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Announcements

Academic Video Network activated

In June, 1991, the Provost approved funding for the initial phase of Penn's academic video network, authorizing links to the satellite dish at the Annenberg School for 33 main campus buildings. These links have been completed and the buildings listed below are actively receiving video signals. Currently foreign-language programming and newscasts in dozens of languages are available; additional programming on legal, medical, and engineering topics may be added in the future.

Buildings with active video links are: Annenberg Center, Annenberg School, Aresty Institute, Bennett Hall, Caster Building, Class of 1925, Clinical Research Building, College Hall, DRL, Evans Building at the Dental School, Founders Pavilion at HUP, Graduate Research Wing of Engineering, Harnwell, Harrison, Lauder-Fischer, Logan Hall, Moore School, John Morgan Building, McNeil, Meyerson Hall, Nursing Education Building, Pender, Penn Tower, Public Safety, Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall, Stiteler Hall, Towne Building, Van Pelt Library, Van Pelt Manor, Vance Hall, Williams Hall, WXPN, and 3401 Walnut Street.

Each of the 33 buildings has at least two live connections, typically in a classroom or conference room. Requests for additional connections or other information should be directed to Michael Palladino, 898-9386 or palladino@dccs.

New UMIS high-speed communications

Bringing TCP/IP capabilities to Penn's administrative mainframe dramatically improves its performance of common networking tasks. The FTP protocol permits very rapid file transfers, and remote logon and terminal emulation can be accomplished using the telnet protocol.

To take advantage of TCP/IP capabilities on the mainframe, users must have TCP/IP software installed on their local computers, access to PennNet's IP network (either through a direct Ethernet connection or an IP gateway device), an account on the administrative mainframe, and the appropriate security authorizations.

TCP/IP software for the Macintosh is distributed free of charge by the Computing Resource Center (898-9085). For DOS machines, contact the PennNet Services Center (898-8171) for information on obtaining discounted TCP/IP software. TCP/IP software is included with most versions of the UNIX operating system. Users of other systems should consult their departmental system administrators for information on appropriate software.

For information on acquiring an Ethernet connection, contact the PennNet Services Center at 898-8171.

For information on acquiring a mainframe account and security authorizations, contact the UMIS Security Administrator at 898-5045.

For further information about TCP/IP terminal emulation and file transfers, refer to the document "Using TCP/IP on Penn's Administrative Mainframe," available at the Computing Resource Center or the PennNet Services Center (Suite 221A, 3401 Walnut Street).