Spring 2008
OSHEAN Current
P: 401-886-0887F: 401-886-0855
6946 Post Road, Suite 402North Kingstown, RI 02852
[email protected] connecting minds. building community.
Printed on Recycled Paper
Photos Courtesy of © Marianne Groszko Photography
Our Guiding PRINCIPLES
MEMBERS
Berklee College of MusicBrown UniversityBryant UniversityCare New EnglandCommunity College of Rhode IslandJohnson & Wales UniversityLifespanMemorial Hospital of Rhode IslandNew England Institute of TechnologyProvidence CollegeRhode Island CollegeRhode Island Division of Information TechnologyRhode Island Judiciary SystemRhode Island School of DesignRhode Island Secretary of StateRINET - RI Network for Educational TechnologyRoger Williams Medical CenterRoger Williams UniversitySaint Joseph Health ServicesSalve Regina UniversitySimmons CollegeStonehill CollegeSouth County HospitalUniversity of Massachusetts DartmouthUniversity of Rhode IslandWheaton College
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rebecca Ramos, Chair of the BoardProvidence College
Joseph Pangborn, Vice Chair of the BoardRoger Williams University
Garry Bozylinsky, SecretaryUniversity of Rhode Island
Terri-Lynn Thayer, TreasurerBrown University
Sharon HusseyRINET
Tom McAuleyWheaton College
Susan Cerrone AbelyRoger Williams Medical Center
Richard PrullRhode Island College
John Smithers Johnson & Wales University
STAFF
George LoftusExecutive [email protected]
Tim RueDirector of [email protected]
Susan LatailleDirector of Finance and Administration [email protected]
Alison FerreiraManager of Business [email protected]
Michael MarsegliaSystems Administrator [email protected]
Nimota SololaCommunications [email protected]
Fostering community focusing on what is good for current and future RI members.
Knowledge broker and the “go to” source of expertise for members.
Support members to obtain grants and obtain grants that support members.
National Leader... If not us, who?
For the common good and not a commercial enterprise.
Improve the quality of life for the people OSHEAN members serve.
Foster innovation in everything we do.
Anything for a member.Transparency.
CONNECTED Connects EDIn the wake of the 2007 Virginia Tech tragedy, OSHEAN members banded together to explore emergency notification systems available to schools in Rhode Island. With the purpose of ensuring communications to students, faculty and administration during a crisis, after a thorough investigation, seven members selected the ConnectED service provided for OSHEAN by the NTI Group. Roger Williams University, one of the first adopters, immediately put the service to use on its campus, where it has developed into a true aid for campus outreach.
“We found the ConnectED service very easy to implement,” stated Roger Williams University Vice President/Chief Information Officer Joe Pangborn “although, I think we have used a different model than some of the other universities have.” To populate the database, RWU drew from an existing cell phone records and used an “everybody is in” model, allowing those wishing not to participate, the choice to opt out.
The first test, held shortly after implementation, was performed primarily as a notification to students, faculty and staff that the system was in place. However, it reaped a greater reward. The immediate response
from the students was overwhelmingly positive with comments that individuals liked this new system and were pleased with its ease of use. More importantly, the test also developed an outreach network as students were asked to point classmates, who did not receive the test message, to the RWU student web site to register. A success, Pangborn believes that they hold contact information for almost the entire student population in the ConnectED database. Since the test, RWU has used the ConnectED system successfully for two community outreach messages to inform students, faculty and staff of school closings.
Further spreading the ConnectED story, the RWU student newspaper, “Hawks Herald,” recently included an article on the system, as did an adjunct faculty publication, stating how great the community found the system to be at advanced notifications of the school closings. The service, which started as an emergency response solution, has not remainder dormant, taking on a practical role for community outreach, proving itself a true benefit to the campus.
RINET Champions SakaiBeing a high school student isn’t what it used to be. To graduate, Rhode Island students should be able to do as well as know. The Rhode Island Board of Regents and Department of Education have created a high-school diploma system that is drawing the attention of states from across the country. In addition to standardized tests, Rhode Island students demonstrate proficiencies and critical thinking skills by applying course information and skills to real-world projects and problems. RINET (Rhode Island Network for Educational Technology), is working with the Department of Education to provide a technical solution to help students gather and present a supporting body of their work. The Rhode Island Electronic Portfolio System (RIEPS) is based on the Open Source Portfolio, part of the Sakai Collaborative Learning Environment. In April 2008, RINET hosted a successful Sakai Conference which brought together 150 teachers, administrators, technology support staff and even students from around the nation to share ideas on teaching and learning with Sakai.
What is Sakai? Sakai is a free, open source Collaborative Learning Environment, that carries the tag “Free to Use, Free to Develop, Freedom for Education.” Often used to support ad hoc group collaboration, portfolios and research collaboration, Sakai is unique for its “Community Source.” Sakai is built and maintained
by the global Sakai community. Through the two day event, RINET notably became the first K-12 Sakai Conference host and drew great interest from those looking to further explore the use of Sakai in a K-12 environment.
