Managing Telecommunications and Networking., Summaries of Local Area Network (LAN)

60 A loose confederation of LANs w/ computer center data circuits. 48 Administrative and academic computing on separate networks.

Typology: Summaries

2022/2023

Uploaded on 05/11/2023

gaurish
gaurish 🇺🇸

4.7

(15)

235 documents

1 / 60

Toggle sidebar

This page cannot be seen from the preview

Don't miss anything!

bg1
DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 363 220 HE 026 830
TITLE Challenges and Opportunities of Information
Technology in the 90s. Track V: Managing
Telecommunications and Networking.
INSTITUTION CAUSE, Boulder, Colo.
PUB DATE 91
NOTE 60p.; In: Challenges and Opportunities of Information
Technology in the 90s. Proceedings of the CAUSE
National Conference (Miami Beach, FL, Novemb2r 27-30,
1990); see HE 026 825.
AVAILABLE FROM CAUSE Exchange Library, 737 Twenty-Ninth Street,
Boulder, CO 80303 (individual papers available to
CAUSE members at cost of reproduction).
PUB TYPE Speeches/Conference Papers (150)
EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS College Administration; *Computer Networks;
Dormitories; Higher Education; *Information
Management; *Information Technology; Management
Information Systems; Technological Advancement;
*Telecommunications
IDENTIFIERS Access to Computers; CAUSE National Conference; Image
Transmission
ABSTRACT
Six papers from the 1990 CAUSE conference's Track V,
Managing Telecommunications and Networking are presented. Topics
address such subjects as network funding, support services, access to
networks, improvement of instruction through networks, and image
transmission. Papers and their authors are as follows: "What's New in
Telecommunication?" (Gene T. Sherron); "Computer to Computer
Communications: When E-Mail Is Not Enough" (Daniel J. Oberst);
"Marketing Principles Extended: Creating a Statewide Network" (Robert
E. Zimmerman and Sandra M. Statham); "Networks Beget Networks" (Gene
A. Kemper); "Networking in Residence Halls: Participation and Impact"
(Mary Simoni and Elaine M. Hockman); and "The Integration of Voice,
Data, and Video Services via a Wide Area Network: Technical and
Organizational Issues" (Jan A. Blatzer). (GLR)
********************************************************************
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
pf3
pf4
pf5
pf8
pf9
pfa
pfd
pfe
pff
pf12
pf13
pf14
pf15
pf16
pf17
pf18
pf19
pf1a
pf1b
pf1c
pf1d
pf1e
pf1f
pf20
pf21
pf22
pf23
pf24
pf25
pf26
pf27
pf28
pf29
pf2a
pf2b
pf2c
pf2d
pf2e
pf2f
pf30
pf31
pf32
pf33
pf34
pf35
pf36
pf37
pf38
pf39
pf3a
pf3b
pf3c

Partial preview of the text

Download Managing Telecommunications and Networking. and more Summaries Local Area Network (LAN) in PDF only on Docsity!

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 363 220 HE 026 830

TITLE Challenges and Opportunities of Information

Technology in the 90s. Track V: Managing

Telecommunications and Networking.

INSTITUTION CAUSE, Boulder, Colo.

PUB DATE 91

NOTE 60p.; In: Challenges and Opportunities of Information

Technology in the 90s. Proceedings of the CAUSE

National Conference (Miami Beach, FL, Novemb2r 27-30,

1990); see HE 026 825.

AVAILABLE FROM CAUSE Exchange Library, 737 Twenty-Ninth Street,

Boulder, CO 80303 (individual papers available to

CAUSE members at cost of reproduction).

PUB TYPE Speeches/Conference Papers (150)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.

DESCRIPTORS College Administration; *Computer Networks;

Dormitories; Higher Education; *Information

Management; *Information Technology; Management

Information Systems; Technological Advancement;

*Telecommunications

IDENTIFIERS Access to Computers; CAUSE National Conference; Image

Transmission

ABSTRACT

Six papers from the 1990 CAUSE conference's Track V,

Managing Telecommunications and Networking are presented. Topics

address such subjects as network funding, support services, access to

networks, improvement of instruction through networks, and image

transmission. Papers and their authors are as follows: "What's New in

Telecommunication?" (Gene T. Sherron); "Computer to Computer

Communications: When E-Mail Is Not Enough" (Daniel J. Oberst);

"Marketing Principles Extended: Creating a Statewide Network" (Robert

E. Zimmerman and Sandra M. Statham); "Networks Beget Networks" (Gene

A. Kemper); "Networking in Residence Halls: Participation and Impact"

(Mary Simoni and Elaine M. Hockman); and "The Integration of Voice,

Data, and Video Services via a Wide Area Network: Technical and

Organizational Issues" (Jan A. Blatzer). (GLR)


Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made

from the original document.

cAusE

ChallengesandOpportunities

ofInformationTechnology

inthe90s

Proceedingsofthe

1990CAUSENationalConference

TRACK

V

MANAGINGTELECOMMUNICATIONS

ANDNETWORKING

November27-30,

FontainebleauHiltonResortandSpa

MiamiBeach,Florida

"PERMISSIONTOREPRODUCETHIS

MATERIALHASBEENGRANTEDBY

CAUSE

TOTHEEDUCATIONALRESOURCES

INFORMATIONCENTER(ERICr

1111111"

-----11111121111101011M

UALDEPARTMENTOfEDUCATION

OfhceciEducationalResearchandImprovement

EDUCATIONALRESOURCESINFORMATION

CENTER(ERIC)

aThisdocumenthalbeenreproducedas

receivedfromthpersonor0/denotation

0000110119

941norchanOttahavebeanmadetoImprove

fIlmOduclionQuality

Pointsofsteworof:unionsMauldinthisCIOCo.

mintdonotnecessarilyrepresentofficial

OERIpoerbonorpohcy

WHAT'SNEWINTELECOMMUNICATIONS?

GeneT.Sherron,DBA

AssociateVicePresidentofComputer&Information Resources

AssociateProfessorinInformation&ManagementSciences

FloridaStateUniversity

Tallahassee,Florida

ABSTRACT

PBXs,LANs,CSMA/CD,ISDN,FO,FDDI,andthe listgoeson.How'sa

personsupposetokeepupwithalltheadvancesincomputing,muchless

telecommunications?Thefactiswedon't!But,thislayman's terms

presentationisdesignedtoprovide youwithanupdateonthetypicalissues

andtechnologiesfacingusintelecommunications today.

Thedataforthispresentationwascollectedfrom asurveyof128college

anduniversitytelecommunicationsdepartments whichmakesit"realworld"

andcurrent.Highlightsinclude:Howdoes afiberopticbackbonefitthe

campusnetworkingstrategy?WhatdoesISDNmeanstome?WhichLAN

configurationismostpopularoncampuses?

Inadditiontothenationaldata, casebriefsofFloridaState'swillbe

interspersedinthepresentation.

INTRODUCTION

Theyearis1984.TheplaceistheU.S.DistrictCourtinWashington,D.C.The

judgeistheHonorableHaroldH.Greene.Thedecisionistoderegulatethe

teleconununicationsindustryandAT&Tconsentedtodivest.Sincethatdate,lifeonthe

campushasnotbeenthesame.Slowlyatfirst,butnowlikealocomotive,collegesand

universitiesacrossthislandaretakingcontroloftelecommunications.

Mostofusinthetechnologybusinesshaverealizedthatitisalonelyworldin

whichwelive.Weseeopportunities.Wetrytosell"management"onthem.Yetthese

areexpensivedecisionsthatwearetryingtogetthemtobuyinto.Andthetechnology

changessofastthattheyworrywhetheritwillbeobsoletebeforewegetitinstalled.

Yes,blesstheirhearts,ourbossesareuneasyabouttechnologydecisionsbecause

theysimplydidnotgrowupintheelectronicage.AndIamoneofthem.Thinkonus

kindly.We,thoseofuswhoareinmanagementpositionsincollegesanduniversities

today,grewupwiththefollowinghandicaps--ourphonenumbersweresomethinglike

"39W"andwereachedpartiesthroughanoperatoronourdial-lessblackphones;when

wevisitedGrandpa'sKentuckyfarm,weanswered"twolongsringsandashort"onthe

oak-cased,party-linephone;andthemostsophisticatedtechnologyinthehomewasa

vacuumtuberadioandwedidn'teventhinkaboutitbeingAMonly.

Isitanywonderthatyouyoung"whipper-snappers"havetroublesellingnew

telecommunicationssystemsoncampus?

THESURVEYMETHODOLOGY

TheFirstSurvey

Realizingthatourmanagersrespondwelltopeerinformation,Idecidedtoask

ourACUTAcolleaguesforsomehardevidencetoadvanceourcause.And,sincemost

ofuswanttoprogressasbroadafrontasisfeasible,Idevelopedasurveythatwould

collectdatathatcouldbeusedtodemonstratetomybossthatweshoulddothese

wonderful,new,innovativethings.Thus,intheSummerof1988,Iconductedmyfirst

surveyoftwenty-fourACUTAmembers.

The1990Survey

TheresponsetothefirstsurveywassoencouragingthatIdecidedtoseek

anotherlevelofmanagementdataaboutcampustelecommunicationsoperations.

