May 2008 Issue
A message from the CTO:
Summer 2008 ushers in a period of significant change for Troy IT. Many new services are in the final stages of refinement, new gear is arriving and deadlines are quickly approaching. This month’s report offers many reports from all units of IT. Look forward to much advancement in the coming months. As always, keep a watchful eye for suspicious email or websites – contact IT if you feel inappropriate activity has occurred with your PC or any system credentials.
Thanks.
W. Greg Price
In this issue...
Digital Measures Update
Harddrive Crusher
Provisional Patent Under Review
Presentation at Southeast Educause
Upcoming IT Training - Troy Campus
College of Education Multimedia Classroom - Phenix City Campus
Multipoint Video Conferencing
eCampus Colloquium Support - Dothan Campus
Network Authentication Implemented for Wireless Networks - Phenix City Campus
Technical Support Provided for Political Debate - Dothan Campus
Network Monitoring Appliance - Montgomery Campus
McAfee VirusScan 8.5i Package Updated
Emergency Call Boxes Installed - Phenix City Campus
Ft. Rucker Telephone Upgrade Completed - Dothan Campus
Departments Receive Donated PC Equipment
Network Authenticated Login
Howard Technology, A/V Demo
Wireless School of Music - Troy Campus
Howard Technology, New Features
School of Education - Troy Campus
Faculty, Staff, and Student Technology Portal
ComputerWorks Lab - Troy Campus
MAT Project
New and Upgraded Labs - Troy Campus
Troy Campus IT Assist Asset Management
Library Wireless - Troy Campus
Baseball Stadium - Troy Campus
Two library servers, purchased in 1997 and 2001, served served the Troy Libraries in near-flawless fashion for 11 and 7 years, respectively. The servers offered over 104,329,848 web pages to students and handled 1,366,960 staff logins for administrative functions. The total uptime for the two servers was 157,601 hours, total downtime 77 hours. The uptime percentage was 99.95%. The servers were replaced with a virtual server and third-party hosting contract.
The Digital Measures, Activity Insight application, is undergoing testing and program changes. Requests for enhancements for ACBSP and NCATE accreditation reporting needs, as well as SACS report design were submitted to for application design.
Troy IT received a harddrive crusher from EDR Solutions recently. The device physically crushed harddrive media in an effort to destroy all data artifacts. Troy IT began using the device in May 2008 on excess inventory PC’s. Over 300 drives were destroyed in 1 day with the device.
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Photo of the harddrive crusher |
Photo of a crushed harddrive |
Provisional Patent Under Review
Troy IT submitted a request for provisional patent on a Network Security Audit technology. Internally, the technology is referred to as TrojanWatch.
Presentation at Southeast Educause
W. Greg Price, CTO, delivered a presentation at Southeast Educause. The presentation offered a review of aligning IT with institutional policy, fostering technology as a strategic enabler.
Upcoming IT Training - Troy Campus
Troy Campus IT, technical services has posted the upcoming IT training offered Summer 2008. This year the network team will offer informative training on the new NAC, network authentication system. Please see the IT training site for more information.
Technical services worked in conjunction with web development to revamp the IT training site. Web development enhanced the training forms and registration as well.
https://it.troy.edu/forms/training/index.html
College of Education Multimedia Classroom - Phenix City Campus
The Phenix City Campus IT department helped construct a model classroom for the College of Education. This multimedia classroom will be used to train pre-service teachers to use technology in the classroom. Major components of the classroom include: an instructor's multimedia lectern with computer, document camera, and video equipment; an interactive Smartboard with sound system; a pod of computers equipped with web cams, microphoned headsets and special software. The COE plans to use the web cams not only to train students but to communicate with interns in the field.
The TROY Global Campus and Troy Radio/Television have added two video conferencing multipoint units. One of these will be located at Wallace hall in Troy and one at the SER offices in Columbus. Together these units will be able to support a 60 location video conference. Other features include; common directory, web based scheduling and conference record capabilities.
eCampus Colloquium Support - Dothan Campus
Dothan IT provided 165 man-hours in support of the eCampus Colloquium. Support included installing a total of 80 wired laptops in two classrooms allowing participants a clear view of the presentation. The laptops had an Internet connection and a trial version of SyncronEyes, classroom management software from Smarttech. Additionally, eight computers were configured for wireless Internet access for e-mail access in a common area. Presenters were assisted with presentation set-up and configuration changes required for the VTEL multimedia sessions.