As a true Sakai success story, RINET shared its implementation of the open source platform that currently supports 10 districts, 25 high schools, 26,000 students, 1,900 teachers, 13,000 courses and over 100,000 assignments! Conference attendees explored and discussed topics from e-portfolio to professional development to advanced course offerings and course credit retrieval, all reinforcing that Sakai, as Steve Foehr, Director of Application and User Services noted “is more than a portfolio system. It is an entire collaborative learning environment.”
RINET looks forward to continued efforts to spread the word on Sakai, further building upon the community and fostering a platform of pooled resources, partnerships, and most importantly, knowledge sharing.
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A LETTER FROM The Executive DirectorEight years ago, we developed an idea that working together to solve common technological problems would benefit us all. That unique willingness to collectively solve problems and identify opportunities has been the fuel that keeps the OSHEAN engines running. When I travel nationally with my peers, Rhode Island is often cited as one of the few places where we seem to have gotten collaboration right; across all levels of education, health care and government. It may be because of our small size that we find it quite natural to work together. But it has been our shared experiences that have built the level of trust that we all enjoy.
This year we saw great examples of that cooperative spirit spread among our membership. When regulations for filing for Medicare reimbursement changed for all Rhode Island health care providers in February, OSHEAN’s health care members immediately united to develop a shared-solution. The result: seven health care institutions defined a common solution and divided the cost of implementation. Our higher education members also saw an opportunity arise when, in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy last spring, it became urgent for all campuses to deploy an emergency notification plan. OSHEAN was able to convene meetings with our members and develop a strategy that helped speed the implementation of these services.
These were both unexpected incidents that required quick action. The fact that the OSHEAN members thought to work with their peers as a first reaction is testimony to the value they place on the community they have created and the trust they have in each other.
As we review the accomplishments of our members over this past year, we also look forward to what lies ahead in the year to come -- connecting minds and building community, and earning your trust.
George K. LoftusExecutive Director
CAMPUS UNIFIED by VoIPIt is not often that you hear a true and blossoming success story resulting from the introduction and execution of a new technology, especially one spanning a system-wide deployment, but on the campus of Salve Regina University, they have achieved just that. What started as an answer to a growing risk management concern which stemmed from end of life telephony switches and equipment, quickly developed into an expanded VoIP project that ultimately united the campus community.
In 2007, the IT staff led by CIO, Ty Brennan, and Glenn Clark, Director of Networking, began a cautious and strategic approach to the much needed VoIP project. Thoroughly developing a roadmap including needs assessment, discovery, analysis and design, the staff chose not to rush into the campus deployment after the optimal system was defined. Opting first to pilot the system over the summer months within the IT department, they then deployed the equipment in the first production environment, a new art center under construction. After extensive system training and monitoring over the fall semester, a five phase plan was rolled out for January-June, 2008, defining a floor by floor deployment in all administrative buildings spread over the 75 acre campus.
With the technology and equipment in place, tested and set for installation, the question turned to the “how” of campus wide implementation, a step that set the Salve Regina experience apart from most others. The IT staff chose a personal approach, electing to gather with each department to explain the project, listen to needs and concerns, and discuss institutional, divisional, departmental and individual impacts of the VoIP system. This invaluable opportunity broke down the invisible wall often created by technology, and instead gave it a face.
Following initial group meetings, the IT staff met with each individual when installing the new phone, and rather than instantly disabling the old system, left both phones working for at least two days to ensure that the user was not stranded with the new technology. After the transition period, the IT department returned to disable the old line, port the pertinent telephone numbers, and answer questions that had arisen during the trial. Sensitive to university operations, implementation phases were also designed to package the deployments of interdependent departments together to ensure fluidity through divisions.
The result? A system implementation so successful that a rash of “phone envy,” as joked by Glenn Clark, popped up amongst departments still waiting to take advantage of the new system. The IT department also benefited greatly from reintroducing itself to the community while building a vital rapport with their colleagues. Still, the overarching success of the project still stands with the tying of technology and humanities, which as observed by Ty Brennan, “accidentally fell into place.”
MissionFounded in 2000, OSHEAN is a nonprofit coalition
of universities, hospitals, government agencies, and other nonprofit organizations dedicated to providing innovative
Internet-based technology solutions for its member institutions and the communities they serve. OSHEAN is an active member of the Rhode
Island technology community, regularly contributing expertise and resources to a wide range of initiatives, from school enrichment activities to community forums on technology-related issues in the public interest. OSHEAN regularly pursues opportunities for local, regional and national collaboration and plays a national leadership role in professional education for IT professionals and policy development in the information technology arena.
OSHEAN is dedicated to building, through the use of innovative practices, a communications infrastructure that will serve the needs of Rhode Island’s institutions of higher education, health care organizations, state and federal
government agencies, non-profit research organizations, workforce development initiatives, and economic development efforts now
and in the future. OSHEAN is committed to developing network expertise among its member organizations
and to creating an environment that encourages collaboration through shared resources,
information and expertise.
