[Previous] [Table of contents] [Next]

Small systems support

The Office Systems Group (OSG) of SCD has been involved in many small-systems support tasks and projects during FY1999. OSG has configured and installed 70 new Wintel desktop systems for SCD staff at the Mesa Lab. OSG has also configured many Wintel laptop systems that use PPP and remote access accounts, enabling SCD staff to conduct work from home or during travel.

Also in FY1999, OSG established a common hardware and software platform for administrative desktop services throughout SCD. OSG is now focusing on simplifying the installation process of new NT machines and expanding the variety of supported services, including NT-server-based services.

OSG's NT servers have had zero downtime since they were installed at the beginning of FY1998. These servers are performing many functions for SCD users both in the workplace and at home. The remote access services provided by these servers allow users to remotely log in to their desktop systems from home and have full access to all software on their local machines. The servers have also been configured to perform automated electronic backups for all NT workstations within SCD, thus eliminating the need for individuals to perform their own desktop system backups.

OSG has employed a new NT server, which was received at the end of FY1998, to take the place of the backup domain server that is currently in place. The replacement server named KING is operational; it supports Outlook Express e-mail and file sharing and provides backup domain service.

OSG set up a Year-2000 testbed using the decommissioned NT server and a pair of NT workstations. This system was used to test Y2K software and patches, and to test reliability of new service packs to the NT 4.0 and Windows 95/98 operating systems. Once OSG finished testing for Y2K, the testbed was converted to the new Windows 2000 operating system, so that OSG can start testing the interoperability of Windows 2000 with other OSG-supported and installed software. This will be a major task consuming a lot of OSG resources in FY2000.

The following provides a synopsis of the "unified work environment" established by OSG under the guidance of the SCD Desktop Advisory Committee during FY1998.

Software supported and installed by OSG:

Additional software supported by OSG and installed on an as-individually-required basis includes:

[Previous] [Table of contents] [Next]