A Newsletter of the Information Technology Services Centre

A Newsletter of the Information Technology Services Centre, Lingnan University

Sept

embe

r

2003‘Back to Class’ or

‘Welcome to Lingnan’

n

Viruses attack

University Computers

n

WebCT Updates

n

University’s New

Intranet (MyLingnanU)

n

Web Icons

n

ITSC Scheduled

Preventative

Maintenance

n

Wireless LAN (WLAN)

for Lingnan University

n

Storage Area Network

(SAN) for Lingnan

University

‘Back to Class’ or ‘Welcome to Lingnan’

Whether you are returning from your long vacation or you are totally new to Lingnan, here are some

quick tips and reminders about IT and AV services from ITSC for you to remember...

New Opening Hours for ITSC: 8 am – 6 pm Lecture Theatre Phones(Monday – Friday) These wall mounted phones are provided for internal

calls only and are now available in lecture theatresThey are the new service hours for the HotlineMBG01, MBG06, MBG07 and MBG22.(PC ext: 7995 and AV ext: 7998) and the General

Office. The AV Hotline (ext: 7998) will be furtherLaser Printers for Teaching Labsextended until 6:30 pm during teaching weeks.Laser printers have been installed in each of the

Netscape Mail BUG19, BU321 and SO202 Teaching Labs for

convenient printing during class.We have launched Netscape Mail as the major

email client for PCs with Windows XP. NoteBulk Email Arrangement

that Eudora is still being used for those existingThe ‘bulk email queuing system’ is now fully

PCs with the Windows 98 Operating System, butoperational, where bulk email messages are queued

it will eventually be phased out when these PCsup to be sent out automatically every 10 minutes.

are replaced.n Use http://checkbulkq.ln.edu.hk to check the

LCD ceiling-mounted projector in MBG07 status of your email messages in the queue.

n Use http://bulkmailalias.ln.edu.hk for an up-This has now been replaced, while those into-date email alias group list.MBG10, GE201, BU119 and BU121 will be

replaced towards the end of this year. n For more details please visit the ITSC website

at www.ln.edu.hk/itsc

Contact list for major ITSC services:

Services Contact Point___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

General Enquiry Ext: 8408 (General Office)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

User/Desktop Support Ext: 7995 (PC Hotline)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AV Equipment/Instructional Support in Teaching Venues Ext: 7998 (AV Hotline)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Banner Systems (Student, Finance, HR, Alumni) Ext: 8496 (James)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Web Services Ext: 8404 (Gill)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hostel Support Ext: 8418 (Ron)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Campus Network/Email Ext: 8427 (Kenneth)Ext: 8410 (Daniel)

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Suggestions or comments mailto:[email protected]

For more details, please refer to the ITSC Newsletter May 2003 Edition at

http://www.ln.edu.hk/itsc/info/publication/newsletter.shtml

8

ITSC Newsletter September 2003

2

Many computers on campus have been infected with one or more ofViruses attackthe following viruses that are spreading quickly around the world…

University

Computers W32.Sobig.F@mm Discovered on: August 21, 2003

The new worm Sobig.F is at least the third new, major Internet worm to hit computers worldwide

in the past week. It arrives in email and includes a variety of subject lines including ‘Your details’,

‘ T h a n k y o u ! ’ , ‘ Yo u r a p p l i c a t i o n ’ , ‘ T h a t M o v i e ’ a n d ‘ Wi c k e d s c r e e n s a v e r ’ .

Attachment names may be: applications.zip, details.zip, movie0045.zip, your_details.zip, your_document.

zip or wicked_scr.zip. If you receive one of these messages, simply delete it without opening the

attachments. Do not double-click the attachment. If you open the attachment, this worm will

attempt to email copies of itself to all email addresses that it can find on your PC. It will search

your email address book files and it will forge its return address to disguise its true origin.

W32.Randex.E Discovered on: August 18, 2003

W32.Randex.E uses the same Windows vulnerability which Blaster originally used, however it also

installs a component which allows the computer to be controlled through an Internet Relay Chat

(IRC) service. W32.Randex.E appears to target Windows 2000 systems mostly.

W32.Blaster.worm Discovered on: August 14, 2003

W32.Blaster is a worm which spreads via the Microsoft's Remote Procedure Call (RPC) vulnerability

in Windows NT, 2000, XP and 2003 Server. This virus is a very serious one and will cause a Denial

of Service Attack, which could involve network slowdowns, system stability problems, including

random and repeated rebooting, unresponsive system behaviour, and other strange side effects. One

variant installs a backdoor which allows remote access or control of your machine by others.

With the recent influx of email viruses, users are reminded that, when a message is deleted,USERS MUST THEN GO INTO THEIR TRASH OR DELETED MESSAGES FOLDER andEMPTY (or 'select all' and 'delete) MESSAGES IN THOSE FOLDERS in order to ensurethe viruses and its attachments are completely deleted from your PC.