RUCKUSMusic Service
OSHEAN is ecstatic about the response Ruckus music service is receiving from students. Ruckus has a total of 22,500 student subscribers at nine OSHEAN member institutions. OSHEAN is thrilled to announce that
the number of legally downloaded songs has reached an amazing 10,250,000
legal songs!
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TEACHING with TechnologySimply put, video has revolutionized learning. Through advanced videoconference and video capture capabilities, students are no longer bound by the physical classrooms of traditional learning, and can now connect virtually, anytime, anywhere. While some have been slow to adopt the technology, Wheaton College has found innovative ways to integrate the tool into their collegiate and community programs since 2003.
The college has taken advantage of video for use by its college students, and as an outreach effort to the K-12 community. Broadcasting events like those associated with The Slide Heard Round the World, has made Wheaton College an example in the K20 video community. The Slide connects trombone players of all ages across the nation in interactive masterclasses, performances, and lectures.
Extending its reach beyond borders, Wheaton has also been quite successful in applying video learning for its students at international level. Through the German Liberal Arts Collaborative, Wheaton
partnered with Colgate University, Vassar College, and Lafayette College to develop a course focused on Friedrich Schiller’s first play, Die Räuber, which enabled students full-scale interaction, as they were able to videoconference with each other and with the play’s director, actors, and dramaturge at the Pädagogische Hochschule in Freiburg, Germany. In 2003, Wheaton first connected students studying abroad in Paris to their French classrooms left behind in Norton, Massachusetts in a project dubbed “The French Connection.” Students on both sides of the Atlantic could communicate and share experiences from life abroad and within the states. As true testament of success, Colleen Wheeler, Assistant Director Web Strategy, reflected that “the technology just melted away” noting that by the end of the session, interaction had become so real that one participant even asked his overseas classmates to join him for a drink.
Recognized for her extensive video experience, Colleen Wheeler was recently granted the opportunity to co-write the final chapter of “Teaching with Technology: An Academic Librarian’s Guide” with colleagues from Monmouth University and Dartmouth College. The book’s calling, to provide a practical exploration of current and future technology initiatives, their applications, and best practices for use, allowed Colleen to highlight the video evolution within Wheaton’s community and beyond, for which the entire OSHEAN Community would like congratulate her!
ADVANCEMENT in the ArtsUpon entering the AS220 computer lab on Empire Street, guests are greeted by a unique presentation of art placed on the side wall. The artwork, strangely enough, is not produced by human hands, but by a motorized pen driven by a random algorithm set to create various designs for visitors to admire!
The relationship between OSHEAN and AS220 began when OSHEAN discovered that the organization was experiencing some limitations on its server capabilities, which ultimately affected their technology use throughout the organization. It was clear that with all the resources OSHEAN had at its disposal, it would be simple to provide an upgraded server strictly for AS220 use. OSHEAN also located the server at the core of the network, which allowed much faster access to the server from anywhere on the Internet. In doing so, AS220 has been provided with a better opportunity to develop a user friendly service, allowing individuals to work in a better technical environment.
Shawn Wallace, Lab Director, commented that with the improved server AS220 has successfully been able to complete projects that were previously put on hold due to the limiting circumstances, “We are currently in the process of re-launching our website…and are now able to digitize items going from VHS, while also streaming audio from live band performances.” Wallace also shared that since the relocation of the server, there have been approximately 15,000 – 19,000 unique visitors per month to the website.
AS220 has also utilized Openads software on their website, which internally promotes upcoming performances, community workshops and shows. Shawn Wallace remarked that the student community is one of the largest groups that has benefited from the upgraded services. Presently, the organization offers workshops that cater to young individuals, involving electronics, sound art and digital photography.
VIDEO CommonsOSHEAN is thrilled to announce its new and improved video
capture solution set to roll out in May, 2008! The Accordent Media Management System will replace our existing, outdated
server and offer all members an exciting and innovative platform that will revolutionize the streaming of the past. From lecture capture to commencement streaming to medical rounds, Accordent will allow users to not only capture content, but to customize, control, edit and define both live and archived events.
To further enhance the flexibility and functionality of the product OSHEAN has also purchased several modules – Evaluation
& Certification, Event Scheduling, and Directory Services Integration – to maximize the experience of our members.
We look forward to working with members over the next year, and realize, together, the true advantage of
the Accordent video solution!
WHAT IS The WAVE?
The WAVE, Workshop on Applications of Video in Education, is a bi-annual event that brings together members, vendors, and fellow colleagues to
discuss the utilization of video to enhance teaching, learning
and research.
PERISCOPE FOR Nautilus 2.0
Periscope is a network traffic logging and analysis utility, developed in-house at OSHEAN to run on the Nautilus 2.0 platform.
