As of June 2010, AgriLife IT began a project plan to rebuild the entire IT infrastructure throughout AgriLife. This initiative is modeled around the implementation of a centralized and scalable set of core IT services.
Following is a link to the announcement made to the organization in June 2010 and answers to Frequently Asked Questions. Additionally, the following sections contain a brief overview of the services offerings that will be created.
More information regarding this implementation and when services will be available will be regularly updated on the AIT home page located on this site.
Enterprise IT Services General Announcement & FAQs (June 24, 2010)
Email, Calendaring, Contacts Management, and Instant Messaging
This solution will consist of a single, centralized, redundant platform for providing email, calendaring, and contact management. Microsoft Exchange 2010 has been selected as the enterprise mail system. Microsoft Outlook will be used for Windows‐based workstations. Equivalent mail clients are available for
Macintosh, Linux, and many mobile phones. Email will also be accessible via a web browser. Mailbox sizes will be supported up to 2 gigabytes (GB). Microsoft instant messaging will also be provided as a service.
Directory Services and Identity Management
Directory services will be provided by Microsoft Active Directory. A statewide deployment of redundant Active Directory servers will provide a single sign‐on environment, in which you will use one password and username for access to email and file services from your workstation.
File Services (Backup, Archiving)
File services will be provided through the deployment of enterprise‐class storage servers in regional centers and locations on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station. Data from these storage servers will be securely replicated to core storage servers in College Station, providing offsite redundancy and disaster recovery capabilities. In addition, tape archiving will be provided for data requiring long‐term backup and storage.
Web Hosting and Application Services
A platform will be provided to centrally host all websites within AgriLife IT. This platform will be provided by using server blade and virtual machine technology, allowing for highly reliable and flexible configuration needs and services. This environment will also provide a framework for hosting application servers and reducing capital investment costs. This platform will support Linux and Windows environments.
Network Infrastructure (Regional Centers)
Network infrastructure upgrades will consist of the application of firewalls, managed network switches, up‐to‐date secure wireless access points, and wide area network (Internet) bandwidth upgrades, where equired. This effort will provide for more secure and robust networking environments in addition to more efficient and stable networking environments within the regional centers.
Data Protection (Anti‐virus, Encryption)
Sophos was selected as the AgriLife enterprise anti‐virus solution in 2009. Sophos anti‐virus software protects against computer viruses, malware, and spyware as well as accidental disclosure of confidential information, such as Social Security numbers.
