The Technology Newsletter for the University of Hawaii Community

In This Issue:

Convergences of Technology

As our administrative information systems migrate from a batch to an on-line focus, they are increasingly needed by members of the academic community. Researchers need access to financial information in order to fulfill their responsibilities as principal investigators. Faculty need access to student information in order to function as academic advisors. And students need information about their standing within the University.

At the same time, traditionally academic technologies have become useful to administrators. Many administrators correspond with colleagues throughout the country via Internet email. Parallel processing technology developed initially to support research, such as the IBM SP2 at the Maui High Performance Computing Center, is considered to be a likely platform for the next generation of high-performance administrative database applications. And the World Wide Web, the latest "killer application" on the Internet, is a new way to provide access to information and procedures - check out:

These three offices will purchase the necessary software and start testing these tools beginning May 1, 1995. They will work with ITS to resolve several key issues relating to the data definitions, performance, and security while at the same time produce actual reports for their offices and the users that they service. Data from the HRIS database on the IBM mainframe will be extracted every night and placed in a separate reporting database. The pilot sites will access the reporting database from their PCs and test out the reporting capabilities of the reporting tools.

We anticipate the pilot project to last through August at which time the pilot sites and ITS will develop recommendations and procedures for the distribution and general use of these reporting tools for HRIS users. In subsequent newsletter articles, we will keep you posted on the plans for the fiscal and student information databases.

The week before the conference itself the University will be hosting at UH-Manoa an intensive workshop on networking for 150 attendees from developing countries. There is also a 1-day preconference School Networking Colloquium for intensive dialog regarding Internet technology, applications and support in the K-12 environment. And several preconference tutorials will offer the chance to catch up on the latest advances from internationally renowned experts.

This is a rare opportunity for Hawai`i residents to attend a world-class networking conference without the expense of mainland travel. The INET conference rotates annually among North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific each year and since INET'95 was originally planned for Singapore it is not likely to be back to Hawai`i soon.

INET'95 registration information and conference details are regularly evolving at:

For all users of network services such as electronic mail, file transfer, the World Wide Web (WWW), and the administrative systems (e.g. HRIS, ISIS, FMIS), ITS recommends a network-based Ethernet connection. Asynchronous (StarMaster) connections are being phased out. Microcomputer Ethernet cards can be purchased from the recently awarded UH contracts CH-2585 and CH-2586, or by submitting a UH Telecom Request Form. Please check with your department Telecom coordinator as to whether your office network in frastructure supports Ethernet connections.

Please remember that these are only suggestions and you need to keep your special needs in mind when making the final decision.

IBM/Compatible PC Recommendations

Minimum Configuration

486 66MHz processor
8 Megabytes (MB) RAM (memory)
364 MB hard drive
15" VGA monitor
Windows for Workgroups© 3.11

Windows for Workgroups requires at least 8MB of memory for acceptable performance levels. A 300MB hard drive should be the minimum size because the newer Windows applications consume large amounts of storage space. For example, WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows requires 32MB of free hard disk space.

The network client software will run on the basic configuration with good performance. If you are planning to use the graphical network client software such as WWW browsers, the recommended configuration should be given serious consideration.

Recommended Configuration

Pentium 75MHz processor
16MB RAM (memory)
540MB hard drive
17" SVGA monitor
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus
Windows for Workgroups 3.11
Triple-speed CD-ROM (optional)

The Pentium is the fastest Intel-type processor you can easily purchase for a reasonable price that is readily available. In a few years, it too will follow the fate of the 386 processor, as more advanced microprocessors are developed and become readily available and affordable. The 60MHz Pentium chip is already being replaced in favor of faster Pentium chips like the 120MHz chip. The system should have a PCI local bus since the industry appears to be moving in that direction.

For multimedia applications, a CD-ROM drive (triple speed or faster) is a necessity because most multimedia products requires a CD-ROM drive. The CD-ROM drive should be purchased with the appropriate CD-ROM interface card, Sound Blaster or compatible sound card, and speakers. The CD-ROM drive should receive special consideration because more companies will distribute their software via this medium.

Macintosh Recommendations

Minimum configuration

33MHz 68LC040 processor
(i.e. Performa 636)
8MB RAM (memory)
250 MB hard drive
15" monitor
CD-ROM
Extended keyboard

8MB of memory is the bare minimum when buying a new system. The latest version of the Macintosh operating system uses 2-3MB of memory, which leaves only about 5MB for applications. Most current applications require 3-4MB to work well. It is more economical to purchase a configuration that comes with 8MB of memory rather than buying one with 4MB of memory and adding 4 more later. The 250MB hard drive should be enough for several applications and your daily work.

We have included a CD-ROM in this configuration because of the current UH Apple Price List. The difference between the model with CD-ROM and without was only $92. For that amount the CD-ROM is well worth it, as we see more information and software being distributed via CD-ROM.

