WVNET in the Late '90s

1995

January 1995

WVNET has continued working on the InfoMine Library project. This is a grant from the Department of Education of $2.5 million to improve electronic access to information in public libraries, academic libraries, and public schools. Several start-up meetings have been held to define the approach that will be taken on this project. The first meeting of the Consulting Council was held and a Technical Implementation Committee was appointed.

February 1995

WVNET has begun plans to make the IBM Adstar Distributed Storage Manager, a system for backing up personal workstation disks on mainframe tape cartridges using TCP/IP, available to our users. WVNET is in the process of installing Tin on the WVNET VMScluster. Tin is a popular Usenet news reader which has a UNIX-like interface. WVNET is installing an Ethernet Switch to reduce the traffic on our machine room backbone. This device will increase the possible traffic load substantially.

March 1995

Summary statistics for MountainGopher and the World Wide Web server are now available in MountainGopher. The statistics show which Internet site accessed the servers, and which documents were accessed on a daily basis. WVNET began work on an RFP to convert our IBM mainframe disk drives to modern array-based disk drives.

April 1995

WVNET took initial steps in moving to Open/VM and Open/MVS, which will provide access to many packages developed for the MS environment. The SpiGopher package, which interfaces the WVNET MountainGopher server to SPIRES databases under VM, was rewritten to support access restrictions. These restrictions allow in-state Gopher users to access certain databases, while preventing out-of-state access.

May 1995

WVNET has completed the evaluation of bids for new disk for MVS and VM space. The award for the new RAID array disk subsystem was to EMC Corporation. This disk array comes with 255 gigabytes of storage in 3380 images.

June 1995

WVNET has replaced all 3380 disk storage with a new RAID technology disk array storage subsystem. The conversion involved copying 180 gigabytes of data, and provided a 60 gigabyte increase in disk storage with substantial cost savings. The net result is an overall decrease in disk storage costs with very significant performance and reliability gains. The new storage subsystem also has a much smaller "footprint" in our machine room. This significantly reduced expensive machine room floor space requirements as well as cooling requirements.

Negotiated with MMB Development Corporation to replace the XChange bulletin board software being used by the K-12 community with TEAMate software (after MMB bought out XChange). Software has been received and planning for implementation is underway.

July 1995

WVNET has completed work with WVU to put the National Park Service's Historical American Building Survey (HABS) database online via MountainGopher; information about the West Virginia Library Association was also posted in MountainGopher.

WVNET has created a WWW server (www.wlsc.wvnet.edu) on VAXA for West Liberty State College, using the multi-homed host feature of the OpenVMS http server.

WVNET is working on installing an IBM RISC/6000 Model R30 to be used by WVU for BANNER.

August 1995

Installed the latest version of IBM's TCP/IP software on VM/ESA. This release provided FTP support for the VM Shared File System, so VM now completely supports inbound FTP. WVNET will now begin migrating people into the new SFS.

A great deal of progress has been made on the NSF Grant. Several schools are up on T1 frame relay lines, and modems have been installed at several locations in the state. The first of the new modem accounts for Internet and WVNET access have been processed.

Ready for Delivery Stacks of pizza box-style Xyplex routers are ready for distribution to all of the higher-ed campuses as part of the NSF Grant "Modem Project."

September1995

WVNET has installed the WVU Banner Machine. This is a new box named "merlin.wvu.edu". WVNET staff has investigated the requirements for an RS6000 to support the WVU Library implementation of network connections to the Notis library system running on MVS. WVNET has installed Xyplex Routers at the following institutions: New Martinsville-Northern, Weirton-North, Potomac State, Shepherd College, Clarksburg-Fairmont, Madison-Southern, Williamson-Southern, WSWP-TV (Beckley), College of WVa, and Summersville-Glennville. They are at various stages of achieving "production" status.

October 1995

WVNET is testing PACLINK, Z39.50 software for NOTIS. This will be one step in implementing the US DOE Library Grant. This will put the NOTIS database on-line as a server database for PC client software worldwide.

As part of our effort to move to open systems, we ordered POSIX-compliant versions of MVS/ESA and VM/ESA.