Aseven-pagesurveyinstrumentwasdevelopedinSpring1990andsentout

somewhatrandomlyto151ACUTAmembers.Itachievedanoutstandingreplyrateof

60percent,or90respondents,andgeneratedthedataforapresentationatarecent

ACUTAnationalconference,resultsofwhichCAUSEpublishedasaProfessional

Paper.(1)

CENTREX CAMPUSPBX

49% Northern'sDMS- 34% AT&Ts25,75,85,&

DimensionPBXs

46% AT&TsSESS 29% Others:NEC,InteCom,GTE,

Ericsson

5% Others:Nova&"other" 27% Northern'sSL-1&SL-

10% Rolm'sCBX&Model

However,basedonthesepercentagesofcampusmarketshare,asafechoice

wouldhavetobeNorthernTelecomorAT&T.Andbothhavebeeninthebushiness

longenoughtogiveconfidencetothenotionthattheywillbearoundforyearstocome.

TheIntegrationofVoiceandData

WhetheritisCentrexserviceoranownedPBX,itissafetosaythatthe

overwhelmingnumberofthemaredigitalswitches.Thismeansthatalloftheinternal

circuitryishandlingsignalsinbinary,justlikeanothercomputer.Further,itcanbesaid

thattheyweredesignedtohandledataaswellasvoicecommunicating.And,thishas

beensoforadecadeandahalf.Thesalespitchhasbeentobuyoneswitchthathandles

both.

Butinfact,vendorshavehadfewtakers.Intheearlyyears,campusesacquired

dataswitchesfordatacommunicatingandaPBXforvoiceneeds.Eventodayvendors

stilltalkabouthoweasyitistorunvoiceanddatathroughthesamePBX,butthosewho

doexploitintegratedvoice/data(IVD)arefewinnumber.

DuringtheFall'88surveyprocess,itwaslearnedthatNorthernTelecomtriedto

sellcustomersonintegrationbutinpracticelessthan2percentofit'scustomersactually

acquiredtheIVDinstruments(makethat"phones").Theuniversitiesreportedaneven

lowernumber.ThetwelveuniversitieswithNorthernTelecomPBXsreportedthatonly

about1percentoftheproprietaryphoneswhichtheyacquiredweretheIVDtype.

So.howdowehandledata?

Itseemsthatwecangeneralizeourdataoptionsintothreecategories--modems,

dataswitches,orvoice/dataPBX.Fordecades,campuseshaveusedmodems

(modulator/demodulator)toconnectworkstationstocomputersviatelephonelines.

Wehavethemthatrangeinspeedfrom300bitspersecond(bps)onupto19,200or

19.2Kbps.

Inthelate'70s,thedataswitches,suchasthosemadebyGandalfandMicom,

gaverisetotheestablishmentofseparatedatanetworks.Thesesystemsusetwisted-pair

cablingandachieveddataratesof9.6Kbpsto19.2Kbps.

Finally,the"digitation"oftheswitch/PBXbroughtanimportantcapabilityto

users.WithadigitalPBX,usersgainedtheabilitytobeconnectedsimultaneouslyto

datasignalsandvoiceoravoice/dataPBX.

Now,againstthisbackground, wecanseewhatcampt.sesaredoing.

Low-speedDataviaModems 44%

SeparateVoice&DataNetworks 39%

IntegratedVoice&DataviaPBX 19%

Low-toHi-SpeedDataviaPBX 14%

Low-speedDataviaPBX 9%

Notethatthesepercentagestotalto morethan100percem.Thisoccursbecause

manyofthecampusesreportseveraldifferentwaysofhandlingtheirvoiceand data

needs.Fromthesedata,twoflingsleapto ourattention.First,thereisstilla

considerableamountoflow-speedmodemuseoncampusestoday--44percent.And,

secondly,thedataswitchesthatweresopopularfifteenyearsagoarestillverymuch

presentonthecampus --39percent.Thebighopeisthatmoreandmorecampuseswill

movetotheintegratedvoice/dataswitch,whichisacapabilitythatismoving upinto

thirdplace,or19percent.

NETWORKING

Networking.Whateverthatis!

Doingsomenetworking?Whether wecallitnetworkingorlocalareanetworks

(LAN),selectingtheschemefor yourcampusisnosimpletask.Today's

networking/LANmarketplaceiscrowdedwith atleastfiftydifferentvendors,all

claimingthattheirproductisthe oneyouneed.Further,confusionoccursbecausethere

arefewfixedstandards,defactoorotherwise.Nonetheless,

youmaybesurethatthe

simple,smallLANyouinstalltodaywillturninto alargemultifloor,multibuilding,or

multicampusnetworkatsometimeinthefuture.

