copyright © college of mount st. joseph, 2002 this work is the intellectual property of the...
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Copyright © College of Mount St. Joseph, 2002
This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.
Project MERLIN: Universal Computing and Wireless Thin Client
Project MERLIN: Universal Computing
and Wireless Thin Client
Mark CainJim Krailler
Chris Buelterman
About the College
Private liberal arts Sponsored by Sisters
of Charity Emphasizes values,
integrity, social responsibility
1700 FTE students (74% commuter)
43 academic programs
Challenges
Scheduling problems in computer labs Insufficient number of computers for student
general use No remote access to lab software Assuring computer literacy without a
computer literacy requirement Inadequate infrastructure for a “media-rich”
learning environment
Solution
Universal
Computing
Program
Planning Phase
1998 Summer Research on laptop colleges
Fall Freshman survey
1999 Spring Site visit to laptop college
College strategic plan
IT strategic plan (Tech Audit)
Summer Concept approved by Cabinet
Economic modeling for project
Solutions Phase
1999 Summer First wireless network
Fall Prototype Citrix server
Winter First wireless thin client test
2000 Winter/Spring Testing
Summer Phase I wireless, server farm
Fall MERLIN: First freshman class
Building Support and Awareness
1999 Summer First presentation to faculty
Fall Approval by Trustees
Presentation to Faculty Assembly
MERLIN name selected
2000 Winter MERLIN logo developed
Media announcement
How does MERLIN work?
NotebookPC
How does MERLIN work?
Basic productivity software (Office, IE, plug-ins) resides on low-cost PC. Off-campus access with modem.
WirelessNetwork
NotebookPC
How does MERLIN work?
Wireless connectivity allows campus roaming while still maintaining access to network, Internet and network software.
directional patch antenna
leaky co-ax antenna
high-gain omni-directional antenna
high-gain omni-directional antenna
CitrixServer
WirelessNetwork
NotebookPC
How does MERLIN work?
Lab (high-end) software runs off CITRIX server for LAN and off-campus access.
CitrixServer
WirelessNetwork
NotebookPC
How does MERLIN work?
Other Goodies
Other Goodies
Other Goodies
Other Goodies
Other Goodies
Other Goodies
Other Goodies
Other Goodies
Before MERLIN,
I was a 98 pound IT weakling.
Look at me now!
Infrastructure Considerations
Coverage Access points Antennae
Security Wireless network Citrix
Citrix gotchas
Ongoing Challenges
Classroom issues
Technology refresh
Bandwidth
Faculty
Students
Lessons Learned
Communicate, communicate, communicate
Choose your vendors carefully
Faculty first?
You can never test enough
Pilot
Stay flexible, move fast
