UCS Toolkit - OIT Technology Meetings

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OIT Technology Meeting - September 2006

Announcements

Joe Sanders, OIT
As most probably know, there is a chance the Computer Store/Repair Operation will be closing. The services will remain open at least through the fall semester. An analysis is underway to evaluate what it would take to keep the service active at the University.

Ed Humphrey, NBCS
Recent disruptions in email on RCI/Eden and RULink can be attributed to several factors that, when combined together, created a serious, though temporary, degradation in mail service. To differing degrees, increased SPAM, blacklisting, hardware and networking problems contributed to a much larger disruption. NBCS Central Systems has started to address the overlying issues in many ways, including:

Perform reverse lookups on email - if the sending machine doesn't resolve, the mail is dropped.
Mail that scores a 30 or higher on SPAM checks are dropped automatically.
All accounts that did not already have SPAM settings configured received default settings that moved email scoring a 5 or higher to the "AUTO-DELETED-SPAM" folder.
Mail in the "AUTO-DELETED-SPAM" folder is deleted after 30 days.

Tom Grzelak, OIRT
OIRT is working with vendors to bring in demo hardware for short periods (one or two months) to test performance. University IT staff can gain accounts on the demo hardware to do their own performance testing. Currently OIRT has a Dell Woodcrest dual-core, dual-CPU box available for testing. Send mail to oirt@rutgers.edu to gain an account.

Susan Schwerdt, MSSG
Rutgers has signed a new Microsoft "Student Select" agreement, which also includes faculty and staff. All students, faculty and staff can purchase Microsoft products for about 75% off retail pricing. These purchases are only for use on personally owned equipment. The available products can be found on the University Software Portal. Just click on the orange banner.

Presentations

Managing Network Resources with NetDB
Jon Gaynor, TD and David Santin, ADDM
The presentation and break-out session included a demonstration of NetDB and how to address specific DNS registration tasks. Some features discussed were:

Loop Add - adding multiple hosts with similar names and increments of 1.
Add Fixed - adding multiple hosts with different names but same mx, rp, etc.
Network Clear - will delete all hosts on a given network (as long as they are in the NCG).
XML - From "manual XML" page, "NetDB XML DTD" is a lukn to the fully documented DTD.

Additional documentation will be added in the near future.

IT Training Opportunities at Rutgers
Tom Grzelak, OIRT
Tom's presentation detailed all known IT training opportunities (workshops, web-based, classes) available across the entire university. You can view the full PowerPoint presentation. Other information is also available on OIRT's IT Training page.

Special note: 60% of Sun Certification exam fees for Rutgers faculty, staff and students can be obtained from OIRT. Simply send an email to oirt@rutgers.edu and request a voucher.