Bluefield's Beckley Campus, Fairmont's Clarksburg Campus, Northern's New Martinsville Campus, WVU Health Sciences (at Charleston), and SCUSCO went into production on new T1 phone lines.

November 1995

WVNET configured MVS TCP/IP, VTAM and NVAS for customized connection by West Liberty library to the online library system. WVNET's incoming Usenet news feed was switched from SURANET to CAIS (Capitol Area Internet Services). Three 4.3 gigabyte disk drives were installed on the VMScluster. These will be used to provide support for WVNET's Usenet news feeds.

WVNET has placed Southern's Madison campus, Southern's Williamson campus, Southern's Saulsville campus, Parkersburg's Jackson County campus, Glenville's Summersville campus, Graduate College's WV State Library campus, and the Potomac State campus into production mode on the WVNET frame relay network. The NSF Grant implementation is now considerably ahead of the original schedule of December 31, 1995.

December 1995

A video conference was conducted between Bell Atlantic, the West Virginia Library Commission, and WVNET to plan the deployment of phase one of WVLC's Routers and phone lines for Internet access. WVLC has ordered six T1 lines for their Sub-Hubs and 16 56KB lines for smaller libraries. They have decided to install Xyplex routers at most locations. The VAX backup technique was analyzed to explore possible methods to create off-site backups. Work has begun on implementing merlin.wvu.edu, a RS/6000 running Banner for WVU.

1996

January 1996

Loaded the National Park Service "Historical American Building Survey" database into MountainGopher. The new Problem Tracking System has been installed into production. Problem has been modified with an E-mail interface to allow users to log and append problems by sending a note. An HTML interface will be available shortly to allow users with Internet access to search and view the problem system database.

WVNET staff configured and installed the Xyplex 3800 routers at the WNPB Television and the Mountaineer Challenge Academy. The first WVNET router utilization report for the Network has been published.

February 1996

WVNET is working on the Web interface to our Problem tracking system for our user community. Currently, a user can log a problem, view all open problems, view all problems by site and by area, and query the database. We are working on cleaning up the user interface and we are also working on creating an employee (secure) interface via the Web.

March 1996

Installed the PMDF-ACCESS software package at WV Northern Community College. In addition to offering POP3 and IMAP mail services, PMDF gives the local Northern users the PINE mail user interface on their VAX. Several AXON RMON probes were located at the institutions, and they are yielding valuable feedback on their LAN problems. We have also been granted access at the institutions that have purchased Network General Corporation's Distributed Sniffer probes. An AT&T Audix Voice Mail system was added to WVNET's AT& T System 75 PBX. This will supplement the Help Desk and should improve user satisfaction with our phone services.

April 1996

As part of our plan to eliminate microfiche, we installed an online document management and viewing system called SMART/RD under MVS, and coordinated testing of this software by WVNET staff and WVU.

An additional 28 SLIP/PPP modems have been installed at Bluefield State College, Concord College, Southern WV Community College, Glenville State College, and the School of Osteopathic Medicine. WVNET is working on the disk space requirements on merlin in preparation for WVU bringing up Banner in production, increasing file system sizes and moving file systems around. WVNET is also working on a proposal to assist WVU in providing E-Mail to all students, faculty, and staff.

May 1996

WVNET staff is working on a Web interface for authorized users of our Problem Tracking System. WVNET staff is also evaluating several online document management systems as part of our plans to phase out microfiche. WVNET prepared and added graphics to the Historical American Buildings Survey (HABS) database in MountainGopher for WVU. The enhanced database was reviewed in Washington by officials from the National Park Service.

At Marshall University we have expanded Xyplex monitoring and LAN monitoring, to investigate the possible overloading of the Marshall Xyplex router. WVNET plans to upgrade the Xyplex to a faster CPU, to upgrade the Xyplex to a faster backplane, and to add a second T1 frame relay line.

June 1996

WVNET completed pre-production testing of the MVS Version 5 operating system. Met with IBM personnel to discuss and plan for the upcoming conversion to a CMOS processor. The CMOS processor will bring WVNET's IBM systems to a state-of-the-art platform while substantially reducing utility costs and floor space requirements.

