Campus Technology Innovator Deploys eTelemetry's Locate

• By David Kopf
• 07/27/07

Coppin State University (Baltimore, MD) has deployed Annapolis, MD-based eTelemetry's Locate appliance in order to passively match users with their IP address and PC and switch ports in real time.

A key feature for the university is Locates ability to archive user data to create accurate historic records of network activity. Coppin leverages this, along with the real-time data for various functions.

For instance, the school must optimize its lab and PC resources -- a key concern for resource and capital planning, according to Dr. Ahmed El-Haggan, Coppin's CIO and vice president of Information Technology.

“Locate can help us determine whether or not we need more or less space for computer labs based on analyzing Lab PC utilization history and time-of-day usage patterns," El-Haggan said in a prepared statement.

The school also uses the system to plan network maintenance windows. Since the school is monitoring who is connected to each of its Nortel switches, its IT staff can identify users who will be affected by lack of availability, according to El-Haggan.

Coppin also uses Locate to improve time-to-resolution of network security events. While the school's security tools generate alerts based on IP addresses, it had no way to correlate those addresses to users. The result was a time-consuming network forensics endeavor.

“Locate gives us these associations in seconds and we can search historical records as well,” said Thomas Smith, Coppin State’s Director of Network Services, in a prepared statement. "This functionality is a tremendous time saver for our organization.”

Coppin has been recognized for its IT infrastructure expertise on more than one occasion, most notably by Campus Technology as a Campus Technology Innovator. US News & World Report also reported the school as having one of the best wireless campuses in the country.

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• Coppin State University
• eTelemetry