TheCampusCommunicationsPicture

NotsureofhowtoasktheLANquestioninordertogetadefinitiveandclear

pictureofcampusnetworking,thequestion wasposed,"Whatbestdescribesyour

campus?"Notethefrequencyofresponsestotheleftof thefollowingdescriptions.

80Acampusbackbone

60AlooseconfederationofLANsw/computer centerdatacircuits

48Administrativeandacademiccomputingonseparatenetworks

3Adataswitch

16Integratedvoiceanddatanetwork

Asmentionedearlier,themostcuriousresponseisthatthevastmajorityofthe

campusesseethemselveswitha"campusbackbone."Yet,fromthe responsesaboutdata

rateandtheuseofdifferentmedia,thesearemostlikelycoaxial networksormaybe

evensomeusingtwistedpairs.Probablylessthanadozenofthecampusessurveyedare

usingfiberbackbone.

eachdevicetoacentralcablecalledthebackbone.Aringtopologynetworkconnects

eachstationtothoseonitsleftorright.Regardlessofthe topology--ring,bus,star,or

hybrid --everymessagecontainsadesignationaddressandeachstationonthenetwork

"listens"foritsaddressineachmessage.

LANProtocols

ALANprotocolisthesetofrules,procedures orconventionsthatrelatetothe

formatandtimingsothattwoormorepointscancommunicatewithoneanother.

Associatedwiththeprotocoldecisionisoneconcerningwhetherthesystemwillbe

baseband(onemessageatatime)orbroadband(multiple messagepassing).

Toascertainwhatwasbeingusedby campusestocontroltheirnetworks,the

surveyquestionwas,"Whatprotocolswereusedmostprevalently oncampus?"And,we

mustconfessedthatnotallpossibleprotocoloptions werelisted,inanefforttokeep

thingssimple.

ThemostcommonlyreportedprotocolisTCP/IP(Transmission Control

Protocol/InternetProtocol),withafrequencyof campuses.Itisprobablytheoldest

networkingstandardandallowsreasonablyefficientand error-freedatatransmissions.

Recallthatitcomestousthroughdevelopment attheDepartmentofDefense's

AdvanccdResearchProjectAgencynetworkprojectknownasARPANet.

WithanabundanceofIBMhardware oncampuses,itshouldnotsurpriseyou

thatIBM'sSystemsNetworkArchitecture(SNA)has asignificantpresence.TheIBM

protocolusedunderthisArchitectureisSynchronousDataLinkControl(SDLC)

protocol.Yet,whenoneasksaboutcampusLANprotocols,itiscommontorefertoit

asSNAratherthanSDLC.Recognizingthatoption,SNA wasreportedasthesecond

mostpopularoptionwith38campusesreportingits use.

Again,consideringtheamountofDigitalEquipment Corporation(DEC)

hardwareoncollegecampuses,itshouldnot comeasashockthatDECnetisthethird

mostpopularprotocolwith8campusesrepo:ting.

LANOperatingSystems

Asmentionedearlier,thetechieswhoworkonourLANsystemsdonothavea

commonvisionofthehierarchyassociatedwithLANs.So,when weaskedaboutthe

mostprevalentLAN"OperatingSystems"on campus,wewerereallyaskingaboutthe

"LANsoftware"or"LANapplicationsoftware."Oneofthesedays,wemaybeableto

usearchitecture,protocols,andsoftwareasdistinctcategoriesandpeoplewillknow

whatwemean.Inthemeantime,let'sreportthefindings on"operatingsystems."

Novell'sNetWareistheclearchoiceofLANOperating Systemswith94outof

128campusesreportingthatitisthemostprevalent oneused.

AppleTalkisinsecondplacewith62votes.Again,Digitalis inthirdplacewith

VMS/DECNet(45).Theothersinclude:DOSLANManager (18),3COMPlus(13),

andBanyanVINES(10).

ORGANIZATIONALANDMANAGEMENTISSUES

ANewFunction--Telecommunications

Priortoderegulation/divestiture(1984),campustelephoneservice wastypicallya

smalloperationdownatthePhysicalPlantDepartmentthatcoordinatedthephoneand

datacircuitrequestswiththelocalphonecompany.Atelephoneadministratorand afew

clerksrantheshow.

Duringthepastsixyears,amajorityofourcampuseshavetakenadvantageof

deregulation'sfreeeomofchoicetocreateTelecommunicationDepartments,establish

DirectorofTelecommunicationspositions,anddevelopcommunicationsoperationsthat

repr:sentthefastestgrowingorganizationonthecampus.

OrganizationalGeneralizations

Thelastpageofthesurveyinstrumentcontainedarequestfor acopyofthe

organizationalchartforthecampusdepartmentoftelecommunications.The most

challen*ingpartofthedataanalysishasbeendrawin&conclusionsandmaking

generalizationsfromthesehundredorsocharts.Anindicatorofthe newnessof

telecommunicationsonourcampusesisthefactthatlessthanhalfprovide a"printed"

organizationalchart.Theothersusedthemulti-purposeformprovidedandfilled-inthe

blanks.

