Other Essential Infrastructure

This category includes a number of technologies which are more or less transparent to most members of the KUMC community but whose effectiveness is essential to the functionality, stability, reliability, or availability of information resources and technologies in use at KUMC.

Strategic directions

1. Increase our reliance on clustering, load-balancing, and related technologies that enable uninterrupted availability of KUMC systems despite failure of essential hardware including server failure.
2. Thoroughly test new software and systems prior to implementing them, particularly those locally developed, to minimize the likelihood of a negative outcome from their introduction into the KUMC production technology environment.

Major objectives (an objective is ongoing if no target deadline is included)

• EI-1: Implement F-5 mediated file replication/synchronization and load balancing on select KUMC systems including web servers and IP-based vendor applications. (JW, MF)
• EI-4: Upgrade the cooling in the Sudler data center by September 2008. (MF)
• EI-5: Implement a “virtual” (disk) backup system by September 1 2008. (MF)
• EI-6: Evaluate backup alternatives for the PeopleSoft Financial and HR/Payroll systems and, as necessary, either upgrade the dedicated backup system used with PeopleSoft or extend the enterprise backup capability to include the PeopleSoft applications by September 2008. (JB, MF)