Lessons Learned in Building a Comprehensive Virtual Documents Room

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Lessons Learned in Building a Comprehensive
Virtual Documents Room

• Erik Bowe, Lead IT Professional
• Ed Rugg, Accreditation Liaison
• Kennesaw State University
• CS-81 Monday, December 10, 2007

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KSUs Success

• 8 gigabytes of reports linked supporting
  documentation were easily accessible online
• 30 megabyte PDFs were retrievable in seconds
• No user problems arose with our Virtual Documents
  Room
• Review Committees were highly complimentary of
  the Web sites contents and ease of use
• Interactive features of the Web site worked well
• Disaster recovery and redundancy saved us one
  time
• Highly positive reviews of compliance were
  received

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Six Key Dimensions
We will examine six key dimensions in the next
sixty minutes
1. Vision for virtual access to all information
2. Technological architecture of the Web site
3. Content Management issues
4. Document management issues
5. Scalability features to ensure Web site
performance
6. Disaster recovery and backup options
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Agenda
Six Key Dimensions
Lessons Learned
Questions At the End
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Vision for Virtual Access
5 minutes
Technology
Content
Vision
Recovery
Documents
Scalability
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Vision

• KSUs critical success factors (CSFs)
• The decision to build an efficient, large,
  dynamic virtual documents room on the Web
• The Accreditation Liaisons early call for IT
  support his collaborative involvement
• Recognizing the expanded role for IT
  professionals under the new Principles
• Identifying a lead IT Professional with a broad
  perspective long-range view

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Lessons Learned
Vision for Virtual Access to all information
1. Start the IT planning early
2. Emphasize the importance of technology
3. Dedicate sufficient technology resources
4. Strengthen liaison role of Lead IT Professional
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Architecture of the Web site
10 minutes
Vision
Content
Technological Architecture
Recovery
Documents
Scalability
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KSUs CSFs
KSUs Technology Architecture
Existing Technologies
Resources Available
Alternative Technologies
Backup Options
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KSUs Technology Stack

• The software stack
• Microsoft Word XP
• Adobe Acrobat 7.x Professional
• HTTrack Website Copier 3.x
• Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2
• Portal
• Oracle Database 10g Release 1
• Enterprise Edition

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KSUs Technology Stack

• The hardware stack
• Dell PowerEdge 1855 blade server
• Two CPUs (central processing unit) per server
• 12 GB (gigabyte) of RAM
• Two internal hard drives, mirrored (replicated)
• EMC CLARiiON CX-500 storage area network (SAN)
• Allocated 100 GB disk storage per server
• Campus network

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Technology Diagram
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Lessons Learned
Technological Architecture of the Web site
1. Do not underestimate technology needs
2. Build in excess capacity
3. Stress test the architecture
4. Assign the most talented IT professionals
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Content Management Issues
10 minutes
Vision
Technology
Content Management
Recovery
Documents
Scalability
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What is a Content Management System?

• A content management system (CMS) is used to
  manage the content of a Web site
• The content includes computer files, image media,
  audio files, electronic documents and web content
• The idea is to make these files available
  inter-office as well as for use in an archive
  setting

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Content Management Issues

• The internal debate of public versus private
  posting of information related to the compliance
  process the logistics of password protection
• Indexing of public information in Internet search
  engines such as Google and Yahoo
• The decision to take static snapshots rather than
  hyper-links to other Web sites for evidence used
  in the Compliance Report

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KSUs CSFs

• Leveraging five years of content management
  system experience
• Reviewing other college and university SACS Web
  sites and asking questions
• Assessing the Georgia Open Records Act (O.C.G.A.
  51-18-70) and opting for public posting of
  information, but limiting search engine linkages
• Addressing the need to store massive quantities
  of digital documents on its website versus
  hyper-linking to the necessary sources

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Lessons Learned
Content Management Issues
1. Write down agreed upon decisions
2. Communicate the decisions frequently
3. Address massive storage needs
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Document Management Issues
10 minutes
Vision
Technology
Document Management
Recovery
Content
Scalability
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KSUs CSFs