Next,itwasnecessarytoseparatethecampusesintothosewiththeir own

switch/PBXversusthoseservedbyCentrex(thelocaltelephonecompany).Ratherthan

commentoneachobservation,pleasenotethesegeneralizations.

A.sindicatedearlier,thesizeofthecampusesandinturn,thesizeofthetelecom

operationfollowedtheoftencited"bellshapedCurve."Giventhisdiversity,thedata

fallsintofairlyneatgroups.Thus,thefollowinggeneralizationsrepresent statements

thatyoucanbankonasbeingthenorm.

TelecommunicationsDepartmentswithCentrexService

--Staffsizerangedfrom2to85people(anaverageof19)

--SpanofControlaveraged

--Staffsof5andlargerhadanaverageof5Operators

--20andlargerstaffsalsohadanaverageof5Installers

--Mostdepartmentheadswere"Director"Smallerones were"Manager"

--75werenamed"DepartmentofTelecommunications"

--Noconsisten9oftechnicaltitles

--Typicalorganizationwas"Business/Finance,""CustomerService,"and

"Installation&Maintenance"

TelecommunicationsDepartmentswithitsownSwitch/PBX

--SmallDepartments--Stafffrom2to

-Typicallyorganizedin2to3groupsOperator,Accounting,&Technical

-Averageof2Operators

-Directoriscalled"Manager"

FOOTNOTES

(1)GeneT.Sherron,"AnInformationTechnologyManager'sGuideto

CampusPhoneOperations,"CAUSEProcessionalPaper#3,January1990,pp.26.

(2)AlanSimpson,"TheStateoftheOpticalArt,'Telephony,August27,1990,p.40.

(3)JerryFitzGerald,BusinessDataCommunications,3rded,(NewYork:JohnWiley

8icSons,1990),p.347.

(4)GeneT.Sherron,"ISDN--TakeAnotherLook,"CAUSE/EFFECT,Summer1990,

pp.3-4and"TheScopeofISDN,"Procomm,October1990,pp.41-42.

ComputertoComputerCommunications:

WhenE-MailisNotEnough

DanielJ.Oberst

ComputingandInformationTechnology

PrincetonUniversity

Princeton,NJ

Computerstodayfunction

asinformationprocessors,notlargecalcula-

tors.Computingondesktopsandindorms,withworld-wide

campus

networkinterconnections,permits

communicationsonanunprecedented

scale.Butthemostwidely-available

messagingtoolswillsoonbe

inadequatetothetask.PrincetonUniversity

isinvestigatinghowcom-

puter-basedmessagingsystems

cancopewiththisflowofinformation

andaidinternalcommunicationsforstrategicplanningandconsensus

building.Thepaperreviewsthehistoryofthese

systemsandmaildis-

tributionlists,examinesthestrengthsandweaknesses

ofeach,andout-

linestherolesthatpersonal

computersandcentralizedcomputingre-

sourcescanplayinmeetingthisneed.

I

Thefirstimportantpracticaluseof aCMCSwasEMISARI(/ieEmergencyManagement

InformationSystemandReferenceIndex)developedbyMurrayTuroff fortheU.S.Officeof

EmergencyPreparednessundertheNixonadministrationin1971.This systemallowedthegovern-

menttomonitorwagesandpricesaroundthecountry,rapidlydisseminate wageandpricefreezesto

regionaloffices,andelectronicallydiscussissuesrelated toeconomicpolicy.

EMISARIformedthebasisfortheElectronicinformationExchange System(EIES)thatTuroff

wentontodevelopattheNewJerseyInstituteofTechnology.The systemoriginallyranonaPerkin

Elmermini-computerlocatedatNJIT,and wasmadeavailablenationwidethroughEDUCOM's

EDUNET,aneducationalresource-sharingnetworkusingpublicdata networksforremoteaccess.

Educationalandresearchorganizationsandindividualsmadeeffective useofthesystemforevery-

thingfromdistancelearninganddistributedcollaboration toworkbyindustrystandardsbodies.

TheEIESsystemprovedtobe arichdevelopmentenvironmentforotherCMCS's.Participate was

prototypedontheEIESsystem,usingitspowerfulINTERACT

programminganddevelopmenten-

vironment,byC.H."Harry"Stevens.Itwaslatermadeavailable onthecommercialinformation

utility,TheSource,andalsoasastand-alonesystemforuselocallybyorganizationontheirown

computers.Itsfeaturesincludedaveryrichbranchingstructureforitsconferences.