Conceived as a successor to IP Audit, it features improved flexibility, usability, and performance. Its modular design splits functionality between
three distinct components, the packet collector, the packet processor, and the web front-end. These components can be run together on the Nautilus 2.0 platform or on separate servers depending on the requirements of the network environment. Periscope’s packet logging format is also flexible, with the ability to store packet logs in a binary file format for maximum performance or a text format that can be easily parsed by other utilities or humans. The web interface’s initial design is modeled closely after that of IP Audit to make the transition between tools seamless, but can be extended based on the needs of members. Periscope is also designed to scale to meet the demands of ever-increasing volume of network traffic. Being written in Common Lisp gives it the advantage of an elegant implementation in a language that is inherently
suited to take advantage of modern multicore CPUs. In addition, it is compiled to native machine code using the high performance
Steel Bank Common Lisp compiler, which generates code that significantly outperforms popular scripting
languages. Periscope is free/open source software, licensed under the GNU
Public License.
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INTRODUCTION TO OSHEAN’S New Security Assessment ServicesIn keeping with our guiding principle of “anything for a member”, OSHEAN has begun to enhance our network security services. To that end, OSHEAN recently began offering security assessment services to members which include vulnerability scanning, penetration testing and web application security assessments.
WHAT IS A Vulnerability Scan?A vulnerability scan identifies software vulnerabilities that are discoverable across an organization’s network. For example, if the organization is running a web server and the web server security software is not up-to-date, a vulnerability scan will identify and report this condition.
WHAT IS Penetration Testing?Penetration testing goes a step further than the vulnerability scan and tests for network accessible software vulnerabilities and all aspects of security of the organization. These tests can include wireless assessments, social engineering, password attacks and client-side testing. Client side testing involves the penetration testing team emailing end users of the target organization in an attempt to compromise their workstations.
WHAT IS A Web Application Security Assessment?A web application assessment focuses on finding vulnerabilities specific to a web application. These applications can be custom written or written with the use of a third-party product.
The result of any of the offered security assessment services is to identify risk, and map out a plan for remediation that will aid the organization in mitigating as much risk as possible without interrupting their daily business functions.
MEDICAL ROUNDS Via VideoThe faculty at Roger Williams Medical Center has a dilemma. While participation in medical rounds with colleagues from Boston University School of Medicine is of great interest, geographic constraints and busy schedules have provided quite a challenge for those wishing to be involved. After ten years of discussions, in 2008, videoconferencing was identified as an excellent method of distanced communications for which the IT staff provided an immediate solution through an OSHEAN Polycom.
After receiving the Polycom videoconferencing unit, the Medical Center was able to easily connect for its inaugural meeting with twenty five faculty participants from their remote Rhode Island site. On the Massachusetts end, all faculty of the Boston University School of Medicine were present; approximately 60 people! The faculty at Roger Williams Medical Center was finally able to listen and contribute, something they had never been able to do before.
“This technology is critical for linking two campuses together,” stated Dr. Alan Weitberg, Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs at Boston University School of Medicine. “This is the first step toward integrating the faculty of Roger Williams Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine in a way that we have never been able to do in the past.”
Having this technology will allow the Roger Williams Medical Center faculty to be more actively involved in many activities alongside the Boston University faculty and staff. Not only will they participate in every faculty meeting, but also lectures, grand rounds and interactive seminars.
Both institutions conduct a weekly lecture series and participation in both locations will concurrently complement and benefit the other. This communication will continue to foster the integration and collaboration between the two facilities.
BROWN TUNES IN to IPTVThe ever evolving world of technology has offered innumerable and valuable advances, on which many of today’s college students wholly rely and consider a critical function of daily life. For nearly a decade Brown has provided cable TV programming to students in the residence halls. But the aging system as well as student and faculty demands for expanded video services prompted an examination of how a newly upgraded data network could be used for distribution of entertainment and academic content. Enter IPTV.
Brown University was the first institution of higher education in Rhode Island to provide students with advanced television and video access through the implementation of IPTV, or IP television, which delivers content over the university’s data network. In the fall of 2005, a pilot with a product from VideoFurnace was launched in residence halls answering both educational and entertainment needs. By supplementing the existing cable offerings, including a broadcast channel dedicated to notable campus events, while also providing video material for a dozen institution run courses, students were allowed instant access outside the walls of standard viewing rooms.
The trial ran for the entire academic year during which viewing statistics as well as narrative feedback from the students deemed the new service a success. Consistently, about two-thirds of the population used the broadcast service with one student commenting: “Best thing about my freshman year…well, not really but up there…I told all my college friends and made them jealous.” Faculty noted a higher rate of students viewing course materials on time than with the
existing screening room arrangements. On the basis of this successful trial, in fall 2006, a full production service of 30 channels, about half entertainment, half educational, plus Video on Demand, was launched. Essentially every student in the residence halls now uses the IPTV player to watch TV, and academic Video on Demand use has grown to nearly 200 courses.
Coming to a close in its second full year, Brown University is answering the question – what’s next? – by further developing channels with a foreign language concentration. Recent upgrades will allow further growth and expansion for this innovative offering, vastly important, as IPTV now is firmly a part of the Brown experience.
VULNERABILITIES Beware!The first OSHEAN member to move forward with penetration testing was a small college that requested a test to include using “any means necessary” to gain access to the organization’s information. The organization’s information is targeted when performing a penetration test because it is what is most valuable, both to the organization and to the would-be attackers.
