From Computing and Communication Services

Technical staff from Computing and Communications Services will spend Monday, Oct. 30, in Minneapolis, connecting users’ computers to a new Windows NT server that is replacing the Novell server. The Novell server is used by the Graduate School of Business for file and print sharing.

Benefits of this migration include a single log-in for faculty and staff, and consistency with other server resources on campus. The conversion impacts more than 200 computers, primarily in Terrence Murphy Hall.

CCS technical support on the St. Paul campus will still be available on Monday, but response for non-emergency issues may be slower than usual since fewer staff will be on hand.

Below is a brief outline of the migration plans.

• Beginning at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, all of the data on the GSB Novell file server will be copied over to a new CCS NT server (called UST-DeptStore2) exactly as it is on the Novell server. (All files, in the same directory structure, with same access-level permissions, etc.) In order to accommodate this, access to the GSB’s Novell file server will not be available over the weekend. Once the data has been copied, the Novell server will be reconfigured into read-only mode.
• On Monday, Oct. 30, CCS will have members of its Technical Services Group visit each workstation to make the changes necessary to connect to the new server. The only noticeable change for users will be the absence of the Novell client log-in screen on startup; instead there will only be a Windows NT or Windows 95 log-in screen.

Moving these resources under the umbrella of centralized CCS support will free the GSB staff of server maintenance tasks and allow them to focus on developing other technologies to meet their users’ computing needs. Minneapolis campus users can refer to recent e-mails from CCS’s Jeff Mayer and GSB’s George Williams for more details about this project and how it will affect them.

Finally, current Novell users can rest assured that the retired GSB server will be given a respectable benefits package in appreciation of its years of service to the UST community.