July 1996

MVS Version 5, a major upgrade of the MVS operating system, was installed in production over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Work is now underway on providing WVNET users with a POSIX-style environment under TSO. This new environment will be used to migrate people off of the AIX/ESA system, which will save WVNET $20,000/year.

WVNET systems staff assisted West Virginia University in designing and implementing a university-wide electronic mail system. As part of this system, all WVU employees and students were assigned personalized AI addresses, and WVU student information was added to the West Virginia Higher Education Phonebook.

Upgraded the exodus system (used for WVU administrative and research applications) from an IBM RS/6000 Model 930 (purchased in 1991) to a dual processor Model R3U; also increased system memory from 128M to 256M.

August 1996

WVNET has researched and composed a Request For Proposal to acquire a CMOS-based S/390 Parallel Enterprise Server to replace two IBM 3090 mainframe computers.

WVNET communications personnel attended a meeting with WVU Library personnel at Northern Community College to assist with implementing the Notis Library system there.

September 1996

WVNET personnel worked with Storage Tek and IBM to gather data that will be used in evaluating WVNET's tape usage. This evaluation will assist us in planning for the implementation of tape robotics. WVNET staff continued implementing WVU's E-mail system, expanding it to include non-employees affiliated with WVU.

October 1996

WVNET staff put into production an extension to the VM NNTP news server software. WVNET began use of System Managed Storage under MVS to automate and streamline disk storage management, allowing better user access while improving overall storage economy. WVNET evaluated bids for the new computer that will run MVS and VM. This involved a detailed study of processor capabilities, operating costs, floor space requirements and software expenses.

November 1996

WVNET staff converted the VM/ESA operating system to Open/VM, installed a new version of Top Secret Security on the VM and MVS Systems, and continued researching a high-speed automated tape library system.

December 1996

WVNET is working on several projects related to upgrading software for the new CMOS Server that will be installed on January 4th, replacing our (two) IBM 3090 mainframe computers. As part of the software upgrade, we will upgrade some packages and replace others to control costs.

1997

January 1997

WVNET converted from two IBM 3090 mainframes to an IBM 9672-R63 Enterprise Server. This conversion moved WVNET to modern technology which can be upgraded if necessary. It also enormously reduced the amount of floor space and electricity required for the system.

WVNET worked with WVU Health Sciences in Charleston, Fairmont State College Library, and the West Virginia Geological Survey to move them from old style connections to new high-speed frame relay connections.

February 1997

The DLCC and WVNET begin working on the creation of a single statewide, high-speed, multimedia network with a high level of collaboration and sharing between the various state agencies. Governor Underwood offered his support for the project. Plans were made to propose an ATM Network for West Virginia -- a statewide Intranet -- to the Legislature. The consumers served by the proposed network would include 16 public colleges and universities, Satellite Network of West Virginia (SatNet), more than 870 K-12 public schools, WV Education & Information Systems (WVEIS), WV Library Commission (WVLC) at 118 public libraries, state government at 31 locations, the Bridging the Gap Project, Mountaineer Doctor Television (MDTV), RuralNet at over 130 locations, WVRHEP Rural Consortia, WV CONSULT, and SHINE.

May 1997

WVNET began off-site backups for our VAX cluster, so we are now able to provide a way to restore student data in case of disaster.

WVNET ordered additional capacity from UUNET for our Internet connection, to upgrade our pipe to the Internet to five T1s. OpenEdition MVS is now in production, along with the TCP/IP support. Most of our users should be converted to this by July 1st.

June 1997

WVNET Senior Staff made the final decisions on the reorganization of WVNET: all systems programming departments will be combined into a single department, and all database managers will be separated into a single group.

The WVNET VAX 6000-520 was upgraded to a VAX 6000-530 with additional memory and an additional Ethernet card. This upgrade will improve performance on this machine, and allow us to use it as a server for Banner for the School of Osteopathic Medicine.

WVNET will write an RFP to purchase an Alpha machine.

July 1997

WVNET installed a tape robot which supports a new virtual tape library. We decided to name the robot "Rosie," after the robot maid on the Jetsons TV show. The robot allowed us to reduce the number of operator positions at WVNET, and greatly improved our backup system. The nightly cycle for most processes was dramatically shortened -- less than half the time they used to take. The number of disaster recovery tapes being taken off-site has been reduced by more than 50%.

