1. Core Data Trial in North West Institute of Further & Higher Education 27 May 2003 Greg McClure Maureen McKee Davey OHare

2. Outline of Presentation Technical preparation Business logistics Outcomes and lessons Preparation for trials at the other institutions

3. Portal Server Sunblade 150 workstation – Sun OS 5.8 uPortal v2.1.2 installed Jakarta Tomcat v4.0.6 installed MySQL database v4.0.12 installed Custom SecurityContext developed Custom core data channel developed –Java code, XSLT stylesheets

4. Architecture Overview

5. NWIFHE Agent Architecture NIIMLE (web) server (Mandrake Linux) PHP and LDAP support in Apache Data Warehouse (MySQL) PHP agent –authentication against Active Directory via LDAP –data extraction from warehouse via PHP

6. NWIFHE Agent Architecture LocalRemote Portal Directory Active Directory MIS Data Oracle FEMIS Warehouse Agent (PHP) NIIMLE Server MySQL

7. Portal Firewall Configuration Required ports: –80(HTTP), 443(SHTTP) –8080(Tomcat), 8443(Secure Tomcat) –22(SSH) Access restricted to specified IP(s) NAT in use at NWIFHE –Everyone or no-one can access

8. NWIFHE Firewall Configuration Required ports: –80(HTTP), 443(SHTTP) –22(SSH) Access restricted to: –Portal server –One development PC (SSH)

9. The NIIMLESecurityContext Custom authentication class POST student ID/password to remote agent Parse XML returned by agent Populate iPerson object Set authenticated flag Exceptions result in failed authentication

10. The Core Data Channel Display student core data Generate XML from iPerson object Pass XML to XSLT appropriate stylesheet Stylesheets for Netscape and IE

11. Data Preparation Cron job export from FEMIS Cron job import to MySQL Link MIS database to Active Directory –Entry of login ID to MySQL from paper lists –Error Prone ! Class lists more accurate from academic than from MIS database

12. Business Logistics Preparing for the Day Welcome page produced for the portal NIIMLE web site and tips for the day added Document produced on how to use the portal DPA form requesting students permission

13. The Event 27 students took part – 2 sessions held Students welcomed and given introduction to NIIMLE project. Also given voucher Students asked to complete DPA form which was in two sections: –informing students of data held –requested their agreement to take part in trial –after completing trial, asked if information held was correct

14. Business Logistics The Day Only 3 students had problems logging on –1 could not remember password –2 due to error inputting details in data warehouse –errors now corrected

15. Welcome Page of Portal NIIMLE web site and tips for the day were added to tabs across top of portal welcome Log in with your normal username and password you use for North West Institute system

16. Core Data for Student

17. Students asked to check that the following is correct Your reference number, for North West Institute, also your name should be displayed Check that this is the correct course reference and title you are enrolled on The year of your course Semester or period code For reference purposes only S should be displayed, as you are a current student

18. User Preferences

19. DPA form Results All students signed DPA form and agreed that their data was correct (exception of 2 students – see above). Students could change the colour scheme/skin displaying their information. One choice was The Matrix movie scheme. Although it was a popular choice, text did not display clearly on the screen, as the scheme was too dark. Only other comment referred to guessing game provided as a fun element – not connected to core data.

20. QUB Agent Architecture Data warehouse built on QUB warehouse server PHP and LDAP support built on QUB server PHP agent built for authentication and data extraction Testing – currently Data trials – with placement students - done over the summer

21. QUB Agent Architecture LocalRemote Portal Directory NDS MIS Data INGRES SIS Warehouse Agent (PHP) QUB Development Server SQL Server

22. NDAI Agent Architecture ASP agent built for authentication and data extraction Querying the MIS database directly – scalability could be an issue Authentication against Active Directory Secure access provided Testing – ongoing Data trials – September 03

23. NDAI Agent Architecture LocalRemote Portal Directory Active Directory MIS Data Oracle FEMIS Agent (ASP) NDAI Web Server

24. UU Agent Architecture Data warehouse built on UU warehouse server PHP and LDAP support built on the UU server PHP agent built for authentication - NDS Stored procedure instead of direct query Extracting XML from Oracle CLOB – under development Testing ongoing Data trials – September 03

25. UU Agent Architecture LocalRemote Portal Directory NDS MIS Data Oracle Warehouse Agent (PHP) UU Web Server Oracle

26. BIFHE Agent Architecture NIIMLE server configured & built – still to be installed on BIFHE network PHP and LDAP support built on NIIMLE server PHP agent built for authentication installed on NIIMLE sever – authenticating against NDS Data warehouse to be built on NIIMLE server Agent to be tested for both authentication and data extraction Data trials – September 03

27. BIFHE Agent Architecture LocalRemote Portal Directory NDS MIS Data Oracle FEMIS Agent (PHP) NIIMLE Server