Emerging Technologies in Higher Education: Big School Solutions to Small School Problems John OKeefe Director, Academic Technology and Network Services Lafayette College 1

What are Small School Problems? Funding ERP Security Teaching and Learning w/Tech Infrastructure/Cyberinfrastructure Agility/Adaptibility/Responsiveness Governance, Organization, Leadership Identity Management Disaster Recovery Strategic Planning Web Systems Information/Content management Source: 2009 EDUCAUSE Current Issues Survey 2

What are Big School Solutions? Internet2/NLR Shibboleth iTunesU MPLS IPv6 Cloud Computing 3

How Does This Fit Together? The problems arent necessarily different or unique to smaller schools Small schools can be more agile and able to implement solutions campus- wide Resources are available to help (Large developer community, conferences, CAMPs, etc) 4

The Details Behind the Technologies 5

Internet2/NLR High-Speed research networks Internet2 - A not-for-profit advanced networking consortium that leverages its high-performance network and worldwide partnerships to support and enhance the educational and research missions of its members. NLR - Ultra high-performance network infrastructure that makes possible many of the worlds most demanding research projects. I2 Only Applications (Remote instrumentation, Videoconferencing) NLR for Telepresence 6

Shibboleth Shibboleth - A standards based, open source software package for web single sign-on across or within organizational boundaries. Federated Identity Management (FIdM) - Arrangements made among multiple organizations that lets subscribers use their institutional identification credentials to obtain access to applications outside their institution but within the Federation (InCommon, eAuth) 7

iTunesU iTunesU - A section of Apples iTunes Store designed for higher education where institutional content, course work, or other multimedia materials may be stored and disseminated within the framework of iTunes. Can use Shibboleth Can be used to compliment Course Management System 8

MPLS MPLS - Multi-Protocol Label Switching Layer 3 Virtualization creates highly secure virtual networks within one physical infrastructure Easier to manage than Layer 2 Virtualization (VLANs) Scales better (smaller broadcast domains) Cost savings VoIP 9

IPv6 IPv6 - Next-generation Internet Protocol version designed as the successor to IPv4. New IP addressing scheme Expanded allocation blocks (more addresses available) More secure (IPSec) Multicast Jumbograms 10

Cloud Computing Cloud Computing - Environment where dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet Obscures technology and infrastructure that supports the cloud, enabling end users to focus on applications Not just for CS any more 11

Putting It All Together 12

Security MPLS for network virtualization Separation of devices and users Network Admission Control Regulatory Compliance (PCI, HIPPA, CALEA, etc) Shibboleth Access to third party apps using institutional credentials Single Sign-On 13

Teaching and Learning Internet2/NLR Access to resources/applications iTunesU Bowdoin, Penn State Offload multimedia content from CMS 14

Infrastructure/Cyberinfrastructure Cloud Computing Virtualization lowers cooling demands, power requirements Provisioning new services easier Saves money IPv6 It is coming, I promise! v6-only services, no more v4? 15

Identity Management Shibboleth Policies and Procedures InCommon and eAuth LoA (Level of Assurance) Providing services to other schools (collaboration) 16

Disaster Recovery Clustering and Cloud Computing Automatic failover Hardware independence MPLS Network failures converge faster (BGP) Broadcast domains limited 17

Web Systems Cloud Computing Cloud platform very effective to deliver web applications Shibboleth Tailor made for web application authentication Internet2/NLR Applications may only be accessible via Internet2/NLR 18

What Can You Do Now to Prepare? 19

Internet2/NLR Cost of entry lower Membership has its privileges Find a GigaPOP near you 20

Shibboleth How does your current IdM stack up? Look at LoA and policies required for InCommon Examine institutional practices 21

iTunesU Sign up for an account Look at schools who have nice sites to get ideas Do you have Shibb? 22

MPLS Review your current infrastructure BGP talent on staff Cost to prepare infrastructure 23

IPv6 Get an allocation Begin to familiarize yourself with it Know the problems Plan your budgets 24

Cloud Computing Explore virtualization options (VMWare, Redhat, others) Insource or Outsource 25

So What Has Lafayette Done? 26

Internet2 Connectivity 2005 German Collaborative 2005 Pasteur Institute and Bird Flu 2006 Implemented iTunesU 2006 Integrated with Moodle, used for coursework Commencement readings Communications multimedia content 27

Implemented Shibboleth 2007 (Library resources, Spaces, online ticketing) Implemented MPLS 2007 IPv6 Allocation 2009 Developed Web Cloud

Why Does This Matter? 29

Set Apart From Other Small Schools Faculty and Staff recruitment Research incentives Competing for students 30

Set Apart From Larger Schools Small school, big resources New market conditions put smaller schools in non-traditional competition from larger schools 31

Questions? John OKeefe web: twitter: okeefej_62 32