Robo-Librarian An inside view of "Rosie," the tape librarian. Bar-coded tape cartridges line both sides, while the robotic box (center) shuttles forward and back to retrieve the tapes and place them into the tape reader within the unit.

WVNET increased the number of T1 lines to the Internet from three to five. WVNET plans to install a DS3, the equivalent of 28 T1 lines; this should solve our access problems for this fiscal year.

August 1997

The WVNET Director of Human Resources and the Manager of Computer Operations worked on security and safety issues related to providing "24x7" computer operations (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) with reduced operations staff. In the near future, WVNET operations will be running with just one operator per shift.

September 1997

To assist network schools in responding to the Chief Technology Officer's requirement for inventories of software systems and assessments of how each system must be approached to address Year 2000 problems, WVNET's Director's Office and Year 2000 Coordinator distributed information and support software to computer center directors and other administrators.

October 1997

WVNET created a committee to work on the project of creating E-mail for state employees. The WVNET Director attended and spoke at Bell Atlantic's ATM Kickoff to finalize the design of West Virginia's ATM-based Intranet. Detailed site and needs assessment and data flow analysis were conducted to determine proper sizing and configuration of the network.

November 1997

WVNET has been accepted as an affiliate member of the Internet 2 Project, which is charged with creating a "next generation Internet" capable of supporting the rapidly expanding needs of the national research and higher education community. WVNET and more than 100 other higher education institutions and networks in the country have joined forces to develop and evaluate new applications which fully exploit the capabilities of broadband communications, including real-time multimedia collaboration, distant and lifelong learning, and visualization.

WVNET previously helped to develop the regional high-speed SEPSCOR network connecting supercomputer centers in six southeastern states, and also collaborated with Bell Atlantic, the Governor's Office, and the Distant Learning Coordinating Council to create a high-speed state unified network (SUN) within West Virginia. This newly-created statewide network will unify eight different networks into one high-speed information highway serving higher education, K-12 schools, libraries, government and health care institutions. It will also be linked to other interstate high-speed networks such as Internet 2 through the efforts of WVNET.

WVNET is the main provider of Internet access within the state of West Virginia and has served the state for over 20 years.

1998

January 1998

WVNET has over 800 modems installed statewide with a user base of 8,700 accounts. WVNET is committed to upgrading these modems to 56KB speeds. WVNET awarded a three-year contract to Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions for DS-3 dedicated Internet service for Morgantown and Charleston -- a threefold increase in capacity.

An interview with WVNET staff members about Web servers in West Virginia was published by Sterling Software.

February 1998

WVNET is working on converting Internet dialup modems to the 3COM/US Robotics X2 technology. WVNET is running 42 primary-rate ISDN lines servicing its modems at 24 sites; each line is capable of 23 simultaneous calls. WVNET plans to upgrade the modem software to the new V.90 standard which will allow modems to be compatible with other brands of 56KB modems. WVNET currently has over 1,000 modems installed statewide, with a user base of 9,600 accounts.

March 1998

WVNET staff members are assisting the West Virginia Department of Education and individual schools with information needed to complete applications for the Universal Services Fund. WVNET has completed the conversion of modems to US Robotics X2 technology; all 1,100 modems within the state are now 56KB X2 compliant. WVNET will convert to the new V.90 modem standard as soon as 3Com/US Robotics releases it. After this is done, users with other brands of modems that have been upgraded to the V.90 standard will be able to communicate up to 56KB with our modems.

April 1998

Additional hardware has been ordered to augment services for the K-12 Internet server (access.k12.wv.us). Planning is underway to accommodate the expected growth in this system over the next year and beyond.

May 1998

At the request of WVU and certain other institutions in the state college and university systems, WVNET began offering Service Level Agreements (SLA) in place of charging for usage. The SLA enables an institution to use WVNET services for a set amount of money per month, which means that the institution has a predictable bill for which they can budget, and also means that WVNET has a predictable income. What is expected from WVNET and the obligations of the customer are clearly defined in the Service Level Agreements.