8

Video Editing System‘Back to Class’ orThere are now three sets of equipment setup in the Multi-media Booth (1st Floor Library). Are you

‘Welcome to an academic who requires your students to submit assignments in the format of VCD /video tape

Lingnan’ production or indoor photo-shooting / indoor video shooting using the video editing tools or use the

TV Studio, etc? Then please call our AV Hotline (ext: 7998) to schedule a private session for your

students, which is usually taught in one of your lessons. We are also planning to employ student

assistants in the Multi-Media Booth in the Library to assist students to use the Video Editing System

– the schedule to be announced!

Multi-media BoothOriginally located on the 2nd floor of the GE Building, it has now been relocated to the 1st Floor of

the Library. (The Audio Recording and TV Studio still remain in the GE Building).

The following services are available at the Multi-Media Booth…

n Non-linear Video Editing, n VCD Production,

n Real-time DVD Recording, n Real-time VCD Production,

n Video Format Conversion, n Video Dubbing,

n Linear Video Editing, n Color Scanning,

n OCR Scanning and n Audio Dubbing.

8


3

WebCT updates The Online courseware teaching system, WebCT is part of the Integrated Administrative System (IAS).

WebCT will be integrated with the Banner System and the University’s Web Portal called ‘MyLingnanU’

(based on SCT Luminis Basic) in the second semester of the new academic year 2003-2004. Software

version numbers are being aligned to facilitate the integration, but they will be largely transparent to

users. As a requirement, ITSC has just upgraded WebCT from version 3.7 to 4.0.

There are many advantages to move to a new version of WebCT and the new capabilities are easier to use

as much of the technology is graphical based, with less commands and IT skills required for developing

course contents.

The good news is that academic staff and students can now use their email name to log in to their WebCT

account instead of their Banner ID. While the password for WebCT will remain the same as for Banner,

we recommend that you login and change the password in WebCT to match your email password.

In the near future, the login account name and password will be the same as your email account and all

changes in one system will be automatically reflected in the other system without manual intervention.

Single sign-on, scheduled for 2004, will also mean that changing from one system to another will not

require you to login again!

As requested by some academic staff teaching this summer, WebCT v3.7 is still running for their existing

group of students until 1 September 2003, which is one reason for the late upgrade. All links from the

LU web site will be directed to WebCT v4.0 on 1 September.

Over the last few years, we have needed to extract academic staff, students and course information from

the administrative system. This year is no exception and the data will be extracted from the Banner

system after all student registrations are completed by 28 August, 2003. Therefore from 29 to 30 August,

the WebCT system will be down for data import and integrity checks before making it available for use

on 31 August.

Since students can add/drop courses until 15 September 2003, the data synchronization from the Banner

System to WebCT system will experience delays and will not be reflected immediately as extracts from

the Banner System will be done in the evening and then loaded into WebCT. Please be aware of this

delay and if students either add/drop a course, then they will not be able to immediately access their new

course on WebCT. After 15 September 2003, this synchronization may be less frequent, but changes

will be reflected within a few working days.

We hope that more staff will try the new version of WebCT by going to the new site at

http://webct.ln.edu.hk:8900/ . As mentioned earlier, student’s information is not available until 30 August

2003 after registrations. But you can start designing your course material and/or load your material onto

your WebCT account. Hands-on training sessions will be arranged for staff during the semester, so please

keep a lookout for our notices.

For more information on WebCT version 4, please go to the WebCT orientation centre at

http://www.webct.com/ce4

A ‘Getting Started’ guideline is available on the ITSC web page under User Guides and a copy is printed

for each academic department to circulate in-house. Within WebCT, a learner guide is available for users

to learn about WebCT.

Should you have any problems or queries, feel free to contact ITSC Web Team members or email

[email protected]

8

Administrator


4

University's The rollout of Campus Pipeline has been delayed because of the non arrival of the new software.

New Intranet The fully revised version is expected to become available October 1st this year and it is planned

to call the portal 'MyLingnanU'. If you have any queries or need further information, please(My LingnanU)

contact Klare Ng, email: [email protected], Ext: 8397.

