Three weeks into the fall term and many of York\u2019s faculty and staff are now used to a change that has been made to the\u00a0way they login\u00a0to their computers. Gone is the standard \u201cNovell\u201d login prompt, which for some 20 years greeted most\u00a0York computer users. It has been replaced by Microsoft Active Directory.<\/p>\n
The change\u00a0required a silent \"migration\"\u00a0of hundreds of personal computers.\u00a0While seemingly simple,\u00a0the work to move users to\u00a0Microsoft Active Directory\u00a0from Novell required an enormous effort. In fact, some 50 people in the University Information Technology (UIT) Department have worked on the project, which took several ye![\"Chris](\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110926\/\/Chris_Russel.jpg\")
ars to complete.\u00a0The entire process \u2013\u00a0which in computer-speak\u00a0is\u00a0referred to as a migration \u2013\u00a0involved\u00a0a design phase, followed by extensive testing and then a staggered move of groups of computer users over to Microsoft Active Directory.<\/p>\n
Why is this important? Chris Russel (right)<\/strong>, director of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and York\u2019s information security officer, says the\u00a0migration brings with it\u00a0many benefits for computer users because\u00a0it\u00a0improves computing at York and\u00a0has added \"green\" benefits, associated with\u00a0eliminating the multiple servers required to run the previous configuration.<\/p>\n \u201cThe entire project was specially designed so as not to add a whole lot of difference to the desktop [computer] user,\u201d says Russel. \u201cBehind the scenes is another story, as everything is different.\u201d<\/p>\n Microsoft Active Directory is a File Access Service (FAS), which is now the way most of the University\u00a0makes use of network-based file shares, printing and desktop login. It also provides improved authentication and access control, and better and faster file\/print services (important for the average user). It is designed to allow local information technology groups to provide and manage their own resources while still\u00a0maintaining the benefit of a single YORKU domain name.<\/p>\n The change\u00a0has meant that more than\u00a0100\u00a0assorted servers on campus that were\u00a0running obsolete technology and were managed by information technology groups from different Faculties and business units have been replaced with a single\u00a0consolidated, centralized infrastructure.\u00a0For the desktop user, that means better performance, increased\u00a0services and\u00a0the ability to\u00a0retrieve \"lost work\" in the event of a\u00a0disaster (by way ofi\u00a0a power failure or\u00a0other unexpected event).<\/p>\n The previous computing environment, says Russel, was the equivalent to a patchwork quilt with\u00a0isolated servers, file sharing, access controls, \"quick fixes\"\u00a0and accounts managed by many groups.\u00a0\"It was unnecessarily complicated,\" he says. The project involved unraveling the threads of all of the University's\u00a0computing and processes, assessing each one and then taking all the Right: A patchwork of servers, spare parts,\u00a0patches and fixes dominated the previous environment<\/strong><\/p>\n Now\u00a0everything is\u00a0\"virtual\" and takes advantage of the latest version of Microsoft Active Directory. This\u00a0brings York's computing environment out of the patchwork age and into the de facto<\/em> industry standard.\u00a0A computer user's desktop is\u00a0now a web-based, virtual desktop\u00a0with application streaming. This in turn improves\u00a0asset management, and lowers costs through automation and remote management.<\/p>\n \"It is also easier for\u00a0everyone because it moves us closer\u00a0to a single login environment that is in line with Passport York,\" says Russel.<\/p>\n Keeping York's computing environment secure is another benefit of the change, says Russel. Large complex systems are subjected to a daily barrage of never-ending attacks, abuse\u00a0and threats and the move to FAS brings\u00a0the advantages of centralized logging and monitoring, access management and reporting, computing policy enforcement and a host of other benefits of identity management.<\/p>\n And that green benefit? \"We are now running one server rather than a group of servers,\" says Russel. \"The cost of power alone to cool the servers was huge and was our primary electrical draw. The Left: A retirement cake celebrates\u00a0the end of an era\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n There will be some things that will require getting used to, says Russel. Users will notice that working remotely is different and there are some subtle differences behind the scenes\u00a0that mean that things may not work exactly as before.<\/p>\n For the most part, Russel says he is very satisfied with how the change has been rolled out.<\/p>\n \"We had a bit of a party with a cake and gathered in the machine room to turn off\u00a0the last server,\" he says. \"It is really the end of an era.\"<\/p>\n By Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Unbeknownst to many in the York community, there has been a silent \"migration\" underway of hundreds of personal computers \u2013 from Novell to Microsoft Active Directory...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[36],"yfileauthor":[],"qualifier":[],"yfile-author":[],"tags-to-show":[157],"workflow":[],"class_list":["post-17648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-sustainability","tags-to-show-sustainability"],"acf":{"internal_publish_date":null,"original_image":null},"yoast_head":"\n![\"](\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110926\/novell_servers2.jpg\")
information and designing a solution that would work well given the different needs and priorities.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"http:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/photos\/20110926\/retirement_cake2.jpg\")
change has produced a savings of 18,600\u00a0kilowatt hours per month, which translates to about $1,000 per month in savings at current energy rates.\"<\/p>\n