Core Services Cumulative Monthly Report, November/December 2004

This monthly report is the first of the new planning year, and so follows the format of newly-written goals.

• New and improved services
• LIT on-call service.
• Institutional Repository.
• Dec: Marsh, in coordination with Blanco, installed Apache on sambuca to enable custom CGI development for the IR project.
  
• Shibboleth.
• Infrastructure
• Improvements to storage infrastructure, web server redundancy.
• Nov: Marsh and Snavely selected a high-performance switch to underlie the first storage network, and Snavely placed the order.
  
• COSIGN.
  
• Positioning DLPS as a trusted digital repository (TDR).
• Dec: Snavely, working with Stephenson and Willett, reviewed options for persistent identifier schemes for the library and settled on a preference for CNRI handles. This preference will be reviewed with appropriate colleagues within the library.
  
• Redundant MySQL.
• DHCP/DNS services.
• Nov: Marsh, in coordination with DSS, rolled out temporary DHCP service on sake after the library's primary DHCP server, stella, failed. Plans are still being developed to move to ITCS-managed DHCP.
  
• Develop an authentication and authorization management system.
• Revisit logging practices.
  
• Production server replacements/upgrades.
• Nov: Marsh installed and configured scotch, a new file server for the Michigan Digitization Project.
• Dec: Marsh and Snavely decided on a storage upgrade configuration for gracie to allow for more free space for Oracle archive logs and disk-to-disk backups, and Marsh placed the order.
  
• Formalize system administration infrastructure.
• Replace DLXS statistics.
• Centralize LIT backup.
• Development server replacements/upgrades.
• Security assessment.
• Workflow, processes, and organizational work
• LIT work requests and scheduling.
• Nov: Snavely recommended the use of FootPrints to LIT managers for handling work requests and scheduling, and suggested a brief refresher session for FootPrints use for the group, to focus on reporting.
• Dec: Snavely made basic configuration tweaks to the LIT Core Services project in FootPrints, and Marsh and Snavely began entering current work in process into the tracking database.
  
• Clearly articulate LIT services and resources.
• Dec: Snavely prepared an overview of Core Services, to be integrated with overviews from other LIT units.
  
• Documentation and standardization of processes.
• Dec: Marsh and Snavely moved several pockets of old documentation into the new structure on the LIT web site, and Snavely did some basic reorganization, simplification, and editing.
  
• Improve coordination of data loading.
• Cost model.
• Technology trends awareness.
• Miscellaneous/Unplanned
• Nov: Marsh continued to migrate more users from the local mail server, rum, to ITCS mail.
• Dec: Marsh migrated all but the final few users to ITCS mail.
• Dec: Snavely configured Samba file sharing on the MDP file server and, in coordination with Gietzen and Potter, finalized the design of scripts that will automate the quality review process.
  
• System Performance
  
• Arbor Lakes server environment
• ethel.umdl (ARC server): No down time
• gracie.umdl (Aleph server): No down time
• hiram.umdl (Zebra server): No down time
  
• tequila.umdl (Metalib and SFX server): No down time
  
• Central Campus server environment
• betty.umdl (MIRLYNWeb server): No down time
  
• coffee.umdl (Oracle server for access control): No down time
  
• gin.umdl (WebCheckout server): No down time
• myrna.umdl (Library Web server): No down time
  
• quik.umdl (Survivors of the Shoah cache server): No down time
• ting.umdl (library proxy server): No down time
  
• North Campus server environment: All text and image services were down on Tuesday, November 16 from 8:00-10:00am due to a brief network outage that triggered a database problem.
• dlps5.umdl (backup library proxy server): No down time
• dlps6.umdl (Oracle server for access control and usage statistics): No down time
  
• dlps7.umdl (Numeric Data server): No down time
  
• dlps8.umdl (non-public collections): No additional down time
  
• dlps9.umdl (Image Services): Also down on Tuesday, December 21st from 7:15am through 8:30am for preventative maintennace on a storage subsystem.
• dlps10.umdl (primary web server for DLPS and public collections): No additional down time
  

• Data Loading and Archival Statistics