June 1998

WVNET's upgrade to the IBM Virtual Tape System was featured in a cover story in the May 1998 issue of the technical magazine Enterprise Systems Journal. WVNET was one of the first data centers to move this new data storage technology into production.

The 3480 tape cartridges have been removed from the WVNET tape library and erased, freeing space for other uses.

July 1998

WVNET implemented Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) for all statewide Internet dialup modems, streamlining login procedures for most users. This change affected all WVNET Internet dialup service customers.

WVNET provided users with a suite of online documentation which explains how to make the change to PAP, and the Help Desk provided extended hours of coverage to meet increased user demand for assistance. In addition to simplifying login procedures, this change will improve our support for WebTV devices.

August 1998

WVNET began offering its customers ADSM (ADSTAR Distributed Storage Manager), a backup service for hard disks on PCs, workstations, or on departmental servers. ADSM is ideal for making remote, off-site backups of servers and mission-critical data. WVNET Internet dialup customers can also enjoy the security of having their own important data (such as years of electronic checking account program data) stored at a secure off-site location. Users taking advantage of this backup service are charged monthly fees based on the requested class of service and the amount of data stored through ADSM.

September 1998

WVNET staff met with staff from the Department of Education Office of Technology to discuss planning and budget issues. There was a discussion of software and hardware requirements to support the growth in Internet and E-mail support for the K-12 user community. ADS expects the number of E-mail users to grow from 30,000 to 100,000 by the end of 1999. WVNET systems staff discussed the development of a pilot project to make applications for Internet accounts for ADS users more efficient.

WVNET plans to register "WVSUN" as a trademark. WVNET's Statewide Coordinator is collecting documents which show the name "West Virginia State Unified Network" and its logo being displayed in connection with WVNET services, and is sumitting the required paperwork with the assistance of an attorney. A preliminary search indicates the trademark is available.

WVNET has begun the process of converting our old tape library room, empty since the arrival of "Rosie," into a new training facility to serve our computer's training needs. The lab will house fifteen student workstations (one handicapped accessible unit) and an instructor workstation. Training sessions on software applications, networking topics, operating systems and the Internet will initially be offered.

December 1998

WVNET is working on an Integrator RFP to establish a contract to allow all of higher education, K-12, and state agencies to procure hardware, software, and integration services from a single source, as well as providing design assistance, procurement, installation, support and consulting services for networking, video conferencing, and network/systems management.

WVNET is working with IS&C and the Tax department to implement an ATM network to tie the county assessors and the state tax department together, and to connect every county courthouse, regional tax offices, regional jails, IS&C, and other state and county agencies. The network will carry the information needed by the new IAS system, support the video network for the Courtroom of the Future, and provide Internet access for PC's in every county court house in the state.

1999

January 1999

WVNET installed a new IBM RS/6000 SP system. The expansion of this platform supports nodes for general users, network management, and K-12 Internet services, and provides E-mail for 100,000 K-12 teachers and students. The K-12 Web server temporarily remained on the smaller Unix system that previously ran Web services.

The WVNET Networking group configured a new router at Marshall University to connect them to WVNET's Charleston POP (Point of Presence) via the statewide ATM network. Marshall is the first school to convert from frame relay to ATM for carrying data. The Networking group continues to work with State Property Tax, IS&C, and BANI to install equipment at the county courthouses.

February 1999

WVNET received the Office of Technology Award 1999 for it's role in creating EqualNet. EqualNet is funded by a US Department of Commerce grant to give increased access to effective business support resources. The archived Web site provides information on a variety of topics including finance, accounting, business, economics, marketing, management, legal and government issues. When fully implemented, the site will also offer an inventory of small business resources, including information packets, business training materials and seminar information for West Virginia small businesses. The EqualNet site can be accessed at http://www.equalnet.org.

WVNET systems staff moved the K-12 Internet server, access.k12.wv.us, to a node on the new WVNET IBM SP computer. This move greatly improved the hardware capacity for the K-12 server, which currently houses over 30,000 E-mail accounts for K-12 educators and students in West Virginia. The next phase of the K-12 service upgrade will follow when the E-mail software is replaced by Software.com's Post Office package, which will provide improved E-mail services for the growing K-12 community.

