uniting cultures, technology & applications
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Uniting Cultures, Technology & Applications. A Case Study. University of New Hampshire. University of New Hampshire. Research II institution Land grant, space grant, sea grant institution 2 campuses (Durham & Manchester) 11,400 undergraduate students 3000 graduate students - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Uniting Cultures, Technology & Applications
A Case Study
University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire• Research II institution• Land grant, space grant, sea grant
institution• 2 campuses (Durham & Manchester)• 11,400 undergraduate students• 3000 graduate students• 736 tenured or tenure track faculty• 2000 staff
Culture
• Traditional IT organizational structure– Academic computing (Academic
Technology)– Administrative computing (Enterprise
Computing)– Desktop computing, email, network
services (Telecom & Client Services)
Technology– Blackboard v6.2– Redhat Linux AS2.1 & AS3.0– Oracle v9i
Applications– ID Management System built in-house– Self-service password reset built in-house– Accounts management system built in-house– Single Sign On via Oracle Identity Management
solution– SCT BANNER Student Information System v7.1– SCT BANNER Human Resources System v6.1– Linux-based e-mail, Horde IMP v4.0.4
Enterprise Computing
Academic Computing
Telecom. & Client Service
Application Administration &
Development
Systems Administration
Application Stewardship
ERP Support Model
Enterprise Computing
Academic Computing
Telecom. & Client Service
Application Administration &
Development
Systems Administration
Application Stewardship
E-mail Support Model
How did we start?
• Gathering technical managers from across three areas
• All wanted a single authentication service to provide authoritative person information
• Would we create one or multiple, duplicative services?
• To build a single system, how should UNH students, faculty, and staff access it?
MyUNH—Institutional Portal
• Vision:– Leverage acceptance of Blackboard by
students and faculty to provide the UNH community access to the electronic resources they need to do their work.
– Provide access through one login using one username/password through one integrated, secure, Web-based interface, MyUNH.
Enterprise Computing
Academic Computing
Telecom. & Client Service
Application Administration &
Development
Systems Administration
Application Stewardship
Current Blackboard Support Model
Enterprise Computing
Academic Computing
Telecom. & Client Service
Application Administration &
Development
Systems Administration
Application Stewardship
Identity Management & SSO Support Model
Blackboard Manual Update
• One FTE dedicated to Blackboard updates
• Automate updates from SCT BANNER to Blackboard
• Enterprise Computing Group resources– Make presentation to the Student
Information Services Steering Committee– Worked with SIS Team Lead & Chair
Functional Requirements – Provision Bb from Banner
• Automate the manual process of creating Blackboard accounts, roles, courses, and enrollments using data acquired from our Banner Student Information System.
EAI Solution Pros
• The cool technology factor – EAI via SCT Luminis Data Integration
Suite– SOAP– Blackboard Event Driven API
• Capable of near real-time provisioning
EAI Solution Cons
• Event driven model not needed or desired (our IdM system is batch updated)
• Relies on developing technology• Dependent on proprietary technology• Adds an additional infrastructure layer• Vulnerable to vendor interdependencies• Requires significant local development
The Path Taken• Provide a fault tolerant solution with a low
level of system and vendor interdependencies
• Build on our experience with manual Bb snapshot processing
• Leverage availability of the Identity Management data abstraction layer
• Leverage existing Banner and Oracle skills• Provide training opportunity in Bb Building
Blocks
Advantageous Technology Environment• Extensive cross-system collaboration
between departments• Live data available directly from IdM
views created specifically for application provisioning
• Unique and permanent usernames• No dependence on UNH person IDs
(usually SSN)
IdM
Ser
vice
s
Iden
tity
Sou
rce
Dat
aA
uthe
ntic
atio
n S
ervi
ces
Gen
eral
Use
r A
cces
s
UNH Bb SSO Infrastructure Overview
MyUNH Authentication
Blackboard Webcat UNH E-mail
AccountManagement
AccountSelf-Service
Oracle SSO Services
Oracle LDAP Services
IdM Database
IdMResolver
AccountManagement
Service
IdMDirectoryService
USNHBanner
HR
UNHBannerStudent
GSCBannerStudent
Academic Technology Enterprise Computing Group Telecom. & Client ServicesCIS Cross Department
Iden
tity
Sou
rce
Dat
aA
uthe
ntic
atio
n S
ervi
ces
Gen
eral
Use
r A
cces
s
IdM
Ser
vice
s
UNH Bb SSO Infrastructure Overview
MyUNH Authentication
Blackboard Webcat UNH E-mail
AccountManagement
AccountSelf-Service
Oracle SSO Services
Oracle LDAP Services
IdM Database
IdMResolver
AccountManagement
Service
IdMDirectoryService
USNHBanner
HR
UNHBannerStudent
GSCBannerStudent
Academic Technology Enterprise Computing Group Telecom. & Client ServicesCIS Cross Department
Snapshot method• Using this method you update Blackboard
Learning System database with information contained in a feed file, which could be a flat file or XML file.
• The data in the Blackboard database is consistent with institutional data at the time the feed file (snapshot) was created.
• System administrators use Snapshot Tool program provided by Blackboard to load the data.
UNH Snapshot Controller components • Snapshot Controller Engine
– Oracle PL/SQL– Java– Unix shell
• Snapshot Controller User Interface– Bb Building Blocks Java API & JSP tag
libraries– Struts & Tiles– JSP, Java, JDBC
Snapshot Controller Engine Features• Provides automated processing of a
single snapshot as well as a group (batch) of dependent snapshots
• Has user notification through email at the end of the processing or in case of failure
• User notification reports are HTML formatted and contain processed data and time statistics
Snapshot Controller Engine Features cont.• The engine is a collection of PL/SQL
packages and tables. – Tables contain metadata and logs.
• Snapshot and batch definitions are contained in metadata. – Engine uses a snapshot definition to
execute the snapshot.– Engine uses a batch definition for batch
processing of snapshots.
IdM Directory Service
1
Snapshot Controller
PL/SQL Engine
Snapshots Metadata
Feeds Logs
Snapshot Tool Database
Blackboard
4
3 5
62
Processing Logs
Main Steps in Snapshot Processing
Main Steps in Snapshot Processing1. Read snapshot definition from metadata
tables.2. Pull feed data from the IdM Directory
Service using the source SQL’s definition.3. Create the feed file and transfer to the Bb
application instance.4. Launch Bb Snapshot Tool to load the feed
into the Bb database.5. Parse Snapshot Tool logs and output and
load into the controller log tables.6. Compile the processing report and email it
to the Bb administrators.
Snapshots Metadata
Every snapshot definition has:• Id, Name and Description• Term code
– Example: 200601 or 200502
• Feed file name pattern– enroll_instructors_$term_$run_id.dat – enroll_instructors_200502_3259.dat
Snapshots Metadata cont.
• Source SQL– SQL statement returns the feed result set
• Data source key– Examples: SYSTEM, SIS.COURSES.SPRING2006
• Command template– Calls Snapshot Tool with proper parameters,
paths and names.
• Post process action– Example: sshot_actions.set_combo_courses_status
Snapshot Controller User Interface • Convenient web-based data interface to:
– Snapshots and batches metadata– Processing logs– Engine configuration parameters – Associated files
• Alternative way to manually execute both an individual snapshot or a batch
• Installed as a Blackboard Building Block
Contact [email protected], Associate Director
[email protected], Bb Developer Extraordinaire
[email protected], Director