By Mark Wilcox, Campus Web Administrator

What have we been up to lately?

I thought I would use this column for this month to showcase some milestones we have hit in the past year. The list is not in any particular order.

• Crossed the 3.5 million hits per month threshold on the central www.unt.edu server.

• Crossed the 5 million hits per month total threshold for all of our centrally supported Web servers.

• Launched the Web based Internet Account Management system. This system provides a Web-based interface to traditional UNIX command line tools that makes it easier for users to manage their accounts.

• Installed Netscape’s Certificate server to manage Secure Socket Layer certificates. We now have 2 servers (people.unt.edu & www.admin.unt.edu) that are using the certificates to provide secure access to their unique services. 2 – 3 more secure servers are being installed within the next few months.

• Installed Cold-Fusion for Web based database access. We will be launching the first 3 applications that use this system, we hope, by the fall.

• Installed Allaire Forums to replace our aging Web Conferencing System.

• Acquired WebCT, a Web Course management system. This system will be used to deliver Web based classes. We delivered our first class to students in Connecticut this summer.

• Installed our Web-based Calendar of Events. The calendar is now in popular use and nearly everyday is now filled with a list of events going on campus. If you haven’t seen the calendar, check it out http://www.unt.edu/calendar/

• Taught a series of classes to faculty this spring on creating Web based classes.

• Installed Netscape’s Directory server to provide a central userid/password database for restricted Web sites.

• Provided the library with a university-wide database through the Directory server to enable us to launch the remote access CD-ROM’s.

• Crossed the 30,000 total pages mark.

• Upgraded our FrontPage server extensions from FP97 to FP98.

• Migrated the TAMS, School of Visual Arts and the Economics department Web servers to our central machine.

--That’s all that I can think of right now.

Here’s what’s in store for the next 6 months:

• A major server upgrade. We will be replacing our single SUN Netra box with 2 Sun E-450’s that will be clones of each other. This should improve reliability (if one goes down, the other is still there) and performance.

• Working with the Center for Distributed Learning to launch a full schedule of on-line classes.

• Working with PAIS on an update to the UNT homepage(s).

If you have any ideas or questions let us know. Just send mail to www@unt.edu

Until next time.

Mark