AtWayneStateUniversity,CONFER wasdesignedbyDr.RobertParnesin1975.Itisnowwidely

usedattheUniversityofMichiganwhereithas growntobecomeanintegralpartoftheuniversity

experienceformanyofthestudents,staff,andfaculty asaforumfordiscussionandinformation.

DevelopmentofaunixportofCONFERisunderway,butitcurrentlyonlyrunsundertheMTS

(MichiganTimesharingSystem)mainframeoperating system.

In1977,attheUniversityofStockholm'sQZComputingCentre,

JacobPalmecreatedtheCOM

system,apowerfulmessagingandconferencingsystemthathasbeenusedinthat countryandinter-

nationallyforuniversityandcommercialapplications.Originally designedtorunonDECsystem

10/20computers,COMwasrewritteninaportableversioncalledPortaCOMtorunonavarietyof

operatingsystems.

CaucuswasdevelopedbyCharlesRoth asaveryportableconferencingsystemmodeledlargely on

theConfersystem.ItrunsonawiderangeofmachinesfromsmallPC'stomainframesandpowerful

unixservers.Theuserinterfaceisdictionary-drivenmakingforeign languageadaptationsofthesys-

temeasytoimplement.

AttheUniversityofGuelph,AlastairMayerworked ontheCoSysystemin1983.Theresultingsys-

temwasusedextensivelythereandlateradaptedfor useinBYTEComputer'son-lineBIXsystem.It

isnowacommerciallymarketedproductrunning onunixandothermachines.

MailingDistributionListsandCMCS

AboutthesametimetheseCMCS's wereunderdevelopment,theUnitedStatesDepartmentof

Defence'sAdvancedResearchProjectsAgency(ARPA, nowcalledDARPA)wasexperirr ;ngwith

awide-areadatacommunicationsnetwork.Computers atuniversitiesandmilitarysitesvveecon-

nectedtowhatbecametheARPANET.Electronic mailsystemsoneachcomputerallowed re-

searcherstoaddressmessagestocolleagues atanyoftheotherinterconnectedcomputer systems.

2BrockN.Meeks,"AnOverviewof ConferencingSystems,"BYTE,December1985,p.169.

-2-

Theydidnotneedtologintothecolleague'scomputer,andthusdidnotneedtorequestanaccount

orlearnhowtousetheremotesysteminordertocommunicatewithusersthere. Electronicmail

soonbecameadominantuseofthenetwork,moresothanthe originally-expectedservicessuchas

remotelogin.

Mostelectronicmailsystemsallowuserstocreatepersonalizedlistsoffrequently-addressedrecipients

thatcanbecalledupinsteadofhavingtotypeintheindividualaddresses.ACMCS-like"mailing

distributionlist"facilitycanbesetupbycentralizingtheselistsofaddresses.Researcherswhowishto

keepeachotherinformedoftheirworkcancreateacentralizedlisttowhichallthemembersdirect

relevantmail.Userssendmailtoanaddressthatlookslikeauseridatthelist-maintaininghostcom-

puter(e.g."[email protected]").'Whenthehostreceivesthemailit"explodes"itoutto

eachoftheremoterecipientsonthatparticularlist.

Today'sdescendantoftheARPANET,theInternet,consistsofinterconnectednetworks,suchasthe

NationalScienceFoundationsponsoredNSFNETanditsmembernetworks,whichusethe

TransmissionControlProtocolandInternetProtocols(TCP/IP).Electronicmail,muchofitfrom

suchmailingdistributionlists,remainsanactivepartofthenetwork.Some250listsarewidelyad-

vertisedontheInternet,andmanymoreprivateonesexist.Somearetechnical,likethe"unix-wiz-

zards"listthatdatesbackto1977.Othertopicsrangefromthepractical(arecipieslist)tothe

frivolous(asciencefictionloverslist).InterconnectionswithBITNETandUUCPnetworks(see

below)provideaccesstosimilarfacilitiesonthosenetworks.

In1985,theauthor,thendirectoroftheBITNETNetworkInformationCenter(BITNIC),andIra

Fuchs,whoheadedtheBITNETDevelopmentandOperationsCenter(BITDOC),proposeda

mechanismforaddingmailinglistcapabilitiestoBITNET.Theresultingsoftware,LISTSERV,was

developedbyRicardoHernandez,anddistributedtoseveraldozenBITNETsites.Itssuccesswas

suchthatLISTSERVtrafficsoonbegantoswampthemorecongestedBITNETlinks.Inresponse,a

revisedLISTSERVwascreatedbyEricThomasoftheEcoleCentraledeParisinFrance.Whereas

theinitialLISTSERVusedasimplemail"exploder"(onein,manyout)mechanism,Thomas'sim-

provedversionmadeuseofasetofpeerLISTSERVcomputers,whichcommunicatedamongeach

othertomoreefficientlydistributethetraffic.AmessagegoingfromtheUStoseveraldozenusersin

France,forexample,wouldtransittheAtlanticonce,andbe"exploded"onlyafterarrivingata

FrenchpeerLISTSERV.Thomas'sversionalsoaddedfeaturessuchasautomatedlistsignupandre-

trievalofarchivedpostings,informationfiles,andprograms.ThecombinedBITNET/NetNorth/-

EARNnetworksonwhichLISTSERVoperateshavenearly1,700listsworld-wideinactiveuse

today.