Network Authentication Implemented for Wireless Networks - Phenix City Campus
Phenix City Campus has completed implementation of network authentication for the wireless network. This Network Authentication Appliance requires all wireless users to login using their email username and password. It checks machines for minimum software requirements before allowing access to the network. Testing has begun for the next stage of the project which will include all classroom computers and student labs. Implementation is scheduled June 9th.
Technical Support Provided for Political Debate - Dothan Campus
The Dothan IT staff provided assistance to enable multiple capabilities in the Dothan Campus’s Sony Hall for the political debate, which was recorded by several local television and radio media organizations. Support included adding multiple wired and wireless microphones, a replacement camera, DVD recording capability and multiple sound checks.
Network Monitoring Appliance - Montgomery Campus
The Montgomery Campus has completed the installation of and training for an appliance, which monitors and analyzes network flows against a signature database; categorizes suspicious activity as anomalies, DoS attacks, viruses, worms, etc. The administrator must then investigate the reported offenses, define the events as false positives, create rules to ignore acceptable communications, or resolve the offending behavior. A dashboard provides a real time overview of inbound and outbound bandwidth utilization by defined groups, reports top 10 offenders, and graphically summarizes the enterprise security and vulnerability state.
McAfee VirusScan 8.5i Package Updated
An updated version of the McAfee VirusScan 8.5i Enterprise Edition package is available for download. The newest version of McAfee VirusScan has been updated with a more current DAT file for virus detection. It is available at https://it.troy.edu.
Emergency Call Boxes Installed - Phenix City Campus
In April, the Phenix City IT Department completed installation of emergency call boxes in the lobbies of each building on campus The call boxes will allow direct communication to campus security, Phenix City Police, and Russell County Sheriff Dispatch in the event of an emergency. The call boxes may also be used to request escort services from security by students, faculty and staff.
Ft. Rucker Telephone Upgrade Completed - Ft. Rucker/Dothan Campus
The archaic telephone system at Ft Rucker has been replaced with a 3COM IP telephone system. This upgrade replaced the eight telephones at Ft Rucker and extended the system to the Dothan Campus by installing IP telephones in the Financial Aid, Undergraduate Admissions, Student Services, and Information Systems offices. The direct extensions on the Dothan Campus will reduce both the cost and time to get essential information for students at the Ft Rucker site.
Departments Receive Donated PC Equipment - Troy Campus
Members of Troy Campus IT, technical services configured donated PC equipment for the University’s UpwardBound program and Geomatics department, which consisted of 20 laptops and 10 desktops.
Implementation continues on the Network Authentication Appliances throughout the system. IT professionals from the different Troy University Campuses worked in conjunction with Brett Hamil from Impulse Technology Inc. to begin the physical installation of hardware. Training has commenced and finalization of install is nearing completion. A “Phase In” approach is being taken for Virtual Networks. Once fully implemented, all users will be required to login to gain network access. As part of the Phase In process, the Student Wireless Network will be first to be implemented as soon as the first week of June.
Troy Campus IT, Technical services arranged a demo for the College of Education’s dean and several faculty members. During the demo the College of Education was presented with new instructional technology, which could be implemented into their new building and hopefully into other classrooms on campus.
Wireless School of Music - Troy Campus
The Long School of Music purchased wireless devices to be placed in Long Hall for Student, Faculty, and Staff wireless network connectivity. IT has completed the installation of the devices and wireless network service is now available in Long Hall.
Howard Technology, New Features
Troy Campus IT, technical services worked with Howard to add new functions for the technology facilitators and end-users at all sites. Howard has now implemented electronic order and shipping notifications.
If the end-user provides their email address during the order process they will receive a shipping notification with tracking for their order.
School of Education - Troy Campus
Equipment for the School of Education building has begun to arrive. IT has taken inventory of received equipment and is still awaiting a few pieces from the order. This equipment will be installed to provide network services to the new School of Education for a variety of uses including Closed Circuit TV, Door Access, Internet, Local LAN, and Security.
