Departmental Resources Departmental Resources and Facilities – Status, and Facilities – Status, Progress and GoalsProgress and Goals

Henning SchulzrinneComputer Science RetreatArden House, Oct. 26-27,

2001

SummarySummary Improvements:

File servers New CLIC hardware Better CS conference room

But no fundamental changes Structural constraints:

University support (or lack thereof) CRF staffing (student mentality +/-)

Suggestions from last yearSuggestions from last year Ask for separate instructional lab

funding No progress

Standardization of OS & hardware Implicitly (Linux RH, Solaris 5.8,

Win2k) No great luck with various PC vendors Will move to standard RAID server

Suggestions from last yearSuggestions from last year Definition of individual

responsibilities Limited progress Lack of CRF cooperation Jeff: “I’ve been with CRF as a part-

timer, full-timer and director and still do pretty much the same things”

Suggestions from last yearSuggestions from last year Provide basic MS & PhD compute

support Some CLIC “retirees” Can probably afford a pool of $1k machines

Better support systems (trouble ticket, accounting, system status) Work in progress; hard to force CRF to do

anything Explicit role?

Suggestions from last yearSuggestions from last year Delegate some responsibilities

Works pretty well for network Not likely to be effective, since standard

services are often poorly done by AcIS Telephone

Evaluating VoIP vendor (Vonage, 4c/min) Need to negotiate current rates, not

1985 rates (staff responsibility)

CRFCRF Clarify supervisory structure – fac-

com is very different from other committees

PCs @ UKentucky: treat faculty PCs as on-going expenses (leases) -> about $700/year/faculty

Need professionalization: Good technical skills Spotty communication and follow-up

CRFCRF What can we expect from CRF?

PC support – call up vendors? Non-standard hardware/software?

Suggestions: Specific programmer position Combined with MS thesis or for-credit-

project “distinguished student programmer’’

SpaceSpace Need additional space, urgently

But what’s realistic? Treat MS students better

Space Research limits

Cost of ResearchCost of Research ICR, effective tuition and fringe

(thus, student cost) still among highest in nation

Double charging: phone, copies, staff support, basic computing should be covered by indirect costs

Secretarial SupportSecretarial Support Existing non-specialist staff doesn’t

match needs very well Moving paper (CVN, contracts, etc.) Expense reports Copies

Need “gofers” and computer-literate staff (e.g., for support systems and faculty-specific needs)

Need better delegation system for existing resources

Improving Research Improving Research EnvironmentEnvironment

Vishal MisraGail Kaiser

Luis GravanoHenning Schulzrinne

Teaching labsTeaching labs Teaching labs (CLIC, INTEREST, …)

What do other (SEAS) departments get per student?

Why we have our own facilities? How many students? Individual course funding Charge real costs of labs to students

CRFCRF Tracking? Senior sys admin (5+ years) Trouble ticket – who’s in charge? Continuity (e.g., disk space) Communication – hardware vs. people

problems Pay as MS GRAs, with thesis/project

(e.g., intrusion detection) “Research scientist” – partial research

CRFCRF Task list, defined by fac-com

Software infrastructureSoftware infrastructure Electronic (email) faxes CSINFO - stagnant PhD/MS student recruiting database Faculty recruiting Room reservations Need ongoing commitment and

continuity, not one-time efforts

Faculty equipmentFaculty equipment $20k/year for new faculty PC every

three year (10 computers) Needed to function as basic staff

member Recommend configurations, but

don’t force Where does the History

compartment get their computers from?

SpaceSpace More efficient space utilization in

CS? Machine rooms? GRAs in labs? Project students in CLIC & MSL Explicitly ask for space for senior

hires

Administrative tasksAdministrative tasks Rascal, Fastlane Visitor arrangements Travel arrangements Budgeting for group Reimbursements

(expense reports) Equipment purchase

(quotes, from URL) Program committee,

editor duties

TPC meeting, events

Photo copying Keep track of

whereabouts Group web pages Room

reservations

StaffStaff FAQ: staff duties Kelly (etc.) should schedule regular

meetings with faculty Faculty-related staff needs to get

to know graduate students

Cost of researchCost of research We should not be charged for overhead

items (check document) Cost of phone calls, faxes Paying for first-year students – need

more aggressive recruiting Assign PhD and MS TA slots to faculty on

rotating basis Ensures fairness Avoids “abandoned” students