72-pair single mode fiber (SMF) from the fiber vault on Stadium Drive to the SMC and the Humanities machine rooms. In addition, 36-pair of SMF has been installed via an alternative path between SMC and Humanities to provide the fault-tolerant interconnection of the two core sites.
Single mode fiber has also been installed between the vault and months 1 & 2 buildings in preparation for their cutover. Fiber from the vault to the remaining buildings continues to be installed and will lead the building cutovers by several months.
Discussions continue to resolve the issue of defining, on a building-by-building basis, the intra-building wiring schedule. A two-phased approach will be taken to resolve this issue. Those buildings whose existing wiring can be upgraded as building maintenance will be identified and started immediately. Those buildings with wiring that require more extensive work, and that will cause subsequent extensive upgrades to the building infrastructure, will be identified and completed as campus capital projects. A building-by-building assessment by an outside firm will be completed to make this determination.
SMC and Student Services are currently underway as maintenance upgrades. Physics and Nursing were begun, but work was halted by the Fire Marshall in order for his review for code adherence.
Hodges Library, Jesse Harris and the Vet Med building have been identified as the next maintenance buildings to be wired. Estimated start date is July 1, 2001.
Our current DS-3 commodity internet is saturated and several options are being reviewed to address this problem. Conversations with QWEST are already underway for expanding current services. In addition, plans are being developed to shape and control bandwidth utilization on RESNET. The TNII circuit is on hold until further evaluation.
Plans have been developed to eliminate the Class C addresses tied to the T1s in order to reduce costs, effective June 30, 2001.
Staffing shortages are being addressed by a blanket PO written and issued to Pomeroy for contract labor to assist in all aspects of the VolNet project. Six desktop support personnel will report to campus on November 1. Pomeroy will also be able to supply systems and network engineers as needed.
Network Services is reviewing applications and has plans to interview and fill three open positions by December 1, 2000.
Several LDA positions are being filled to address tasks associated with IP management and the Groupwise consolidation efforts.
In accordance with the initial testing phase of wireless on campus, wireless access points were installed and are operational in Temple Court, Hodges Library, Glocker, Dunford, A&A, and SMC. (Claxton was completed earlier.)
A proposal for deployment of wireless networking across the entire campus was written, submitted and approved by the president for campus deployment in the next 18 months. Funding was budgeted at $4.35 million.
An RFQ for contractual services is being written to assist in the implementation of the wireless plan due to the accelerated timetable for completion.
The Volnet budget for Phases 1 & 2 has been prepared and submitted for review by the University financial officers.
The networking cost model is continuing to be developed and refined to address all elements of networking operations and has a targeted finish date of July 1, 2001.
The framework for the VolNet website has been completed and is available at volnet.utk.edu. Information pertaining to VolNet will be posted to this site. The group is now working to post back information and update the site.
The VolNet schedule has been determined and a Gantt chart has been prepared to track progress of the project. Project milestones include:
Completion on new core electronics in SMC & HSS by July 1, 2001
Completion
of all campus buildings cutover to core by December 31, 2001
Completion of
intra-building wiring for 15% of campus buildings by July 1, 2002