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It's no wonder York University, of North York, Ontario, chose its motto. With an international reputation for excellence in teaching, research, and scholarship in both its graduate and undergraduate studies, Canada's third largest university is pioneering a new computing environment to serve its more than 46,000 students and 5,000 faculty and staff, linking thousands of PCs, several servers, and a variety of host computer systems scattered throughout the campus into one heterogeneous client/server network of information flow.
It all began in late 1991, when York University set a mandate to convert from its mainframe based
computing system to a full scale Client/Server architecture. Looking beyond its immediate needs,
the University saw its future technical direction charted by the client/server model. It just didn't make
sense to invest in other systems that, by design, featured short life spans. A plan was established to
outsource the mainframe and re-develop applications throughout the next three to five years, the result
of which would be one Student Information System (SIS) to service all student and administrative needs.
In December of 1992, MIS Technical Support personnel at York University began to act on the mandate to move MIS to a PC based environment. York purchased PS/2 Model 90's (486 machines) and needed to provide connectivity across Ethernet/Token Ring networks to access the VMS, UNIX, Novell, and IBM mainframe systems. York wanted the ability to utilize a single desktop device to access all services. Taking a step by step approach, York's Computing Services installed the operating system, then the TCP/IP transport layer, then the X Window System layer, and finally the applications.
Explains Bryon Olive of CAIL Systems (Markham, Ontario), the solutions provider selected by York to help in planning, installing, and integrating the X Window System layer and other connectivity requirements, "York needed to access and interact with a number of host applications from a single PC desktop. Hummingbird's eXceed/W PC X server software was the glue between X and Microsoft Windows, allowing for complete interaction between both environments. Not only did it seamlessly integrate into York's information system architecture, it also proved to be the most economical approach."
York's SIS is the core information system for nearly every department. A variety of applications were created to address specific needs, with each running on its own UNIX server: there's a database server, an audio-response server, a security server, a mail server, a directory server, and so on. The SIS governs all functions of administration, such as student enrollment, helping determine student qualifications, registration, and alumni programs.
The new SIS is perceived by York University as a substantial improvement in its ability to process information. For example, the enrollment application will allow students to dial-in to access information on courses, to enroll in courses, and will permit staff to perform a variety of enrollment tasks. York expects the entire SIS to contain all of the planned applications in 1995. Another benefit York perceives is its ability to purchase less costly and more suitable equipment.
IBM's Distributed Computing Environment is one of the enabling technologies of York's unique information system network. Says Jim Davey, Technical Architect for Client/Server Solutions at IBM Canada's Client Server Centre, and the project manager for the York project, "York is on the leading edge, and we're excited about working with them in making DCE (IBM's Distributed Computing Environment) one of the core strategic aspects of its SIS project. This is a rare opportunity not only for IBM, Cail, and Hummingbird, but for the people who are making this thing happen."
Tentanda Via. The way must be tried.