The OSHEAN penetration testing team uncovered vulnerabilities that were very helpful to the member, and with the information gained, the member may ultimately to ensure that their information is kept more secure.
While performing the social engineering portion of the test,
the team was able to show that users can be tricked into giving up access to their computers. This type of testing can be very helpful to an organization
to indicate to end users the importance of security
training. This member hopes
to work with OSHEAN to create security training program that can be used to train end users in network and computer security best practices.
During the security assessment, the team also uncovered a previously undiscovered denial of service vulnerability that affected the wireless network as a whole. The wireless network vendor was instantly notified and patches were issued to correct the problem for all customers.
There are many valuable lessons to be learned from penetration testing. Your network must be secured not only from the outside in, but from the inside out as well. Through the use of wireless access points and end-user social engineering, we were able to show that it is possible to gain access to the inside of an institution’s network. Once inside the network, there may not be as many protections as there are from the outside, so accessing the data can be much easier. The so-called “network perimeter” is now blurred and thin, and can be easily bypassed.
OSHEAN recommends that all institutions take time to educate their users, secure their wireless networks, and most importantly focus on protecting their data rather than their network perimeter. Our network security team is happy to work with all members throughout this project.
WHAT ISNautilus 2.0?
Nautilus 2.0 provides members with a fully customizable platform, incorporating tools that provide security features such as bandwidth monitoring, packet header analysis, and intrusion detection. Newer features include scanning and reporting from Vulnerability Assessments
involving as well as add-on features for a Network Intrusion Detection System
featuring modules such as Snort, nTop, Base and IPAudit.
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BLACKBOARD MAKES The GradeAlways seeking innovative applications and solutions to better link students and faculty, New England Institute of Technology has begun the process of updating to Blackboard version 8.0 to further enhance the learning process and academic experience of both parties by enabling advanced virtual collaboration.
With Version 8.0, students and faculty will have access to a much improved edition of the grade book called Grade Center, a result of the merge of Blackboard and WebCT. Grade Center incorporates many new features including a frozen pane for student names which aids in loading grades, cell grading, arrow key navigation, new grading periods, grading schema, grade reports and integrated email for grade based communication with students and advisors. In an effort to streamline implementation on site, New England Institute of Technology has created a test site which is being used as training platform for seven faculty members and support staff, selected as new “NEIT Bb Trainers”. These Bb trainers will pilot the system through the 2008 calendar year, and once comfortable, will be tasked with “spreading the word” to other faculty members. The college has set a goal for all faculty to use the Grade Center in Bb v8.0 by the start of the 2009 calendar year, and looks forward not only to improved communications, but also to the tracking of student success, the ultimate priority.
HOSPITALS UNITE For the Common Good
Ken Hedglen, Manager of Technology at South County Hospital, approached OSHEAN in early January, 2008 with an opportunity to help our health care members with their Medicare claims submission and eligibility verification. “I’m bringing this to your attention in the hope that other hospitals in Rhode Island that may be in the same boat as we are may have contacted you to come up with a better way to connect to this service”, Mr. Hedglen emailed to OSHEAN Executive Director, George Loftus.
All Rhode Island hospital systems were notified by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arkansas that changes were being made to the network which would require users to subscribe to a new service in order to continue to use their Medicare services. This mandated change came with a tight and absolute deadline of February 19th. If each hospital did not have a solution in place by that date, they would not be able to submit claims or verify eligibility.
The OSHEAN staff reached out to all of the hospitals in Rhode Island, including members and non-members, to involve each in determining which of the two available solutions made the most sense if we all worked together. Lifespan quickly made a decision to go with the IVANS service as it provided a feature that they required - access to real time Medicare eligibility information. With Lifespan’s permission, OSHEAN leveraged their choice to move forward with the IVANS service allowing other hospitals to connect to what was deemed a better solution for all.
OSHEAN acted as technical expert, project manager and vendor liaison for the implementation, installing a Cisco VPN concentrator at the core of the OSHEAN network and configured all of the hospitals to connect to it. Each was then connected to the IVANS service via a 768Kbps Frame Relay link. A true success, all hospitals were up and running with the new service by the afternoon of February 19, 2008!
ROBOTICS Challenge Local Teens
In February of 2008, OSHEAN was granted the opportunity to sponsor a team of local students from North Kingstown High School, who expressed interest in competing in the annual state-wide robotics tournament, hosted by Tech Collective and New England Institute of Technology. The US FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge invited Rhode Island high school students to construct functioning robots using independent designs and strategies, in preparation for trials designed to test the functionality of the machine against their peers.
As sponsor for Powell Rangers, OSHEAN provided mentoring as well as funding for equipment and team apparel. Tyler Whittaker, OSHEAN technical intern, offered the students group management strategies and technical guidance, as well as hands on assistance with the automated control systems both during the robot development and at the competition. OSHEAN also supplied access to a work
area in its North Kingstown offices, which provided the students with a large working environment to further develop and test their robot.
