BioComputing

Operational Policy and Mission Statement

1.    Mission

a.       Our tactical mission is to provide all the necessary/desired computer support to the faculty, staff, and students within the Division of Biology.

b.       Our strategic mission is to modernize our computing infrastructure and provide the assistance (and direction) our clients need in order to utilize advanced computing techniques and emerging technologies.

2.    BioComputing staff and their respective duties

a.       Ron Johnson: Administrative duties, server administration, maintenance and support, UNIX and Macintosh Administration and support; level “3” assistance with difficult or problematic service requests, level “4” advanced support issues.

b.       Aaron Reynolds: Level “2” hardware, operating system, Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX support

c.       Ben McFall: Level “1” hardware, operating system, and software support.

d.       Mark Jones: Level “1” hardware, operating system, and software support.

3.    Operational procedures and protocols

a.       Service request classifications: Service requests are classified using the following criterion.

1.       Class (A): The standard classification allocated to all service requests that are not submitted with a note of urgency.

2.       Class (B): Class (A) service requests are elevated to Class (B) (urgent) status when requested by the client, the BioComputing supervisor, or when other circumstances warrant an escalation of priority.

3.       Class (C): Any service request can be elevated to Class (C) (Critical) status at the request of the supervisor or acting supervisor in his or her absence.  This classification is reserved for emergency situations (i.e. situations that are emergency in nature and/or critical to the operations of the Division, the individual departments, staff, or students)  

b.       Service request processing: Service requests are data-based and scheduled on a “first in first out” (FIFO) basis.

c.       Service request prioritization: Standard class “A” service requests are not prioritized in any way.  They are addressed in a FIFO fashion.

d.       Service request priority escalation: Standard class “A” service requests are elevated to class “B” status as required (only by the supervisor), based on the urgency of the request and the probability of the uncompleted request impacting the Division in a negative fashion.

e.       Emergency crisis management: In times of crisis and in emergency situations, critical requests are elevated (only by the supervisor) to class “C” status.  Class “C” requests are addressed on a “damage control” basis utilizing the entire BioComputing staff.  During these periods all class “A” and class “B” requests are lowered in priority (only by the supervisor) and addressed in a multiplexing fashion.

f.       Service requests that are outside of our areas of responsibility or areas of expertise: Requests for service that fall into this category are addressed “as time permits” and do not interfere with standard service requests.

4.    Units and entities supported

          a.       Division of Biology:

1.       Office of the Director: Four personnel with six computer systems.

2.       Animal Facility: Five personnel with six computer systems, including the “Mouse House” instrumentation and wireless network.

3.       Biology Business Office: Seven personnel with twelve computer systems.

4.       Biology Service Facility: Eleven personnel with eight computer systems.

5.       BioComputing: Three personnel with (7) Windows 2000 servers, (3) Lotus Notes Domino (Windows NT4) servers, (2) UNIX servers, (1) Network management server, (4) Windows, (4) Macintosh, and (3) UNIX Workstations.

6.       General Biology: Six personnel with eighteen computer systems.

7.       Electron Microscope facility: Two personnel with four computer systems.

8.       DNA Automated Sequencing Lab: One staff member with four computer systems.

9.       GST: Four personnel with nine computer systems.

b.       BCMB:

1.       Administrative Office: Four personnel with seven computer systems.

2.       Computer Teaching Lab: Twenty-five Windows Workstations.

3.       Computer Teaching Lab: Eight Macintosh computers.

4.       Faculty: Ninety-Six workstations.

c.       Botany:

1.       Administrative Office: Three personnel with four computer systems.

2.       Computer Teaching Lab: Seven Windows workstations.

3.       Botany Web Server: One Windows 2000 server.

4.       PEET Web Server: One Windows 2000 server.

4.       Faculty: Thirty Windows workstations.

d.       EEB:

1.       Administrative Office: Four personnel with six computer systems.

2.       Computer Teaching Lab: Fifteen Windows workstations.

3.       Computer Teaching Lab: Four Macintosh workstations.

4.       EEB Departmental Server: One Windows 2000 server.

5.       Faculty: Seventy workstations.

e.       Micro:

1.       Administrative Office: Four personnel with six computer systems.

2.       Faculty: Thirty-three Windows workstations.

f.       Arts and Sciences Offices:

1.       Administrative Office: Fifty-one workstations.

2.       Servers: One Lotus Notes Domino (Windows NT4) server.

3.       Servers: One SUN Enterprise 250 Web server

5.    Global Network Resources (Collective)

a.       Servers: Twenty-two servers running file, print, database, main, and web services.

b.       Network storage space: Over 1600GB