Monthly Archives: March 2012

Goodbye Gary Bach

At the end of the spring semester ITS will bid farewell to longstanding staff member Gary Bach, who has accepted a position in educational technology at Lincoln Land Community College. Gary has been a part of UIS/ITS/Media Services for over 17 years, serving in many roles of support: audio/visual, media services, graphics and student supervision, to name a few. Additionally, Gary has represented us at Preview Days and Mini-Fairs for a number of years positively promoting our work and our vision.

Gary’s last day at UIS will be May 11, 2012. Please take an opportunity to congratulate Gary and wish him well as he embarks on this new opportunity!

Goodbye KVMs!

Do we really need all of these monitors and keyboards?

With the advent of our virtual infrastructure and other remote server management options, the Network Services team is seeking to reduce the number of directly-connected keyboard-video-mouse (KVM) cables and monitors in the HSB datacenter to a few as possible. Most routine server access is easily accomplished via RDP sessions, VMware remote console sessions, or out-of-band network console connections. By removing these static physical connections, access to power outlets is easier, cool air flow is improved, heat generation and power consumption is reduced, counter space becomes available for other uses, and the overall appearance is simply better.

Let's get rid of this rat's nest of unneeded cables.

For those times when a physical connection is needed, a portable keyboard, mouse and monitor is provided on a rolling cart.

Our plan is to move forward on consolidating and removing these connections over the next few weeks. So if you manage a physical server in the HSB data center and you have any reservations or concerns about our plans, please let me know as soon as possible.

Thanks!

Curtis
cspea2@uis.edu