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February 1992 - Volume 8:5
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Good partitions make good neighbors: SAS, libraries, and UMIS to share new mainframe
By Daniel A. Updegrove
In late December the University purchased a new IBM ES9000/480
mainframe, culminating discussions among the School of Arts and Sciences
(SAS), the Libraries, Information Systems and Computing (ISC), senior
management, and IBM. ISC will create a new unit, the University Data
Center (UDC), to operate the machine, which will be housed at 3401
Walnut Street. UDC, in turn, will provide academic, library, and
administrative computing capacity on a cost-recovery basis.
The ES9000/480 will by year's end replace three existing
mainframes:
- The IBM 3090/200E operated by SAS's David Rittenhouse Computing
Facility (DRCF), which serves a wide variety of research and
instructional users in Arts and Sciences, other schools and centers, and
off campus
- The Libraries' IBM 4381, which supports Franklin, the online
catalog, and related systems
- The IBM 3090/180S operated by University Management Information
Services (UMIS) in support of a wide range of administrative clients
campus-wide
This consolidation and conversion to newer technology will result
in operational savings to be redirected to high-priority programs,
including:
- Accelerating the ongoing transition in Arts and Sciences from
mainframe-based to UNIX workstation-based computing for research and
instruction. Workstations are much in demand in many fields for their
low-cost computing power and advanced graphics capability.
- Enabling the Libraries to expand and improve access to online
resources. PennData, the Libraries' set of journal citation databases,
and Franklin, heretofore separate, will be integrated and given a
consistent user interface.
- Increasing capacity for UMIS, which is serving a growing number of
increasingly-sophisticated users and, simultaneously, developing new and
enhanced administrative applications.
An additional benefit is reinvigorating Penn's partner-ship with
the IBM Corporation, which has committed substantial technical
consulting for the mainframe conversions, the Libraries' software
conversion, and UNIX work-station support.
One essential feature of the new mainframe is specialized IBM
hardware (PR/SM) that enables secure, but flexible, partitioning to
accommodate different operating environments. Thus, three separate
service partitions will be created:
- First, VM/CMS for users of the DRCF 3090
- Next, MVS for the Libraries
- Finally, MVS for UMIS
A technical team, chaired by DRCF Director Roy Marshall, with
members from DRCF, Libraries, and UMIS, plus consultants from IBM and
NOTIS, Inc. (the Libraries' system vendor), is already at work on these
transitions, a primary goal of which is to minimize impact on the user
communities. The team, in turn, takes direction from a steering
committee consisting of N. Ben Goldstein, Associate Dean for Computing
in Arts and Sciences; Paul H. Mosher, Vice Provost and Director of
Libraries; and Peter C. Patton, Vice Provost for Information Systems and
Computing (chair).
At this writing, such key issues as the conversion timetable, the
staffing of UDC, the timing of the DRCF/UDC management transition, and
the rate structure for
UDC services are being reviewed. Interested parties should consult the
weekly Almanac, future issues of Penn Printout, as well as PennInfo for
updates. They are also welcome to contact Daniel Updegrove at 898-2171
or updegrove@dairp.upenn.edu.
DANIEL A. UPDEGROVE is Assistant Vice Provost for
Data Administration and Information Resource Planning.
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