Faculty, Staff, and Student Technology Portal
Troy University IT & Howard Technology Solutions have partnered to create this site where you can take advantage of special academic discounts on technology products. Howard has listed some recommended selections, but feel free to shop their entire product catalog using the various tabs/links available to you. If you have any additional questions regarding personal purchases, please contact Kathy Carollo, your Howard Account Manager, at kathy.carollo@howard.com or (888)912-3151 ext: 5058.
https://www.howardcomputers.com/troy
If you are inquiring about a university quote, please contact the IT representative at your location. Howard personnel will not process university quotes for anyone other than IT facilitator at your site.
For the Troy location, the email address for quotes is: quotes@troy.edu
ComputerWorks Lab - Troy Campus
IT has completed all necessary work and installation for ComputerWorks move to Eldridge Hall. ComputerWorks has now opened it’s doors to student in its new locale inside the Student Success Center at the back end of Eldridge Hall with desktop computers wired to the campus LAN and wireless network access also available.
Troy Campus IT, Technical Services and the TROY e-mail administrator completed the first phase of the MAT project. The first phase consists of updating group information, notification of changes, and new e-mail accounts to enhance communication and security among the group.
New and Upgraded Labs - Troy Campus
Troy Campus IT, technical services division assisted with several labs. These labs consisted of new installations and upgrades.
New Computer Works lab
New Nursing lab
DeepFreeze installation and configuration for the Nursing lab
New Writing Center lab
New Student Support Services lab
Troy Campus IT Assist Asset Management
Troy Campus IT, technical services assisted Asset Management in the effort to cannibalize outdated computer equipment and hard drive destruction in preparation of the sale/recycling procedure.
Library Wireless - Troy Campus
Wireless network services located in the Library have been upgraded from older, less stable devices to easier controlled and better functioning devices. The newer devices also provide for better stability and an extended footprint for user access.
Baseball Stadium - Troy Campus
Baseball’s Lott Complex was completed via Fiber and Ethernet wiring. The complex now incorporates standard Ethernet RJ45 connectivity and Wireless Internet. Services were also upgraded in the Baseball pressbox from LRE (Long Range Ethernet) to Fiber attached connectivity. This increased bandwidth into the Campus Backbone from 15 megabits per second to 1000 megabits per second.
24 Hour Days Worked by IT Staff
| Time Period | Days |
| Since January 2008 | 11 |
| Server | Average Hits Per Day |
Unique Visitors | Successful Page Hits |
Visits | Total Visits for 2008 |
| www.troy.edu | 60,597 |
178,378 |
1,878,502 |
808,795 |
4,294,400 |
| it.troy.edu | 40,972 |
41,993 |
1,270,144 |
69,800 |
280,411 |
| library.troy.edu | 1,250 |
6,829 |
38,752 |
13,489 |
30,227 |
| trojanweb.troy.edu | 296,321 |
83,482 |
9,185,974 |
194,029 |
627,947 |
| wa3test.troy.edu | 2 |
3 |
77 |
4 |
26 |
May 2008
| Description | Total | Total for 2008 |
| Server Vulnerability Probes | 1,316,901 |
7,215,592 |
| Completed Security Investigations | 3 |
9 |
| Troy Electrical DR Tests | 1 |
5 |
| E-mail Viruses Blocked | 900 |
5,900 |
| Spam Blocked Due to Content | 5,830,000 |
23,375,000 |
| E-mail Messages Blocked by RBL | 865,000 |
4,298,000 |
| E-mail Messages In/Out | 9,816,000 |
45,215,000 |
May 2008
| Description | Total | Total for 2008 |
| Anonymous FTP Attempts | 77,066 |
966,906 |
| FTP: Bad Login Attempts | 132 |
48,221 |
| Spyware Blocked | 6 |
1,480 |
| Backdoor Trojan Attempts | 19 |
1,221 |
| Phishing Attempts | 13 |
5,635 |
43,000 active, global users
64 supported sites: 17 states and 11 countries
Facilities in 16 Time Zones
6 Regional IT Data Centers; 1 Central Data Center
24 x 7 Operations
117 tracked IT projects
Total Lab PC’s 1,570
