By CARMEN DURLAN
University Computing Services is in the process of replacing its mainframe computer with a variety of hardware that runs the UNIX operating system, said Kelly McDonald, executive director of University Computing Services.
'(We) first made the decision to move administration applications to a new computer environment in 1992,' McDonald said. The conversion to UNIX began in 1993 and upon completion in late 1997, the mainframe computer will be shut down.
The Harold B. Lee Library is among the departments affected by this decision. The HBLL will run its new computer system, Horizon, on UNIX. Personal computers will be able to connect with Horizon over the campus network to perform searches, said Brian Holman, a systems analyst for the Lee Library.
Presently the mainframe does all the work for a library search and simply displays the information on the computer terminal. With the new hardware, 'the PC does some of the work and the server does some work -- it's just sharing the load,' Holman said.
The mainframe computer assists many university departments by using automated functions for administrative business and to process student and financial information, McDonald said.
Most of the computers affected are in Financial Aid, Payroll, Personnel, Student Life, On-Campus Housing, student information systems (such as AIM), Registration, the HBLL, and the ID Center.
'(The conversion has been done) in a phase process, managed by a few departments that have stewardships for that responsibility, like financial services, for example,' McDonald said.
A combination of hardware systems is replacing the mainframe system, but even with different hardware systems running the UNIX operating system, the switch will still be more cost-effective because the technology gives a better performance for its price, he said.
'The results of the change have been positive, although with any change there will be some short-term liability problems, such as disruptions in conversion that may affect the effectiveness of the conversion,' McDonald said.
As part of the conversion process, the personal computer terminals in the HBLL will need to be upgraded to support access of the new graphical interface to the library catalog, Holman said.
McDonald estimated that half of the library's present computers will be able to run the program