Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Features
Improving Collaboration and Information Protection with Web Standards
9/26/2003
“We had discussed FTP (File Transfer Protocol),” Campbell says, “but it requires a client, which meant additional costs—including client licenses for every user and the time to teach everyone to use it. We wanted to try and find a technology that didn’t require a client so users could get to their files from any PC.” Users at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health had already become familiar with using the Web-based interface of the portal. Campbell hoped to find a solution that could function within the portal that also wouldn’t require extensive training for its users. The team identified a technology that was designed around the new Internet standard WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning). Xythos WebFile Server (WFS) provides users with safe file access from any Internet location via a Web browser. Support for SSL (secure socket layer) encryption for all file requests ensures that users can safely access their files from remote locations (such as a research site). At the same time, IS can protect these files by backing them up and maintaining them within a more securely managed environment. The WFS makes working together easier for users with collaborative features including file versioning, check in/out, logging, and automatic subscriptions.Xythos WFS: Deployment and Integration
The WebFile Server’s J2EE architecture, built-in XML support and fully
documented APIs make integration with other campus systems, such as the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health portal, a relatively simple process.
The WFS supports all leading servers, including UNIX, Solaris, Linux and NT/2000
as well as popular client systems such as Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. The
WFS can also utilize campus NAS and SAN standards for flexible file storage
solutions. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health chose Dell 2650 PowerEdge
Dual processor servers, Microsoft SQL and an external SAN. The network is 100MB
switch. “The WFS took about two weeks to install,” says Campbell.
It also integrates directly with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
directory services, Active Directory, minimizing security maintenance.
Xythos WFS was introduced to users at the same time the portal was updated and re-launched. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health users were already familiar with the portal and, from there, were able to log into their WFS to access their files. Following the successful implementation at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins is currently reviewing WFS to offer its students “lockers”—personal Web spaces for accessing and storing their files.
Michelle Campbell (mcampbell@jhsph.edu), is assistant director for IS at Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
Recommended Reading
- Fixed-Mobile Convergence: Dartmouth Beefs Up Cell Coverage, Cuts Costs
Problems with cell phone coverage aren't uncommon on college campuses. There are two main reasons: The beefy structure of historic buildings can block cellular reception within walls, and, on more remote campuses outside cities, signal coverage can be light.
- Thompson Rivers U Deploys Unified Digital Campus for ERP
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in British Columbia has selected SunGard Higher Education's Banner Unified Digital Campus (UDC) to integrate its ERP systems.
- DV Kitchen Web Video Publishing System Released
DVcreators.net has released DV Kitchen, a new video encoding and publishing application for Mac OS X designed specifically for creating materials to be posted on the Web.
- NEC Debuts 4 Education Projectors
NEC this week debuted four new projectors targeted toward education applications, along with a new MultiSync LCD display. The new NP-series projectors are entry-level models started at $899 but are designed to provide high light output, support for closed captioning, and built-in networking capabilities.
- Security Researchers Uncover Spring Framework Vulnerability
Software frameworks are enjoying enormous popularity these days among a range of developers. It's popularity well earned; frameworks provide powerful tools for building more flexible and less error-prone applications. They generally enhance developer productivity with out-of-the-box functionality. And they can free developers to focus on features instead of common coding tasks.
- 3PAR Server Arrays Integrate Fat-to-Thin Processing
Utility storage provider 3PAR has announced the release of the 3PAR InServ T400 and T800 Storage Servers. The new hardware is built on the company's third-generation InSpire architecture, featuring the 3PAR Gen3 ASIC with integrated fat-to-thin processing.