Thesenetwork-based"distributionlist"systemsdevelopedinparallelwithcentralizedCMCSsys-

tems.Functionally,bothtypesofsystemsprovideforone-to-many(andbyextensionmany-to-

many)communications.CMCS'sprovidespecializedtoolsandfacilitiestodealwiththissortof

communication.Distributionlists,ontheotherband,arehandledbyprogramsdesignedprimarily

forelectronicmail,whichispredominantlyone-to-onecommunications.

Bothprovidetheabilityforusersatdifferent,andoftengeographicallydispersed,locationstoform

groupsbasedoncommoninterests.CMCS'susuallyrequireremoteaccesstoacentralizedCMCS.

Mailingdistributionlistsallowuserstodothiswithinafamiliarenvironment(theirlocalcomputing

environment)usingthesametools(electronicmail)usedtosupportcommunicationwithindividuals

attheirownorotheruniversities.

AnimplementationsofnetnewsfortheIBMVM/CMSopemingsystem,developedbyIrwin

TillmanatPrincetonUniversity,providedbothanetnewsreaderfortheenduseraswellasamech-

anismforreceivingandsendingnetnewspostings.TillmanalsomadeitpossibleforLISTSERVlists

tobepostedtonetnews.ThisallowedusersofLISTSERVdistributionlists,whosepersonalelec-

tronicmailboxeshadbecomeinundatedbyLISTSERVmailinglistitems,tomonitorthelists

throughnetnews.

EIES2,thecurrentimplementationoftheEIESsystem,hasbeendesignedtooperatewithinadis-

tributedenvironmentaswell.Itsso-calledUserandGroupAgentscanrunwithinthesamephysical

computerortheUserAgentcaninteractwitharemoteGroupAgentonanothercomputer,whichin

turncaninteractwithotherGroupAgentsoverTCP/IPorX.25(internationalpublicdatanetwork

standard)networks.

AtIBM,tworesearchers,RobertFlavinandJackWilliford,developedaninternaldistributedconfer-

encingsystemcalledGRAND(itspredecessorwascalledPALTRY).Thesystemwasbuilttobedis-

tributed,andhaveahighlytailorabieuserfrontend.4LikenetnewsandEIES2,GRANDisadis-

tributedsystem,andprovidesameansforcooperatingGRANDsystemstokeepeachotherinformed

ofnewarticlessubmittedtoalocalsystem.TheGRANDsystemwasbasedonIBM'sNetworkJob

Entry/RemoteSpoolingCommunkationsSubsystem(NJE/RSCS),thesameprotocolthatunderlies

BITNEThosttohostcommunications.

GRANDallowedseveral"notificationstyles"forendusersthatrangedfromaninterfacetolocalor

remotecopiesofGRANDconferenceentries,todeliveryofitemsaspersonalmail.GRANDthus

functionedasbothamailingdistributionlistexploderaswellasaconferencingsystem.

PortaCOM,aportableimplementationoftheCOMconferencingsystem,hasaNetworkInterfaCE

(NICE)thatallowsittobothsendandreceivemailfromexternalmailsystems.Inthisway,external

mailingdistributionlistscanbedirectedtoaPortaCOMconferences,oruserscanhaveitemsfrom

listssenttotheirownmailbox.PortaCOMattemptstominimizeduplicationofitemsbyattaching

uniqueidentifierstoeachmessagehandledbythesystem.PortaCOMconferencescanalsohaveex-

ternal"members,"sothatremoteusersormailingdistributionlistscanparticipateinPortaCOM

conferences.

RoleofPersonalWorkstationsinCMCS

ThedominantmodelofaCMCSisacentralcomputeronwhichthedataanduserprofilesreside.

Usersarerequiredtologintointeractwiththesystem.Thisstyleoftime-sharedcomputingpredom-

inatedwhenmostcomputerconferencingsystemsweredeveloped,andmostsystemshaveretained

thismodel.Usersofsuchsystemswereoftenlimitedtoprintingorsimplevideoterminalsatslow

(300bitspersecond)speeds.Theuser-interfacesandtexteditorsavailablehadtoconformto,orat

leasttakgintoaccount,suchauserenvironment.

