CougarNet

Dennis Fouty, Ph.D.

Associate Vice Chancellor, University of Houston System

Associate Vice President, University of Houston

Mary Dickerson, MCSE

CougarNet Project Manager

February 28, 2003

ITCC CougarNet BriefingITCC CougarNet Briefing

CougarNetAgendaAgenda

• Overview • UH Windows Environment• CougarNet • Project Status

CougarNetWhat is CougarNet?What is CougarNet?

Name for UH Active Directory domain• Formerly: Windows 2000 Project,

Active Directory Project

• Project name change to CougarNet

Active Directory – Infrastructure architecture by Microsoft for enterprise environments

CougarNetWhat is CougarNet?What is CougarNet?

A campus infrastructure for Windows resources based on Active Directory User accounts Computers and servers

Expansion & enhancement of Windows services currently provided by IT File and print services Account management

An opportunity for collaboration among campus computing groups Infrastructure planning

CougarNetCougarNet GoalsCougarNet Goals

Collaboration vs. control Better managed environment More resource control at the local level Leveraging of campus resources Increased security

CougarNetCritical Success FactorsCritical Success Factors

UH Colleges & Divisions Involved in CougarNet Design & Implementation

Implementation of MOU’s between IT-CTS and participating colleges/divisions

Comprehensive campus communications plan AD training provided by IT Integration of official UH data feed into account

management process Integration of CougarNet project & other IT

initiatives

CougarNetCougarNet: A Well Planned EffortCougarNet: A Well Planned Effort

Within IT– Representatives from all departments– Dedicated test lab environment

Within Campus – Windows Infrastructure Planning Team– Appointed representatives-Colleges & Divisions– Communication plans for campus

Among Enterprise Vendors– Microsoft– HP/Compaq– Quest Software– Lucent Consulting

Project Recognized by Microsoft– Presentation by Chuck Shomper at MS Higher Ed CIO

Summit, Redmond WA– Presentations by Project Team at multiple MS

Workshops

CougarNetProject MilestonesProject Milestones

1998

Domain restructuring project - cancelled

1999

November – IT Win2K Project Team Formed

2000

February – Windows 2000 AD software available

April – Executive Briefing for IT Management

May – Test Lab Established in Computing Center

November – Campus Workshops by Project Team

CougarNetProject MilestonesProject Milestones

2001

February – Project Team expanded to include College/Division representatives

April – First meeting of campus-wide Windows Infrastructure Planning Team

2002

January – Implementation of “CougarNet” ADMarch – Project timeline defined with campus reps.June – UH System AD issues defined for CIOsSeptember – CougarNet MOU draft reviewed with

campus representativesNovember – CougarNet MOU distributed for signatureOctober – December – Meetings w/campus groups re:

CougarNet

CougarNetProject MilestonesProject Milestones

2003

January - February

Continued meetings w/campus groups re: CougarNet

Implementation of Account Management System

OU Administrator training held this week

June – Target project completion date

CougarNetUH Windows InfrastructureUH Windows Infrastructure

Current Windows NT environment

Why Active Directory?

AD Implementation at UH

Project Lifecycle

CougarNet Infrastructure– ER.UH.EDU (Empty Root Domain)

– Cougarnet.UH.EDU (Account Domain)

– Top-level OU’s – Colleges/Divisions

CougarNetWindows 2000

CougarNetCharacteristicsCharacteristics

Multiple domains/different administrators– High support costs– Security issues

Inability to sub-divide administration – Current NT limitation– Required separate domains

Multiple trust relationships– Managed by many administrators– Adds considerable complexity

Not campus-inclusive – No Windows “backbone” for everyone– Does not scale campus-wide

Current Windows Infrastructure

CougarNetWhy Active Directory?Why Active Directory?

Ability for distributed management– Resource administration closer to user

Simplification of current environment– Domain consolidation– Decreased support costs

Interoperability w/ non-Microsoft services Increased security and auditing

Windows Infrastructure Solution

CougarNetWindows 2000 SecurityWindows 2000 Security

Security of OS is much improved over Windows NT

AD provides opportunity for local support staff to configure resources with tighter security

UH implementation allows for tight security on CougarNet domain controllers – improvement over current NT domain controllers

Account Management process increases account security and provides audit capabilities

CougarNet AD Implementation at UHAD Implementation at UH

IT Windows 2000 Project Team – Identified key deployment issues– IT Executive Briefing–decision to implement AD– Provided foundation for support &

communications

Representatives appointed by colleges/divisions– Representative profile created

Infrastructure Requirements– Interoperability with existing network services – Collaboration with PeopleSoft implementation– Use of existing staff and resources

CougarNetFrom Chaos….From Chaos….

CougarNetTo CougarNet !To CougarNet !

CougarNetCougarNet InfrastructureCougarNet Infrastructure

CougarNetCougarNet InfrastructureCougarNet Infrastructure

CougarNetExample 1: College ImplementationExample 1: College Implementation

• Pharmacy Division OU - PHA• No sub-OUs• All computers and groups managed by

same support staff

CougarNetExample 2: IT ImplementationExample 2: IT Implementation

• One IT Division OU• Delegated Sub-OU’s for each IT Dept.:

ES, CTS, TSS, SDR, VC-VPIT• MOU’s for each Department designating

sub-OU contacts

CougarNetCougarNet MOUCougarNet MOU

Originally - Service Level Agreement

Goal 1: Define services provided by CTS Goal 2: Define college/division contacts

Only addresses Windows issues for participants– Does not involve non-MS clients– Does not involve MS clients not participating– Does not address Exchange issues

CougarNetCollege/Division Options College/Division Options

Option 1:

Decision to participate in CougarNet

College/Division signs MOU with CTS OU Structure defined by College/Division Migration priorities/concerns defined by

College/Division Migration of users/resources Clean-up/redeployment of NT resources

CougarNetCollege/Division Options College/Division Options

Option 2:

Decision not to participate in CougarNet

If currently independent, nothing further to do

If currently utilizing an IT domain, planning must occur to migrate users/resources to new domain maintained by college/division

Note: Decision not to participate in CougarNet may impact future access to some enterprise resources

CougarNetBenefits of CougarNetBenefits of CougarNet Single user account for access to most Windows

Enterprise resources campus-wide PeopleSoft is in the CougarNet AD Delegated administration for local support staff Ability for colleges/divisions to sub-divide

administration of local resources User management is handled through Remedy

by Local units and TSS staff Automated account management system with

official UH data feed Increased security Dedicated home directory space for each user:

Faculty/Staff – 200 MB, Students – 50 MB

CougarNetDrawbacks of CougarNetDrawbacks of CougarNet

• Remedy license required for user account management (1 license provided by CTS)

• All user accounts created through Remedy• Inherently, Enterprise AD administrators have

ability to take ownership of AD resources. Procedure is defined in CougarNet MOU.

CougarNetCurrent Project StatusCurrent Project Status

Production environment in place since Jan. 2002 Signed MOUs or verbal commitments received

from 18 of 27 top-level OUs. NT account migrations in progress Individual college/division issues being addressed

CougarNetWindows 2000 Project -

CougarNetWindows 2000 Project -

CougarNetWeb Site:

http://www.uh.edu/cougarnet

Email Address:

Cougarnet@uh.edu

Project Team Leader:

Mary Dickerson, MCSE

Email: MDickerson@uh.edu