It is possible to access the WWW with this configuration, but to fully utilize additional movie, imaging, and sound capabilities 12MB of memory or more would be highly recommended.

Recommended configuration

80MHz PowerPC 601 processor
(i.e. PowerMac 7100)
16MB RAM (memory)
500MB hard drive
17" monitor
CD-ROM
Extended keyboard

Apple recommends the PowerPC as the chip of the future. Eventually, computers with the 68040 chip will be phased off the Apple Price List. We chose 16MB of memory since many applications such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint need lots of memory to perform effectively. The 500MB hard drive may seem like a lot, but it will fill up quickly since many current applications take up large amounts of hard drive space. The CD-ROM is important for multimedia applications and because more vendors are distributing software on CD-ROM. In fact, some documentation is only available on CD-ROM.

Conclusion

These recommendations are only suggestions for standard systems. If you have special requirements (e.g. multimedia, intensive graphics, local-area network (LAN), client/server applications, etc.), please contact one of the following people:

The key to using these microcomputer-based clients, is that your desktop computer must be able to use the TCP/IP protocol and you must have either a direct network connection (from your office) or use dial-up IP (SLIP, CSLIP, or PPP). If you are unfamiliar with SLIP, CSLIP, or PPP, the ITS Help Desk has documents that will help you get started. These documents are available on-line.

We came to agreement that our recommended email solution should be a graphical user interface and adhere to the IMAP and MIME Internet standards. IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) provides for consistent location-independent client-server access to a shared set of mailboxes. MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) provides a standard for the use of email across platforms for non-text-based messages and attachments (e.g. word processing documents, spreadsheets, foreign language text, images, audio/video clips). Unfortunately, while these standards are now complete there is not yet a suite of desktop email clients we can recommend that supports them.

MIME is already supported by Pine, the mail reader we recommend in the UHUNIX environment. For anyone interested, POP and IMAP email servers are also available. These are called pop-server.hawaii.edu and imap-server.hawaii.edu respectively. These servers utilize the standard UHUNIX mailboxes our users usually access with Pine. POP clients such as Eudora for the PC and Mac have been tested and work quite well. However, we believe that the POP standard incurs significant disadvantages for users who access their email from multiple locations (home and office, office and road, multiple offices). The PC-Pine IMAP client has also been tested and works locally, but we are not satisfied with the text-based interface of the current preliminary release of PC-Pine. Therefore, rather than recommend that our user community migrate now to a short-term solution, we are suggesting that people who may be dismayed by rapid changes in software standards continue to use Pine while logged into a host. We believe the next significant gain will be achieved through migration to a desktop-based MIME-compliant IMAP client with graphical user interface.

We'll keep you posted!

BITNET:

DECnet:

Email to UHUNIX will not be affected by the removal of these commands. Even email sent to UHUNIX's BITNET and DECnet addresses will continue to work because there will be another system set up to receive and relay such mail to UHUNIX over the Internet. However, file transfers and remote commands over BITNET and DECnet will no longer work. Internet services (e.g. ftp, telnet, rlogin, rsh, mail) will not be affected in any way by these changes.

About 99% of our UHUNIX BITNET traffic can be attributed to email sent from LISTSERV mailing lists. Other BITNET and DECnet facilities are rarely used. We have not found any good, supported BITNET software for UNIX, and our current software has not kept up with the latest standards, sometimes causing mail loops and countless other problems. Other institutions have also retired BITNET from their systems so that all their traffic is confined to the Internet. This is a trend that will probably continue to grow.

This course-integrated telecommunications activity has two valuable instructional features, in my view: (1) involving students in reading each other's work and commentaries, and (2) creating a collective, virtual "super-document" out of the students' individual and independent efforts. These features transform the students' work into an intellectual contribution through their participation in a generational cyberspace learning community for one semester. In the course of the semester, students produce an average of 30 pages of on-line electronic text or about 100 screens. Each semester a new generation of students add to the "super-document" and link their writing into its hypertext fabric. This process simulates the growth and evolution of a virtual learning community in cyberspace. At any time in the future, former students may re-visit their Home Page architecture through the Internet, and see how it has been weaved or integrated into the evolving and living fabric of the "super-document."

The Richness of Hypertext

Empowering Students for Creative Expression

Journey through Student Reports

New Golden Age of Education

Students as a Cyberspace Learning Community

Jump Right In!

You may see a report of that experience in the UHCC Newsletter, 1991, 28(2), 12-14, or browse a copy with hotlinks to student reports which you can view by pointing your browser to:

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If your department is interested in utilizing this new service, please call Telecommunications at 956-6033 in order to reserve our conference room. If the distant party is off-island, you will need to have an authorization code so that the long distance call is properly charged to your department account code.