Each of the six students demonstrated clear talent in innovative design and great dedication. They successfully applied their unique skill set, including programming, mechanics, knowledge of physics and a mastery of tools, during the creation of the robot. When asked which part of the robot development they found most challenging, integrating the subsystems of the robot to create a single, efficiently functioning unit was decided upon by all. Although some difficulties were present, the students unanimously agreed how great it felt to work as a cohesive team to develop their prized robot. Many congratulations to the North Kingstown High School team Powell Rangers, as they placed 8th overall out of 33 teams!
GREEN IT OF TOMORROW, Today
It’s not easy being “green.” It has, however, become the responsibility of individuals and corporations alike to reduce emissions and instill environmentally savvy practices and procedures in daily life. Lifespan was ahead of the curve when it sparked a virtualization initiative five years ago, and began using VMware to cost effectively increase agility in their data center. This green action allows the hospital to reduce the physical footprint of their data center by having 10 or more virtual servers on one piece of hardware, subsequently reducing HVAC and electrical use and costs. Through the application, health information management software systems which originally controlled 3 ! full server racks, are now housed in one half of a rack.
VMware also allows Lifespan to create new servers almost immediately, imperative in disaster recovery efforts so vital to hospital networks, as it allows flexibility for service of hardware failures in the virtual server farm. Through the provision of load balancing, no server is over loaded, or conversely, under utilized. While there may be a significant training requirement for using virtualization solutions, VMware ultimately increases productivity,
as virtualization reduces downtime by allowing for maintenance work on production servers without any interruption to employees’ daily work. This is especially important in the hospital setting as the staff works 24/7/365.
As confirmed by Elaine Palm, Enterprise Network Manager, “VMware allows us to respond quickly to changing business needs. And that is what we are all here for.” Through this initiative, Lifespan has extend the offering to its helpdesk and partnered with MedHost as the first hospital to utilize virtualization to streamline processes in their emergency department. A true success, David Bernier, Network Engineer at Lifespan, has continued work with MedHost to assist other hospitals wishing to move forward in the virtual track. On the horizon, the hospital intends to explore a VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure which would allow a doctor to remotely access a virtual PC on the Lifespan network via a Virtual Private Network, enabling remote access to all of the files and systems normally only accessible while on the hospital campus. Again, meeting green needs by reducing travel requirements, Lifespan remains a pioneer of ecological operations.
BEACONFiber Network
In addition to procuring services through Cox Communications and Verizon, OSHEAN has made
dark fiber connectivity available to members. Under the Beacon Project, OSHEAN secured Master Service Agreements with several fiber vendors in the North East, facilitating member access to a redundant fiber infrastructure that reaches from South County to Boston. Dark fiber also enables connectivity to
the NEREN network, allowing members to collaborate beyond state borders, and
take advantage of regional services and applications.
WHAT ISa NOC?
OSHEAN’s NOC, Network Operations Center, is provided by Atrion and offers members
24x7x365 monitoring.
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REMOTE SITES UniteThe Community College of Rhode Island faces a unique obstacle not encountered by most other institutions in Rhode Island – four remote sites across the state. It’s multi-campus infrastructure, while successful in fulfilling the college’s mission of reaching the greatest number of students within the state, poses quite a challenge to the IT staff as the upgrades, back-ups, redundancy and connectivity, common to all single higher education campuses, require attention, four-fold. Rather than viewing this as a drawback, the college has developed a plan to capitalize on its remote site design, and will soon begin to connect campuses via dark fiber and the turn what was once a barrier into a strategic advantage.
During the summer of 2008, the college will enter Phase I of a tri-campus dark fiber deploy, connecting its Providence and Warwick campuses redundantly, followed closely by the addition of the Lincoln campus in Phase II. The new infrastructure will enable CCRI to roll out a comprehensive business continuity plan, and enable a full back-up exchange between the Warwick and Lincoln campuses through the provision of enhanced bandwidth capacity. Future
planning for extended offsite back-ups and storage has come to center stage, and off-site collocation opportunities including the Safe Harbor facility in Springfield, MA may now be considered.
A full scale VoIP initiative will also be realized, as CCRI will be able to remove its existing, end of life, TDM switches and associated multiple T1s to an upgraded state-of-the-art IP system that transmits voice applications over the fiber. Currently, only the Providence campus runs its telecommunication over IP. The other campuses have traditional smaller T1 connections. Dark fiber will be more reliable, cost effective and not require any protocol conversions. According to Bruce Barrett, Director of Networking and Telecommunications, the upgrade “will allow CCRI to set up virtual VLANs instead of ordered T1s, allowing the college to wholly control all of its links, and ultimately provide increased reliability which without the fiber would not be practical.” Finally, with fiber, what was once just an idea is now a reality.
COURTS CHARGE AHEAD with Fiber
As citizens in an increasingly computerized world, we have become accustomed to the ease of electronic transactions and communications – from e-filing to email - but don’t often consider the underlying infrastructure required to support growing and changing trends. In 2005, under the new leadership of Robert Baynes, Assistant State Court Administrator and Executive Director at the Judicial Technology Center (JTC), the Rhode Island Courts recognized the emergent digital need and prepared to make a giant leap from an archaic T1-based network to one utilizing fiber optics as the new medium, maximizing high speed connectivity and launching them into the 21st century.