ManyCMCS'susemenusthatconstantlyrepeatthechoices(somevideoterminalshadonly24lines

thatscrolledirretrievablyoffthescreen),orcommandinterfacesthatrequireuserstoremember(or

callupamenufirst)andthentypetonavigatearoundtheconferencingsystem.Editorsinmost

CMCS'saretheline-orientedstyleofeditorassociatedwithprintingterminalsthatrequireusersto

4RobcrtA.FlavinandJackD.Williford,"TheNctworkApplicationManager,"BYTE,December1985,p.203.

-5-

memorizecommandsforchangingtext,insertingtext,etc.Reflowingoftext(adjustinglinelengths

aftertextinsertionsanddeletions)canbedifficultifpossibleatall.

Aslongasthiswastheonlywaytoaccesscomputing,suchinterfaceswereatbesttolerable.Since

usershadtoaccesscentralizedcomputersforotherapplications(suchasstatisticalanalysis,on-line

administrativesystems,etc.)theyneededtobecomefamiliarwithsomeoftheaccessproceduresand

editorsanyway.Thelearningcurveforthesystems,while steep,wasatleastusefulforothercomput-

ingactivities.Todayhowever,mostusershave accesstopersonalcomputersthatprovidefarmore

flexibleeditingenvironmentsanduserinterfaces.On many,bitmapgraphicsandmouse-driven

menusprovideafarmoreintuitivemeanstoaccessprogramsanddata.

SomeCMC'sdevelopedwaystomakeuseofthegrowingpowerandintelligenceofpersonalcom-

putersthatwerebeginningtobeusedasterminalstoaccessthesesystems.OntheEIES system,a

programwaswrittenfortheApplenthatattemptedtolocallymimictheEIESsystem,andthen

buildasetofbatchedcommandsthatcouldin turnbeexecutedontheEIESsystem.Theresults

werethenrett.medforlocalperusalonthemicrocomputer.Thiswasviewedboth asacost-saver

(sincebothsystemandtelecommunicationscosts weretime-based)andanaidtotheuser(since

someofthefeaturesofthelocalmicro,itseditors,etc.couldbeusedinpreparingthetext tobe

submitted,aswellasinprocessingitlater.)

AlaterversionofEIEScalledTEIES(TailorableEIES)allowedpersonal computerstolocallycreate

itemsforuseinthesystem,includingpictures,graphics,andformattedtext5.Other "Personal-

TEIES"userscouldthenviewtheseitems, orcreatetheirownforsubmissiontotheTEIESsystem.

AccessandnavigationwasaccomplishedthroughPF-keys onthePC.ThePortaCOMsystemhas

bothaMacintosh(MacKOM)andPC(VIDAKOM)interface toitssystemthatprovidesalocalized

environmentinwhichtointeractwithPortaCOM.

Anotherapproach,takenbytheUniversityofMichigan'sInfoDisk, istobuildafrontendtohost

systemsthatinturncommunicatewitharemoteworkstationsusingadefinedprotocol.In

Michigan'scase,mailandacalendarof eventswerefront-endedwithaMacWorkstationprogram

thattranslatedsystemcommandsandstructuresintopull-down menusand"dialogboxes"ona

Macintosh.Thecomplexityofthesystemwasmaskedbehindaseriesofmenusandfill-inboxesthat

allowtheusertointuitivelyexploreandmake useofthepowerofthesystem.Totheenduser,the

systemappearedlikeaMacintoshapplicationrunninglocally.

Ineachofthesesystems,theuserisabletousealocalwordprocessortopreparetextforsubmission

tothesystem.SomeoftheinterfacesincludetheirownWYSIWYG("WhatYouSeeIsWhatYou

Get")editors,orareintegratedwithexistingtexteditors.Windowedpersonal computerenviron-

ments(suchasMicrosoftWindowsonPC's,theMacintoshinterface, orX-Windowsonunixwork-

stations),with"cutandpaste"capability cansimplifytheuseofsystemsevenwithsimple"dumb-

terminal"interfaces.

Alocalfront-endtoaCMCSallowsalogicalsplitofresponsibility.The centralizedcomputerdoes

whatitdoesbest,centrallystoreandmanagethedataoftheconferencesaswellastheinformation

abouttheparticipants.Theuser'spersonalcomputerdoeswhatitdoesbest,provideabetter,more

5StarrRoxanneHikzandMurrayTuroff,"Tew:hingComputers andSocietyinaVirtualClassroom[TM],"Proceedingi

oftheConferenceonComputersandtheQualityofLife,Auk,.iationfor ComputingMachinerySIGCAS,Volume ,

Number3,October,1990, P.70.

-6-