Recipe for Success

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Recipe for Success

• Innovative Idea to Mission Critical System
• Carolyn Thomas
• Michael Cerda
• June 2005

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Recipe for Success

• Most problems are not technical

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How do we guarantee success?

• Establish the need
• Get the data
• Make product easy to use
• Attack problems quickly
• Provide the people
• Provide the uptime

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Why our architecture?

• Reliability
• Performance
• Scaling
• Ease of maintenance
• Cost

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Application Servers

Console
Cyclades
app 1
load bal
app 2
app 3
Netscaler
Net App
Sun Solaris
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Database Server

Oracle
Sun Solaris
Net App
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Hardware

• Sun application servers (Bb)
• Network Appliance filer (Bb data)
• Sun database server (Oracle)
• Network Appliance filer (Oracle data)
• Netscaler network load balancer
• Cyclades console server (serial port)

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Guarantee uptime. How?

• Be not on the bleeding edge
• Build a test system
• Monitor key metrics (performance)
• Enough people to follow up on problems
• Develop a relationship with Bb support

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People (roles) you need

• System administrator
• Database administrator
• Student Information person
• Instructional specialist
• Help desk
• Bb TSM

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Worry about failure

• Hardware failure
• Software failure
• Performance problems
• Data failure
• Process failure

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Backups

• Rebuild application servers
• Filers have real-time on disk backup
• Real-time mirror
• Tape

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What else can fail?

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What else can fail?

• Confidence in the system

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Confidence?

• Data is not timely
• Dont follow up on problems
• Dont keep everyone informed
• People will think there are problems even if
  there are not

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Whats involved in upgrading?

• Read the mailing lists
• Wait, dont be first!
• Install on test system
• Test, find the edges
• Install on production system

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What do we need to do at UTAustin?

• Get to App Pack 3 (Bb v6.3)
• Test Content Management System (CSM)
• Find money for CSM
• More Building Block development
• Better, faster data feeds (real-time or event
  driven)
• Better integration with UT Austin processes
• Better database backend
• Fix broken processes (business logic)

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Resources

• Mailing Lists
• listserv_at_lists.asu.edu
• subscribe BBADMIN-L ltnamegt
• subscribe BLKBRD-L ltnamegt
• Behind the Blackboard knowledge base

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Questions?

• Carolyn Thomas cthomas_at_austin.utexas.edu
• Michael Cerda cerda_at_mail.utexas.edu
• Slides http//www.utexas.edu/academic/blackboard
  /about/