Category Archives: Projects & Services
Great Lakes update: December 2018
The Great Lakes service is a next generation HPC platform for U-M researchers that will provide several performance advantages compared to Flux, primarily in the areas of storage and networking. Great Lakes is built around the latest Intel CPU architecture called Skylake, and will have standard, large memory, visualization, and GPU-accelerated nodes. For more information on the technical aspects of… Read More »
ITS sets up new DNS authoritative server in AWS
Members of the ITS CITP (Cloud Infrastructure Transformation Program) technical team, working with the ITS Hostmaster, have created a Domain Name Service (DNS) authoritative server in Amazon Web Services (AWS) to increase resiliency. There are two types of DNS servers: resolvers and authoritative. Computers send DNS questions (queries) to a DNS resolver. The resolver then finds the right… Read More »
Improved cell service for Crisler Center
Michigan basketball players, athletics staff, and Wolverine fans are benefiting from improved Verizon cellular service at Crisler Center this season. ITS partnered with Verizon, Facilities & Operations, and Athletics to install a Distributed Antenna System in Crisler Center that went live just before the first game. Antennas throughout the arena, concourse, and player development facilities will enhance overall… Read More »
U-M Box & Google Monthly Digest
Dearborn moves to MiBackup solution
A cross-campus collaboration that moved UM-Dearborn to UM-Ann Arbor ITS’s MiBackup system has resulted in significant cost savings, increased efficiency, and reduced work effort. At the end of 2017, Dearborn’s primary server backup system had reached capacity. After consulting with Ann Arbor ITS, Dearborn ITS created a plan to migrate its failing backups over to the MiBackup service… Read More »
Document Imaging System upgrade coming in summer 2019
ITS is planning to upgrade the Document Imaging System in June or July of 2019. This upgrade will increase customer service and support to system users by expanding browser accessibility and increasing system stability. Web-based access will have an updated look and feel. More details will be shared in the coming months. The Document Imaging System is an enterprise… Read More »
Check out GSuite & Box training this winter
The Collaboration Services team is pleased to announce that, following this year’s pilot, we are continuing the in-person training program. Classes are offered to U-M faculty and staff at no-charge. Register via My LINC. We have scheduled classes throughout 2019 offering each class once a quarter. You can see the course offerings on the U-M Box website and the U-M… Read More »
My Learning Analytics offers new insights to learners
ITS Teaching and learning (T&L) is partnering with the School of Information (SI) and the School of Education (SOE) to develop learning analytics tools aimed at improving student performance. Equipped with evidence from past learning dashboard efforts, research faculty and graduate students in SI and SOE have been working with development staff from T&L on designing —and then… Read More »
New HPC resources to replace Flux, updates to Armis coming
New HPC resources to replace Flux and updates to Armis will run a new scheduling system (Slurm). Users will need to learn the commands in this system and update batch files to successfully run jobs. Slurm is expected to bring performance gains, better user communications, and increased reliability that will significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the… Read More »
Skype for Business rolls out to Michigan Medicine
In November, Skype for Business “dial-in conferencing” became available to all of Michigan Medicine as the organization’s primary business communication tool for audio/video conferencing. This feature enables users to set up or join an online conference directly through their Outlook calendars. Additional contact, support, and PIN information is included in meeting invites so users can now invite… Read More »
ITS delivers first software-driven network at NCDC
The ITS Network team has successfully delivered a new ITS network in the North Campus Data Center (NCDC). Because the network was brand new, the teams explored some exciting network advancements as part of the project, including: adopting more modern networking practices, and including a network architecture that leverages EVPN-VXLAN in lieu of less-stable, legacy protocols. In addition… Read More »
ITS begins work on CUI proof of concept
The University of Michigan has been working on a effort to ensure that the university is compliant with the new regulations concerning the use of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). The next step is to develop a CUI public cloud strategy and proof of concept in AWS. That is where the ITS Cloud Infrastructure Transformation Program (CITP) technical team… Read More »
ITS completes upgrades of MCommunity ecosystem
The ITS Identity and Access Management functional and operations team successfully upgraded the MCommunity ecosystem in October, 2018. This project involved upgrades of the Identity Manager and eDirectory systems. It was the final phase of an 18-month effort to transition the MCommunity ecosystem off of virtual hardware and onto a hybrid virtual/physical hardware architecture with an eye towards… Read More »
U-M Box & Google Monthly Digest
U-M Leaders and Best in cloud storage adoption
ITS is pleased to announce that we have successfully adopted Amazon Web Services’ Simple Storage Service (AWS S3) to seamlessly store aging campus files and save university MiStorage capital funds. The benefit to the university is that the Storage team will be able to run the service within the current rate structure without having to ask for additional… Read More »
Take a look at the ART 2.0 Academic Spotlight
Academic Reporting Tools (ART 2.0) serve the U-M community by exposing historical academic data including information about courses, instructors, and majors. ART 2.0 is a data visualization tool that will assist decision makers in accessing and analyzing U-M course and academic program data to help administration, faculty, and students make more informed decisions. In service of meeting this objective, ART… Read More »
Duo expansion: New app and resources support two-factor for Weblogin
Getting questions about U-M’s move to two-factor for Weblogin for faculty and staff? New and updated materials are available that you can refer people to. The online and print materials are intended to help you prepare for January 23, 2019, when two-factor for Weblogin will be turned on for all faculty, staff, student employees, and sponsored affiliates of… Read More »
Here and there: Experiences with a remote presence robot
I lugged the inert, soulless body around for a few hours, before my colleague some thousand miles away took control of it. Later, as I was flying to Denver, Colorado, there was a conference keynote in Ann Arbor, Michigan I wanted to attend. I decided to connect to the body I knew was there, waiting for me to… Read More »
Web Platforms Service hires new manager
Mark Montague has been named manager of Web Platforms and Information Systems for ITS Infrastructure Application Operations. Prior to this role, Montague ran his two-person IT consulting and contracting company from 1992–1995, and has a long history with the university that begins in 1992. Some may remember him from his previous work at ITS (1995-1998 and 2006-2010) or… Read More »