Working from the bottom up, the Courts took advantage of several existing fiber footprints throughout the state and by the summer of 2007, had connected four of the six major courthouses, as well as the JTC building, and silenced growing bandwidth issues with One Gigabit per second (Gbps) of capacity. As a major coup, the two data centers in Providence and Warwick were redundantly linked and mirrored, enabling a business continuity design, and allowing for load balancing to automatically shift traffic, truly benefiting end users who now never experience an outage. The robust underlying infrastructure in place allowed the JTC to introduce a solid three year technology roadmap and plan, spanning 2007-2010.
With a system in place to accommodate an increased workload, the JTC has already begun implementation of its aggressive three year plan set to accomplish its ten major initiatives: data center connectivity electronic filing electronic citations case management system upgrade/replacement reporting database network and computer security audio and visual technology
implementations continuity of operations planning Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal document management pilot Enterprise resource management system. Concentrating all the while on consistent service to its 740 employees, 850 registered users, and overall public base, JTS looks to “improve the absorption of change into the environment while decreasing the impact of change to the customer.”
In the summer of 2008, the JTC will further expand its robust network and enjoy the added benefit of full redundancy for its courthouses to the south of Providence through work with the Community of College or Rhode Island. Closing the ring currently connecting the Kent County Courthouse and Traffic Tribunal to Providence will further the reliability efforts of JTS, reinforcing business continuity, the cornerstone of the three year plan. It will also provide amplified peace of mind to those working so diligently on the effort, as so aptly put by Baynes, “redundancy is what lets us sleep at night.”
IPICS BONDS LOCAL First Responder Community
Bryant University could never have imagined that following a 2003 upgrade to enable campus-wide IP voice, video, and data applications, their new infrastructure would provide the foundation for a network that, within a few short years, would aid public safety agencies within a tri-state region. Utilizing IP Interoperability and Collaboration System (IPICS), which facilitates communications interoperability amongst push-to-talk radio devices, IP phones, and PCs or laptops, as the cornerstone of the movement, the Northern Control hub on the Smithfield campus was born. From Northern Control, the university has extended its IPICS network to link the campus with public safety agencies, both on and off campus, utilizing technology to improve inter-agency collaboration, help agencies speed response time, and increase safety and security to both its campus and to the community-at-large.
Bryant launched the IPICS project by surveying the state’s fire safety agencies and quickly found that without an existing countywide dispatch capability, each fire dispatch center throughout the state operated its own independent radio frequency. Not only did this present a problem when coordinating dispatch of multiple agencies, it also limited the number of radio frequencies available to interoperate with other public safety agencies. Translation: public safety departments in the area didn’t have secondary channels for patching different departments together, so relied heavily on a single intercity fire channel, often so congested that dispatchers frequently resorted to using a land-line telephone - not a perfect solution in a crisis situation. IPICS afforded Bryant and first responders the capability to send firsthand information from the source directly to the right group of people in the shortest possible time, no matter where they are or what they use to communicate - shrinking time and distance and speeding time-to-citizen safety.
Championed by Deputy Chief Brown of the Smithfield Fire Department, Bryant worked with regional agencies in several towns throughout the state, as well as with Connecticut’s Quinebaug Valley Regional Dispatch Center, demonstrating how a virtual public safety network, enabled by the university’s IPICS network, could connect regional dispatch centers through OSHEAN. Using a Windows-based application that enables push-to-talk functionality for PC users, Bryant’s IPICS system created a virtual public safety “incident channel” that allows the various dispatch
centers to communicate and monitor broadcasts over multiple channels As a result, the state’s E-911 center and Emergency Management Agency now have multiple connections into Bryant’s system, while the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Department of Transportation and Traffic Management Center have all begun the process of connecting into Bryant’s emergency response network. Looking forward, the hope is that the universities that deploy IPICS on campus will eventually extend it even further to the local first responders within their own communities.
A testament to the value and effectiveness of Bryant’s IPICS solution, since its inception, there has been growing interest and multiple unsolicited requests by state and local officials, as well as other institutions of higher education, to extend the system into additional communities, public safety agencies, and university campuses. Many thanks are due to Rich Siedzik, Bryant’s Director of Computer & Telecommunications Services, and his team for their advocacy in bringing the technology to life and for continued efforts to spread the IPICS story, and provide aid to those interested. What began as a plan to advance campus safety and communications with the Smithfield Fire Department, has expanded into a widespread initiative to unify correspondence, ultimately forging a unique partnership with Rhode Island’s first responders.
WHAT DOESOSHEAN Stand For?
Ocean State Higher education Economic development
and Administrative Network
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WHAT IS NEREN?NEREN (Northeast Research and Education Network),
founded in 2003, is a consortium of non-profit organizations that provide a fiber-optic network connecting and unifying
the research and education communities in New York and New England. NEREN securely enables some of the most prestigious universities in the world to explore the global resources that utilize ultra broadband applications.