8

Web Icons We would like all webmasters to adapt the following practice when designing web pages. Where

ever possible, a hyperlink that is linked to a document or is secured should have a relevant icon

added for clarity, as shown below,

PDF File http://www.ln.edu.hk/images/icons/icon_pdf.gif

Word File http://www.ln.edu.hk/images/icons/icon_doc.gif

PowerPoint File http://www.ln.edu.hk/images/icons/icon_ppt.gif

Excel File http://www.ln.edu.hk/images/icons/icon_xls.gif

Image File http://www.ln.edu.hk/images/icons/icon_camera.gif

Intranet / Secure area http://www.ln.edu.hk/images/icons/icon_lock.gif

An example can be seen at http://www.ln.edu.hk/itsc/info/publication/newsletter.shtml

8

ITSC With the ever increasing demand for IT and IS services provided by ITSC, we are constantly reviewing

and improving our IT/IS service provision. ITSC has set up a new comprehensive information webScheduled

page to list all our preventative maintenance schedules (on a yearly basis) for mission critical systemsPreventative and network equipment. The URL is http://ln.edu.hk/itsc/schedule/

Maintenance They include: -

n Integrated Administrative System (IAS) or Banner

n Unix Servers

n Web Systems

n WebCT

n Network Equipment

n Novell Servers

n Linux Servers &

n Dial-Up Services

Through this web page, students and staff can access the information year round, to find out about

the maintenance schedule for mission critical systems, networks and services. This will facilitate

users’ advance planning and scheduling of their activities and tasks.

The time slots that ITSC select are based on the system’s or service’s lowest usage times. During

these scheduled time slots, the maintenance performed may not require the entire time slot. If the

maintenance is completed in a shorter period, then the systems will be returned to operation as soon

as possible.

In case of any problems or queries in relation to the above maintenance schedule, please contact our

User Support staff for assistance on ext: 7995.

8


5

ITSC

Scheduled

Preventative

Maintenance

2003-2004 ITSC Year Round

Systems/Network Maintenance Schedule

System

Linux Server and

Dial-Up Services

Affected Area

File and Printing Services

Modem Pools for

Students / Staff /

Presidential Group

Scheduled Times

5 am - 8:30 am

First SATURDAY in

October, December,

February, April, June

Scheduled Dates

4 October 2003

6 December

7 February 2004

3 April

5 June

Novell Servers File and Print Services 5 am

First

each

- 8:30 am

SATURDAY

Month

of

6

4

1

6

3

7

6

3

1

5

3

September 2003

October

November

December

January 2004

February

March

April

May

June

July

Web Systems Web Service 8 am -

Every

9 am

SATURDAY

WebCT WebCT Services 3 am -

Every

5 am

DAY

Unix Servers Email / News / FTP 9 am - 2 pm

Last SUNDAY in

September, December,

March & June

28

28

28

27

September 2003

December

March 2004

June

IAS or Banner

Systems

Banner Database

Banner Web

Banner Report

Internet Native Banner

March, June,

September &

December

To be notified - but

scheduled one

month beforehand

Network Equipment All Services 8 am - 11

SUNDAY

amLast

in December

28 December 2003

Wireless LAN With the driving force of wireless communication technology, the University is committed to provide

(WLAN) for quality services to support our user’s needs for enhancement in both teaching & learning. The introduction

of a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) can achieve these objectives.Lingnan University

This new service will allow Lingnan staff and students to wirelessly connect to a wide range of LU

provided online services, anywhere and anytime in different locations like the Library, Canteen, MB202

Lab, MBG06, MBG07, MBG20, GEG01 and ADG07 via mobile devices.

8


6

Wireless LAN Advantages of a Wireless LAN Service

(WLAN) for Broader coverage: Allows Internet access anytime and anywhere within the university campus,

Lingnan University that has wireless LAN coverage, with further mobility facilitated by notebook PCs.

Access: Users can access the campus network in open areas where wired network access points are

not available or even possible. Students could take tests and quizzes online; even attend classes

outdoors or in other venues than the traditional classroom setting.

Resources: The wireless LAN will enable all users in these venues to conveniently access the network

resources such as:-

n Digital library services,

n Local TV programmes via video-on-demand,

n Lecture or interactive tutorial live broadcast,

n Self-paced IT skill trainings,

n Online course materials, assignments, or even reading email and newsgroup messages,

n or ‘Surf the Internet’.

Mobility: To provide further mobility to staff and students:-

n Make available a range of different wireless LAN cards for students and staff to borrow.

n Make available a range of mobile devices which are wireless LAN ready for loan to library users.

n To encourage staff and students to purchase their own notebook PCs or wireless mobile devices

so they can take advantage of the wireless LAN facilities in the campus.

Convenience: These mobile devices will help staff and students access information at places that

best suit their needs. For example, a library user could walk into the library stacks and pull books

off the shelf while having a networked notebook computer beside them for note taking, bibliography

creating, or searching on the library catalogue for other similar titles.

The Wireless Technology We Use

We have adopted the IEEE 802.11g compliant wireless LAN standard in the University, which

supports 54 Mbps network access @2.4GHz. In addition, the Access points using 802.11g

are compatible with the common 802.11b standard (for 11 Mbps network access).

For security reasons, WLAN cards are required to be pre-registered in our database in advance through

a self-service web-interface.

