U.Va.'s inventory of workstations is currently divided
among DOS/Windows (70 percent), Macintosh (15 percent) and UNIX X-Windows
( ) platforms. ITC assumes that it will need to make design decisions that
strive to support all three platforms equally where access to applications
or services are a widespread entitlement and participation in the system
must be extended to everyone in the University community for it to be truly
useful. A good example of this type of application might be electronic mail.
In situations where the audience is less universal and the technical environment
more easily controlled, a narrower range of supported platforms will be
suitable.
Institutional applications
A variety of factors will compel
ITC to consider alternatives to its long-held strategy of implementing administrative
applications on the IBM mainframe. Development costs for major systems have
pushed the price tag in the millions of dollars. The momentum of technology
is clearly in the direction of smaller, more modular client/server applications.
ITC will pursue this architecture for all new applications unless there
is good reason not to do so. The deciding factor will be value delivered
at the desktop. We will evaluate new applications according to function,
flexibility, and overall life-cycle costs.
Computers in instruction and student life
Information technology
has become an important emblem of change in the business of teaching and
learning. Every fall, an increasing percentage of incoming students arrive
on Grounds with their own computing equipment. ITC must assume that an important
shift in the perception of teaching and learning is under way, and that
shift presents a major challenge for the entire University community on
many levels. We must further assume a significant responsibility in helping
the University community adjust to and benefit from the significant changes
in the process of higher education that are related to information technology.
The network
Multimedia objects such as interactive video and
sound will present an increasing demand upon the University's network for
bandwidth. ITC must assume that it will not be able to control the level
of demand, but it will have to anticipate and respond to that demand by
populating its communications hubs with plug-in components as appropriate.
Because of the global scope of network-based resources, the University's
link to the national infrastructure will be critical.
Research computing
ITC assumes that a large measure of research
computing needs will be filled by the researchers themselves with powerful
workstations. However, we can assume that high-performance computing will
require either locally deployed parallel-processor arrays or access to national
super-computing centers. In addition, we will need to make unused capacity
available on the network with large-scale parallel systems such a Legion
or PVM.
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