[130] in Kakapo Windows Team
Close of Windows 2000 Servers and Domains Delivery Project
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert Ferrara)
Sun Oct 12 14:16:12 2003
Message-Id: <5.2.1.1.2.20031008085834.00ba6410@po9.mit.edu>
Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2003 14:16:11 -0400
To: itpartners@mit.edu, infosys@mit.edu
From: Robert Ferrara <rferrara@MIT.EDU>
Cc: kakapo@mit.edu
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Hello,
The Windows 2000 Servers and Domains Delivery project will be concluding this week. The aim of this project was to implement the key goals outlined in last year's Discovery report. Most of the delivery work focused on providing information and resources for DLCs migrating from Windows NT4 domains, which Microsoft will no longer support after 7/1/2004. Here are some of the highlights of the team's project work.
* Several pilot migrations and deployments were conducted. These experiences demonstrated that, for many situations, there is no simple obvious choice of whether to implement an independent Windows domain, join the central win.mit.edu domain, or some intermediate variation like adding a member server. For DLCs who have not already done so, this decision process may be initiated with a conversation with a member of either the DITR team or - for academic units - of the Academic Computing Support Team. This approach fulfills the role that originally envisioned for a more formal Design Review and Assistance Team described in the Discovery report.
* The pilot migrations also served to qualify migration assistance resources. For migrations to independent domains, Microsoft Consulting now has direct experience and understands the MIT environment. The DITR team and ACST have also learned how to perform migrations to the win.mit.edu domain.
* Much helpful documentation was developed and can be found http://web.mit.edu/windows/server/ This material draws on the experience of the pilots and other work of the team to provide information on making the migration decision and finding resources to implement the selected decision. Some sections are not yet complete, and for the next month at least, this site will still be a work under construction.
* Several technical training sessions were conducted during the project. IS and MIT remain committed to offering Microsoft training for system administrators and, in the win.mit.edu domain, for container administrators.
* For win.mit.edu end users, Help Desk processes, documentation, and tools to provide first-tier and second tier support are ramping up. As these help components come together, we will be better prepared to meet end-user needs. Independent domains will be supplying their own support resources for their domain specific needs.
I should also mention two other developments in connection with this topic. First, in order to better coordinate ongoing IS efforts for Windows, a cross-functional team has been formed. It is patterned after the Athena "Owls" group, but this group takes its name from a less familiar bird species - kakapo@mit.edu. Second, the project sponsors, Theresa Regan and Phil Long, arranged for an external review of Windows readiness efforts. The review was conducted recently by colleagues from industry and peer institutions and their report is due shortly. One of the reviewers' conclusions is that MIT has fallen behind our peers in migrating from our now vulnerable NT4 domains. With this awareness and the resources described here, we have an opportunity to close this gap.
The project sponsors and I extend our thanks to this project team and all the other individuals who contributed, especially those technical leaders from the DLCs who contributed their valuable time, for all their efforts in this complex and changing area.
Thank you,
Bob Ferrara
Director, I/T Delivery
