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November 7, 1997

Information Technology

Information Technology has added a new "Superserver" to the computing resources available to the Loyola community. It is an IBM SP/2 complex with multiple redundant processors and 32 gigabytes of storage space. In a nutshell, this means that if one of New Orleans' legendary lightning storms manages to damage one of the new super-fast computer chips, another processor will take over what the damaged components were working on within billionths of a second. The user may never be aware that a major hardware failure occurred. It also means that there should be plenty of room to host faculty and student web pages for publication on the Internet.

The IBM superserver marks a transition from traditional mainframe computing to a more flexible environment designed to exploit Loyola's new campus-wide network. To place it in a context more familiar to New Orleans, if the new high-speed network is our Internet plumbing, the SP/2 is our pump. Optimized for network use, this new computer complex will serve as the centerpiece of Loyola's presence on the World Wide Web. With an Internet home-page recording thousands of visits per hour, it takes some real horsepower to keep up with the demand for timely information delivery. The SP/2 complex was designed with just these applications in mind. It will host student webpages and provide services such as Internet chat rooms, news feeds from around the world, and even music and video "web-casting."

As a network-oriented super-server, the SP/2 will support more robust client-server-based administrative operations as well. Information that previously required a mainframe download will soon be available on-line to users with an Internet browser like Netscape. Access to student records, advising information, class schedules, and registration will be invoked through network connections in the same way one accesses favorite home pages on the web.

The superserver is on site now and operational. This fall, the process of converting data, streamlining old mainframe procedures, and creating new network-based applications is already under way. Joe Locascio, director of computer operations, and Kay Poole, director of programming services, are working to ensure a smooth transition to the new platform. Watch for the new services as they come on-line.

—William Cahill, Assistant Provost of Information Technology
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