For wireless data transfer, mobile users can make use of our Virtual Private Network (VPN) service

for WLAN to further protect the data transfer through encryption. After installation and simple

configuration of the WLAN client, all the data transfer between the mobile device and WLAN access

point is encrypted with Triple-DES encryption. (Note: This feature will not be available for staff

until later in 2003).

Locations of Wireless LAN Coverage

The Phase One WLAN Service will cover the following locations:-

1. Canteen (up to 60 users)

2. Library 1/F (up to 40 users), 2/F (up to 40 users)

3. Lecture Theater: MBG06, MBG07, MBG20, GEG01

(up to 20 users each)

5. ADG07 (up to 20 users)

6. Part of Wing On Plaza (Near Library),

7. Part of Chinese Garden (Outside Bank of East Asia).

The availability of wireless LANs on campus are indicated by notices as shown here.

Administrator


7

Wireless LAN The Access Points

(WLAN) for There are 18 Access Points installed on the campus to provide the WLAN service as part of Phase

Lingnan University One of the project. All ITSC notebook PCs that are available for loan will be equipped with WLAN

cards. In addition, ITSC has WLAN PCMCIA and USB WLAN cards for users to borrow. They

can also use their own WLAN cards for registration.

How to Register

ITSC provides a self-serve web page for on-line registration of the WLAN via our web portal. Please

refer to the following URL for details: -

http://www.ln.edu.hk/itsc/maintenance/maintenance_staff.shtml

After registration, staff and students can access the campus intranet and Internet network in specific

locations. With the installation of the Virtual Private Network (VPN) client in their PC, staff will

be able to:-

1. Better protect data transfers through the WLAN service with a Triple-DES encryption. All

data transfer will be protected against hacking.

2. Use the Novell file and print Service.8

Storage Area Storage Area Networks (SANs) are high-speed networks that allow direct connection between servers

Network (SAN) and storage devices within the distance supported by fibre channel. A storage device is a system

that is capable of storing data, such as disk and tape drives.for Lingnan

University The architecture of a SAN works in a way that makes all storage devices available to all servers on

a LAN (Local Area Network) or WAN (Wide Area Network). On the other hand, when storage

devices are added to a SAN, they too will be accessible from any servers in the network. In this

case, the server merely acts as a pathway between the end user and the stored data.

Because stored data does not reside directly on any of the servers, server power is utilized for business

applications, while network capacity is released to the end user.

Components of a Storage Area Network (SAN)

There are four major components for a SAN, namely…

Servers: Server infrastructure is a basic component of a SAN. Heterogeneous systems like UNIX,

Linux, Microsoft Windows/NT and Novell can co-exist in a SAN environment.

Storage Arrays: Storage arrays are an essential element of a SAN. They contain disk controllers,

processing units, memory, disk drives, enclosures and fibre channel interfaces to those mission critical

servers. They can be partitioned into different logical units (LUNs). LUNs are assigned to specific

servers for data storage.

Interconnects: These components include Fibre Channel Switches (FCS), Host Bus Adapters (HBA),

converters and cables. They form a fibre channel network for the storage arrays and servers. The

network is always established with multiple network pathways.

Software Applications: Include applications for storage array management, backup and recovery,

clustering and device drivers for servers.


8

Storage Area Advantages of Storage Area Network

Network (SAN) for With the implementation of a Storage Area Network (SAN) at Lingnan University, the following

Lingnan University advantages and improvements are achievable…

Availability: Since the storage devices are independent of software applications, they are accessible

from multiple data paths, the availability and reliability of applications and mission critical systems

can be substantially improved.

Performance: Since a SAN has its own processing units, storage processing is off-loaded from the

servers and moved onto a separate network. Therefore, higher application performance is anticipated.

Consolidation: A consolidated storage environment shall increase the flexibility and scalability of

storage planning and implementation.

Backup and Recovery: Data can be archived to remote sites for disaster recovery and as protection

against malicious attacks.

Management: The single architecture of the storage media with respect to multiple systems can

greatly simplify disk management and administration.

User Transparency: The SAN infrastructure is basically a hardware architecture. Once it has been

configured, it can run on its own and no user intervention is required (except some manual process

for change management).

Editor: Jeff McDonell, ITSC

SAN Application in Lingnan University

A new SAN infrastructure will be implemented in Lingnan University in October 2003. The project

includes the integration of servers of the Integrated Administrative System (IAS), plus the email

system to the SAN. The new system shall also contain a large capacity sophisticated magnetic tape

backup system. It is anticipated that other mission critical systems like the University MyLingnanU

portal, WebCT and Linux file sharing & printing services shall also be connected to the storage network

in the second phase of the project.

With the introduction of this new SAN infrastructure to Lingnan University, users shall benefit in

several areas, such as the increase of storage capacity for email and file sharing services, higher application

performance, as well as higher availability of different systems.

8

Documents

A Newsletter of the Information Technology Services Centre