• The review of several Web sites related to the
  reaffirmation process in order to determine what
  KSU thought might work or not work
• The decision to publish all reaffirmation reports
  and supporting documentation in Adobe PDF format
• The utilization of templates in Microsoft Word

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KSUs Document Lifecycle
4) Hyperlink
5) Convert
3) Disseminate
6) Publish
2) Revise
1) Create
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Lessons Learned
Document Management Issues
1. Document the process
2. Have easy to follow instructions
3. IT professionals should provide feedback
4. Hyperlink to durable URLs
5. Utilize Web 2.0 collaboration software
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Scalability for Performance
10 minutes
Vision
Technology
Scalability Features
Recovery
Content
Documents
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Scalability Issues

• Questions to ensure proper performance
• What technologies could be used to deliver 30 MB
  (megabyte) Adobe PDF documents in a matter of
  seconds from a Web site?
• Does the technology architecture selected guide
  the efforts required to performance tune the Web
  site for optimal browsing capabilities?

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KSUs CSFs

• The technology architecture selected
• The use of OracleAS Web Cache
• The use of 12 gigabytes (GB) RAM per host
• The Lead IT Professionals experience
• The CIOs emphasis on having excess capacity

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Lessons Learned
Scalability features to ensure Web site
Performance
1. Align the Web site design with the architecture
2. Have patience with the IT professionals
3. Outsource IT performance tuning
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Disaster Recovery Backup
10 minutes
Vision
Technology
Disaster Recovery
Scalability
Content
Documents
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KSUs CSFs

• Planning included the creation of a backup SACS
  Web site on a different server after the primary
  site had been completed
• The Lead IT Professionals role was established
  as the key player in ensuring that proper tape
  backups of KSUs SACS web site were made

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Why a Backup Web Site?

• Due to the following business decisions
• The technological architecture
• Use of a content management system
• The document management lifecycle and use of
  Adobe PDFs
• KSU generated approximately eight gigabytes
  (GB) of content

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Why a Backup Web Site?
KSUs pros and cons
Flash Drive
CD-ROM
DVD-ROM
Web site

• 700 MB limit
• Instructions
• Write speed
• Read speed
• Control (loss)

• 4.7 GB limit
• Instructions
• Write speed
• Read speed
• Availability
• Control (loss)

• 4 GB limit
• Instructions
• Cost
• Availability
• Drivers
• Control (loss)

• Dependable network
• Maintain Control
• Existing infrastructure

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Lessons Learned
Disaster Recovery Backup Options
1. Perform a test recovery of the Web site
2. Plan for redundancy in hardware
3. Plan for redundancy in accessability
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Lessons Summary

• Have a strong vision
• Plan the technological architecture to include
  excess capacity
• Utilize a content management system
• Use a document management process
• Ensure proper scalability and performance
• Have a working backup

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References

• Adobe
• http//www.adobe.com
• Building Corporate Portals with XML
• http//www.amazon.com/Building-Corporate-Portals-C
  live-Finkelstein/dp/0079137059
• Content Management Systems (CMS)
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_sy
  stem
• HTTrack
• http//www.httrack.com/
• KSU SACS Web site
• https//sacs.kennesaw.edu/portal/page/portal/PG_SA
  CS_INFORMATION_CENTER
• Oracle
• http//technet.oracle.com

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Contacts

• Thank you for your time!
• Contact Information http//vic.kennesaw.edu/
• Erik Bowe Ed Rugg
• Director Executive Director
• Enterprise Data Management Enterprise
  Information Management
• Kennesaw State University Kennesaw State
  University
• 1000 Chastain Road, MD 0110 1000 Chastain Road,
  MD 5400
• Kennesaw, GA 30144-5591 Kennesaw, GA 30144-5591
• 770.499.3360 770.499.3609
• ebowe_at_kennesaw.edu erugg_at_kennesaw.edu

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