March 1999

The WVNET CMOS mainframe was upgraded from 9372-R64 to a 9372-R44. This upgrade provided a significant improvement in performance and relief of various performance-related issues such as long A.C.L.U. delays and slow VM Webserver response time.

WVNET hosted a Windows NT Server Training Session taught by Global Knowledge Networks. This was the first major use of our new training lab.

As part of the Governor's initiative to improve communications among state and county agencies, WVNET is working on implementing E-mail for several state departments and for users at county assessor's offices across the state.

April 1999

The CUFS-to-Advantage conversion is going well. To date, six institutions have converted from CUFS to Advantage, with average conversion taking nine days (not including the time taken to address follow-up problem resolution). WVNET and the CFOs at the institutions involved in the CUFS-to-Advantage conversion are developing a standard set of financial reports.

E-mail accounts for staff of county assessors offices have been created for 15 counties. Accounts are being allocated on the WVNET CMOS system. WVNET systems and Help Desk staff members are assisting county offices with setting up their new Internet E-mail accounts.

May 1999

WVNET has ordered Cisco routers and Pix firewalls for WVSUN's state government network southern POP in Charleston, and for the northern POP in Morgantown. The CUFS-to-Advantage conversion is complete at WVNET, Fairmont State College, West Virginia Southern Community and Technical College, Shepherd College, West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, Concord College, West Liberty State College, and Bluefield State College.

June 1999

The WVNET Y2K Readiness Workgroup has been operating for a number of months. This workgroup's responsibility is to ensure that WVNET resources will operate without problems after January 1, 2000. WVNET has been informed that two additional schools, WVUIT and WVU at Parkersburg, will be converted to Advantage.

August 1999

WVNET Director has appointed a "Software Support Committee" to develop a software support strategy and to consider support levels for various WVNET software offerings. Membership consists of managers from Customer Services and Systems and Operations and one staff member from Financial and administrative Services. Telecommunications Group has completed testing of hardware of major in-house business applications for Y2K compliance.

September 1999

WVNET staff are finalizing plans for moving to the latest versions of Adabas and Natural software. An experienced Adabas consultant is being hired to assist with this upgrade. This is the first Adabas upgrade attempted since the loss of key personnel. This upgrade is necessary as part of Y2K readiness. A WVNET Software Support Committee has been formed to evaluate, refine, and document the levels of support for various software provided by WVNET to our users. The expected benefits of this committee include improved customer satisfaction for existing services and a better organized strategy for making new services available.

October 1999

WVNET Staff is working to create a Banner test database on WVNET's IBM SP system. This database will initially be available for in-house support staff to use. The goal is to make this Banner installation available for test and training purposes by other Banner Student Information System users at colleges and universities around the state.

WVNET ADSM support staff is working to improve the ADSM pages on the WVNET home page. Plans have also begun for installation of the newest ADSM server software. ADSM (ADstar Storage Management) is a network backup product from Tivoli Systems, a division of IBM. ADSM enables network-connected PC's and servers to safely and efficiently store backups of their files and databases in a protected environment off site from their location.

November 1999

Associate Directors of Customer Services and Systems & Operations, Chief Financial Officer, and Statewide Coordinator to met with Principal Investigators of the multi-million dollar U.S. Department of Education "Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs" (GEAR-UP) grant to determine WVNET's role in fulfilling grant requirements. This grant will provide low income students in nine West Virginia counties with the skills, inspiration, and preparation needed to pursue and succeed in higher education Purchasing Director to inform Oracle Corporation to add Linux as an additional server platform. This will be a no charge addition since only eight of the eleven-named platforms were designated at the conception of the contract.

December 1999

WVNET Staff upgraded WVMAIL's Date field for Y2K compliance. Several products were upgraded to new versions for Y2K compliance on the week end of December 18th. The products upgraded were VM TCP/IP, CICS 2.1.2 to CICS 4.1, Adabas, Wylbur, and Advantage 2.0 to Advantage 2.0.1. Support staff will remain available across the Y2K switch over. The OC3 across the LATA is now in production. This will improve the performance of North/South traffic tremendously.