The NEREN network ties together in-state fiber initiatives effectively creating an e-corridor that links the members not only to one another but also to facilities throughout the region and globe. The network
primarily transports research, academic and healthcare information, but is also intended to
allow corporate and government members to form partnerships and collaborations with
the region’s, academic, research and healthcare members.
A SECURE PORT in Safe Harbor In an ever increasing digital world, it has become common place for individuals and organizations to be heavily reliant upon computerized equipment to store a myriad of data from family pictures to student information systems to medical records. But what happens when that equipment fails, or is destroyed? While disaster preparedness and business continuity planning is vital, organizations have seen a growing need to be proactive in their approach, and begin to store back-up records offsite to ensure that, during an emergency, all is not lost.
In order to help its members prepare for a disaster, OSHEAN, working through its membership with NEREN, has collaborated with affiliates in Connecticut and Massachusetts to provide transport to an offsite, telecommunications rich, alternative data center in Springfield, MA. Dubbed Safe Harbor, the facility offers secure access to rack, power and pipe, and allows members to maintain their presence on the
Internet in the case of a disaster or emergency at their main site. Through the power of a high speed independent Internet network, connectivity may be utilized to not only communicate with people outside an immediate affected area, but also allow replication of applications crucial to daily function.
Safe Harbor users are able to individually define what the site means to them. By provisioning their own equipment, each may identify the specific needs of their organization, then customize and deploy an optimum solution. Flexible service models allow all members, whether large or small, to continue to grow and ultimately accomplish the main goal - to ensure that vital information will continue to be available on a timely basis, in a time of need.
HOW DOES IT RELATE to OSHEAN?
As a founding member of NEREN and initial investor in the ONC Project - a twenty-year indefeasible right of use (IRU) lease on a dark fiber ring that traverses southern New England with connections in Boston, Springfield, Albany, New York City, Hartford, and Providence – OSHEAN members have the opportunity to take advantage of NEREN enabled projects and initiatives with colleagues throughout the region. Via the ONC Project fiber, members have been granted free transport to the Safe Harbor facility, as well as diverse internet access to and from the
site. Perhaps the greatest benefit, OSHEAN members now have access to an extended network, from which
a community for sharing ideas and best practices has blossomed, truly uniting the northeast. BERKLEE COLLEGE
OF MUSIC
Cautious and thoughtful in its approach to offsite disaster recovery colocation, Berklee College of Music was the first OSHEAN member to lease space at the Safe Harbor site but delayed installation in favor of learning and experimenting with the options available. Over the summer and fall of 2007, the college developed a focused plan, confirmed by Roy Galang, Director of Network and Telecommunications: “over time we envision placing more sophisticated communication equipment, telecom services and data backup services that can not only help with crisis management but also support our business continuity plans. The availability of a remote site will also help us in our daily support role. We can continually test the quality of our Internet connection and make any adjustments necessary.”
In the spring of 2008, Berklee began implementation efforts and mounted three servers used for testing remote server management. While also testing the speed and consistency of the network, the college is using the time to experiment with and develop remote procedures. In anticipation of increased usage of the service in the near future, Berklee has solidified its plan through Safe Harbor and guarantees success in the event that communications are disrupted at their main campus in Boston.
ROGER WILLIAMS MEDICAL CENTER
Roger Williams Medical Center has also taken action, and over the past year developed a new comprehensive disaster recovery plan. The plan identified the need to find a site capable of consistently keeping a current set of data available to restore and rebuild in the event of a catastrophe. Through OSHEAN, the door was opened to Safe Harbor.
During an initial test phase of the site in the winter of 2008, the 100 mile distance proved to be ideal, and with an existing fiber connection to RWMC providing ample and seemingly limitless bandwidth to move data sets back and forth between locations, the Springfield site was elected. Making immediate use of the facility, a redundant “Data Domain” disk based de-duplication backup solution was installed which pushes files to the Springfield site on a daily basis. While still in the initial implementation stages, the hospital already has slated future plans to include a build out of VMware servers and a Storage Area Network to handle full scale system restores, and looks forward to making full use of the facility to solidify its business continuity strategy.
RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE
Rhode Island College, often times ahead of the curve, was the first of the OSHEAN members to take advantage of installing back-up equipment at the Safe Harbor site. By August, 2008, RIC will have installed four primary functions: primary DNS, website, web server re-directs, and an emergency communications channel. Henk Sonder, Director of Networks and Telecommunications, noted his “excitement about the capabilities of having offsite functionality, especially the website which is such a primary source of information.” Sonder has been a true champion of the Safe Harbor site. Connected via dark fiber, Rhode Island College holds almost unlimited capacity enabling future efforts such as shared storage and fully mirrored applications, particularly WebCT. Through Safe Harbor, the “seeing is believing” requirement has been realized as the Rhode Island College IT department can now demonstrate to all the true benefit of their off-site backup systems.
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