Core Services Goals for 2005-2006

Goals for the current planning year

Goals for previous years

Overview

Substantial areas of infrastructure work this year will include completion of the networked storage installation for DLPS resources, and work toward broadening the infrastructure for general web services; rollout of the CoSign authentication system for all web services; and introduction of redundant MySQL service.

Newly-hired programming staff will enable long-standing goals of replacing the DLPS statistics system and completion of the authorization management system to be completed, as well as new automation for the Michigan Digitization Project and other projects to be handled as well.

Goals are organized below into three areas: New and improved services, Infrastructure, and Work flow/process/organizational.

• New and improved services
• Michigan Digitization Project (MDP) access system. Support the development of the MDP access system and develop and improve automation for MDP workflows.
  
• Priority: HIGH
• Specifics/timeline:
• Winter: Develop fully-automated download management system.
• Winter/Spring: Build additional infrastructure for MDP access system.
  
• Institutional Repository. Support the Institutional Repository pilot project.
• Priority: MEDIUM
• Shibboleth. Collaborate with ITCS to begin to offer Shibboleth origin service for UM.
• Priority: MEDIUM
• Specifics/timeline:
• Winter/Spring: Coordinate ITCS work with ProQuest toward a pilot.
• Summer: Release ("soft") pilot for ProQuest resources, troubleshoot, operationalize.
• Fall: Announce production support for Shibboleth access to ProQuest resources, begin planning for broading service to other resource providers.
  
• Infrastructure
  • Improvements to storage infrastructure, web server redundancy. Continue migration of DLPS resources to new model, extend to library web service, and modernize load-balancing mechanisms.
    • Priority: HIGH
    • Specifics/timeline:
    • Winter: Colocate historically distinct DLPS services (ETS, HTI, Image) onto networked storage and web server farm to facilitate data synchronization.
      
    • Spring: Investigate synchronization issues with library web service and research options for modernizing load balancing.
      
    • Summer/Fall: Migrate library web service to networked storage and web server farm and implement improvements to load balancing.
      
  • COSIGN. Transition from Lib Auth to COSIGN authentication
    • Priority: HIGH
    • Specifics/timeline:
      • Winter/Spring: Colocate historically distinct DLPS services (ETS, HTI, Image) onto networked storage and web server farm to facilitate SSL configuration and coordinate with Web Services to rework web application logic as necessary to work with COSIGN.
      • Spring: Develop rollout plan in consultation with PARC.
      • Summer: Make final preparations for rollout and cut over.
  • Redundant MySQL. Combine production MySQL database services to a central, dedicated, redundant pair of servers.
    • Priority: HIGH
    • Specifics/timeline:
      • Winter: Research, activate, and test redundancy, develop backup procedures, and migrate DLPS databases to new servers.
      • Spring: Migrate library web databases to new servers.
        
  • Production server replacements/upgrades.
    • Priority: HIGH
    • Specifics/timeline:
    • Migrate from CAEN AFS to ITCS AFS.
    • Winter: Complete pending 2004-2005 server upgrades and migrations of unsupported RedHat versions.
    • After Winter: Initiate 2005-2006 server and storage upgrades.
  • Replace DLXS statistics. Research off-the-shelf solutions that can be easily adapted to handle DLXS and MDP statistics and that can be sustainably managed and released via DLXS.
  • Priority: HIGH
  • Specifics/timeline:
  • Spring: Research available tools and development of customized modules.
  • Summer: Transition from current system, including migration of data as possible.
    
  • Develop an authentication and authorization management system.
    • Priority: HIGH
    • Specifics/timeline:
    • Spring/Summer: Design management features.
    • Summer/Fall: Development and rollout of new features.
      
  • Centralize LIT backup. Migrate departmental CS and DSS backup services to a larger-scale, centralized backup infrastructure, purchasing or re-using equipment as appropriate, to reduce costs and improve scale.
    • Priority: MEDIUM
    • Specifics/timeline:
      • Winter: Test hardware, determine capacities/costs, and develop architecture.
        
      • Spring: Purchase software and transition service.
        
  • Formalize system administration infrastructure.
    • Priority: MEDIUM
    • Specifics:
      • Define and document the characteristics of the standard environment: what platforms and operating systems are supported, what software packages are installed, which of those are centrally administered, etc.
      • Explore tools and brainstorm models for centralized system administration, including techniques for automating the processes of installing operating systems and base required software.
      • Set up system administration resources such as servers, software, etc. as necessary.
      • Begin transition of servers to centralized model.
  • Revisit logging practives. Conduct a basic audit of logging practices in LIT systems and work toward better compliance with Library privacy policy.
    • Priority: MEDIUM
    • Specifics/timeline:
      • Winter: Create inventory of systems and degree of compliance.
      • Spring: Formulate strategies for coming into compliance.
      • Ongoing: Implement strategies, where possible.
  • DHCP/DNS services. Migrate existing DHCP services to ITCS-provided HindSite service.
    • Priority: MEDIUM
    • Specifics:
      • Rollout to the LIT Hatcher private network.
      • Rollout to the general library networks.
  • Development server replacements/upgrades. Conduct periodic assessments of development servers and identify areas of need. With input from users, consider a) consolidating services, b) repurposing retired production servers (if still viable), and/or c) purchasing new equipment or upgrades as appropriate. Work to achieve a balance between a robust environment and management overhead.
    • Priority: LOW
    • Specifics:
    • Migrate from CAEN AFS to ITCS AFS.
      
  • Security assessment. Conduct an assessment of security practices, document them, and make improvements where necessary.
    • Priority: LOW
• Work flow, processes, and organizational work
  • Trusted Digital Repository (TDR) compliance and quality management. The new repository, access system, and associated work flows and documentation for the MDP project are the sole focus of this planning year's TDR work. However, critical quality management needs in digital reformatting work flows are also to be addressed.
    
    • Priority: MEDIUM
    • Specifics/timeline:
    • Improve or develop automation in the digital reformatting unit for the following:
      
    • file name convention checking
    • image validation (using JHove)
    • MD5 checksum creation/validation
    • Evaluate MDP-related processes with respect to TDR compliance, using the new RLG auditing checklist. (To be coordinated by new LIT Special Projects Librarian)
    • Position new MDP repository for TDR compliance.
    • Stage 1 (after February, to avoid competition with development of prototype access system): Share results of above evaluation, and identify critical areas or opportunities in new repository architecture, work flow, and/or documentation during early formative periods.
    • Stage 2: Build components, set up work flows, or write documentation in accordance with TDR principles as identified in Stage 1.
    • Regular validation of digital objects. Develop automation for regularly validating digital objects using MD5 checksums.
    • Persistent IDs and resolution. Support the development of processes to create persistent URLs for DLPS- and SPO-hosted material.
  • Documentation and standardization of processes. Organize and fill gaps in documentation of the current environment and normal operations; use the process of documenting processes as an opportunity to develop and implement stanadards for those processes.
    • Priority: MEDIUM
  • Improve coordination of data loading. Establish communications as appropriate to better coordinate demand for data loading.
    • Priority: MEDIUM
  • LIT work requests and scheduling. Improve communication of work requests across LIT, including scheduling.
  • Priority: LOW
  • LIT on-call service. Further streamline LIT on-call service.
    • Priority: LOW
      
  • Cost model. Continue development of the model for core service costs based on a simple, known variable such as page or image count, to better quantify resources needed in Core Services.
    • Priority: LOW
  • Technology trends awareness. Pursue a modest number of options such as trade magazine subscriptions or technology conferences to stay abreast of development in relevant technologies.
    • Priority: LOW