At the college that I work at, we keep the account information stored in our ERP package. Then by using database queries and the magic of php scripting, create LDAP diff entries effectivly keeping our Windows and Novell networks current. Although that method had worked for a good amount of time there were definatly possible security flaws that could be seen. With the advent of E-directory and Account Managment through Novell it has made my life much easier keeping my Linux, Windows, and Novell platforms with a curent user database.
I think a large part of the problem does not rest all in the admins. I think a larger part of it is how funds are distributed in acadamia. Colleges like to give money to services that will make them money in return. I work at a college and watch them stuff as much money as they can into our continuing education program (non-credit, teaching buisnesses) because it has a very good turnover to it. They also put alot of money into student relations because they need to put that first impression on you. Now by the time they are handing all this money out how much do you think goes to the computer budget? Just enough to make it adequate. Unless you are planning on competing with MIT or something then computers arent going to get the same turn over that placing those funds elsewhere would get. When was the last time you visited a college and said "...geeze, i think i wanna go here because they have a really stable e-mail system". It is just one of those things that are overlooked all too often. Now then compare this to the Army Corps of Engineers, you already said that they have 300 servers, and I doubt that any of them are less than adequate. So they have a pretty good cluster of servers running to load balance etc. Alot of colleges do not have this kind of equipment, even if the admins know we need it and want it. At the college I work at we have one (1) Unix sendmail server running, no clustering so downtime is to be expected. Unfortunatly if you need money at the college level you had better be ready to wait in a very long line.
I hope that they take to sending virii as a method to preventing online trading. It would then be fun to download a song that you have (you actually own the cd, tape, etc) and then when your machine gets infected, boom, instant law suit.
"What are you going to do, release the dogs? Or the bees? Or the dogs with the bees in their mouths and when they bark they shoot bees at you?"
~Homer Simpson
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At the college that I work at, we keep the account information stored in our ERP package. Then by using database queries and the magic of php scripting, create LDAP diff entries effectivly keeping our Windows and Novell networks current.
Although that method had worked for a good amount of time there were definatly possible security flaws that could be seen. With the advent of E-directory and Account Managment through Novell it has made my life much easier keeping my Linux, Windows, and Novell platforms with a curent user database.
I think a large part of the problem does not rest all in the admins. I think a larger part of it is how funds are distributed in acadamia. Colleges like to give money to services that will make them money in return. I work at a college and watch them stuff as much money as they can into our continuing education program (non-credit, teaching buisnesses) because it has a very good turnover to it. They also put alot of money into student relations because they need to put that first impression on you. Now by the time they are handing all this money out how much do you think goes to the computer budget? Just enough to make it adequate. Unless you are planning on competing with MIT or something then computers arent going to get the same turn over that placing those funds elsewhere would get. When was the last time you visited a college and said "...geeze, i think i wanna go here because they have a really stable e-mail system". It is just one of those things that are overlooked all too often. Now then compare this to the Army Corps of Engineers, you already said that they have 300 servers, and I doubt that any of them are less than adequate. So they have a pretty good cluster of servers running to load balance etc. Alot of colleges do not have this kind of equipment, even if the admins know we need it and want it. At the college I work at we have one (1) Unix sendmail server running, no clustering so downtime is to be expected. Unfortunatly if you need money at the college level you had better be ready to wait in a very long line.
I hope that they take to sending virii as a method to preventing online trading. It would then be fun to download a song that you have (you actually own the cd, tape, etc) and then when your machine gets infected, boom, instant law suit.
"What are you going to do, release the dogs? Or the bees? Or the dogs with the bees in their mouths and when they bark they shoot bees at you?"
~Homer Simpson