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March 3, 1997
Changes to campus modem pool; upgrade to faculty modem services
By Robin Ove and Greg Scott
As a result of increased usage of the World Wide Web for instructional purposes and a high number of requests by faculty, CATS will upgrade the faculty modem pool to accommodate SLIP and PPP services. The faculty modem service was originally provided only to support remote dial-in telnet access to CATS/Athena instructional compute servers (buddy, rufus, and sasha). This pool was expanded to permit staff access to the administrative server (meow) last year.
To better support the two distinct functions and communities, Pacific Bell in coordination with CATS/NTS will split the pool into two separate groups on Monday, March 3rd. The staff number will remain 458-1648; the faculty modem service will be provided on a new phone number--425-8037.
After March 3rd, users calling the current number (458-1648) will NOT be able to access the CATS/Athena instructional compute servers. Faculty must call the new faculty pool number (425-8037) to access those systems.
The staff modem service will be upgraded to five 28.8 capable modems, and will provide the same telnet access to the campus administrative compute server (meow) as now provided, using the current dial-in number. Staff who require SLIP/PPP access will need to use the existing public numbers or, if greater access is required by their department, subscribe to the Departmental Modem Service (DMS) to establish one or more dedicated modems for their unit's usage (at a cost of $550.00 per modem annually).
The faculty pool will be upgraded to eight 28.8 capable modems, and will offer SLIP/PPP connection services in addition to telnet access. Only those faculty with accounts on the divisional CATS/Athena machines (buddy, rufus, and sasha) will be authorized to use this service. All faculty with current CATS/Athena accounts will automatically be enrolled in the service. The CATS IRC will manage an authentication file for this service as part of the current account maintenance process. Faculty without current CATS/Athena accounts can register for one by seeing their divisional Account Controller (as listed below) for applications.
Note that while 28.8 modems are being installed, NTS cannot guarantee connection service above 14.4 due to limitations in Pacific Bell analog telephone services to the campus. For those users who have configured their machines with the CATS recommended settings for the Internet Starter Kit, we anticipate the only change necessary will be the phone number to provide access to the new service.
During this initial phase-in, services and demand will be monitored to determine if modem time limits similar to the public pool are required to provide the best distributed usage. Funding to expand the pool beyond current modem numbers is not available. If you have questions regarding this service upgrade or need assistance with standard connectivity configurations you may call the CATS Information Resource Center at x4357 or send e-mail to infocat@cats.
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