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Learn how Xythos and JeffShare revolutionized storage at an academic medical center. Discover the benefits, challenges, and next steps of this project.
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Xythos in anAcademic Medical CenterJeffShare at Thomas Jefferson University Doug Herrick Sr. Director, Infrastructure ServicesJefferson Information Technologies Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Presentation Overview Thomas Jefferson University Storage at TJU Before JeffShare Xythos Evaluation and Choice JeffShare and TJU’s IT Strategy Overview of the JeffShare Project Rolling Out JeffShare Benefits and Impact of Xythos Challenges and Issues Next Steps
Founded in 1824 - largest freestanding academic medical center in Philadelphia. Affiliated with TJU Hospital – Separate IT Groups Overview of Thomas Jefferson University TJU consists of: • Jefferson Medical College • Jefferson College of Graduate Studies • Jefferson College of Health Professions • School of Nursing • School of Pharmacy • School of Health Professions • Jefferson School of Population Health • Jefferson University Physicians
Jefferson Medical College Jefferson Medical College is one of the largest private medical colleges in the nation. Jefferson Medical College has awarded more than 29,000 medical degrees and has more living graduates than any other medical school in the nation (11,000 at last count). Approximately one fourth of all medical school applicants in the country apply to Jefferson. Jefferson Medical College serves as the medical school for the State of Delaware.
Overview of the TJU Population TJU Enrolled Students: 3,209 Jefferson Medical College: 1040 students Jefferson College of Graduate Studies: 314 students Jefferson College of Health Professions: 1855 students Total full-time faculty : 1,085 Total faculty (full-time and part-time) : 1,428 Total staff and researchers: 5,689 Annual sponsored research funding: $122 million
Storage at TJU Before JeffShare Jeff IT-administered MS Domain File Sharing for Departments and Individual Users (200 mb L: Drive as Home Drive). VPN and RAP Required for Remote Access Decentralized Departmental Storage: Server and Workstation-Embedded, Low-end NAS, USB Thumb-drives, etc. SneakerNet and Burning CD’s Common for Collaboration Regulatory Compliance Issues with HIPAA, FERPA, PCI, GLBA No Network-based Storage for Students
Xythos Evaluation & Choice Investigation into Storage and Document Management Options Begun in 2006 Looked at Traditional Document Management Systems, Web Content Mgmt Systems, Suites, etc. EMC, SharePoint, IBM, and Others Evaluated Wanted to Find a Next-Generation, Web-Based, Campus-wide Storage and Document Management Solution Insufficient Resources for an Internally Developed Approach Blackboard Content System (Xythos-based) Considered
JeffShare at a Glance Currently Use Xythos Version 7.0.42 Deployed 2 Root Levels: Departmental Groups and Individuals Use NTLM Module for Passthru Authentication from MS Domain Number of Departments with Group JeffShare Storage: 40 Number of User Home Drive Accounts: 5,000 Total Allocated Space: 10.4 TB Total Utilized Space: 10%
How JeffShare Fits with IT Strategy In 2005, new CIO, Dr. Bruce Metz, hired to transform IT JeffShare fit his vision to: Offer Next-generation IT Services to Students, Faculty, and Staff. Integrate Clinical and Research Information Open up IT Storage to TJU and TJU-affiliated Communities on or off-campus • Define and Improve Data Access Security • Redefine User Support Model (Distributed Support) • Look Outside TJU for Services and Products (e.g. Data Center Hosting)
How JeffShare Fits with IT Strategy (continued) JeffShare Supports Goal of a Next-Generation, Open, Collaborative Storage and Document Management Environment Provides both Browser and Windows Interfaces Permits More Granular Access Security and Audit/Logging for Regulatory Compliance Easy to Learn and Use, and Integrates with Existing Infrastructure
Overview of the JeffShare Project Xythos tested and acquired in early 2007 Funded to better manage e-mail Attachments Users wanted an Open Alternative to VPN-Accessible Storage Researchers and Faculty wanted a more feature-rich supplement to Microsoft Domain File Shares All Users with eMail Accounts automatically provisioned with 512MB of JeffShare storage
Rolling Out JeffShare Dedicated Half FTE for Training – Web Based Education Developed Storage Orientation Program for Appropriateness of Use and Best Practices for: Desktop USB Flash Drives Network File Storage Archival Storage HIPAA Issues, Security and Access Control Acceptable Use Policy
Rolling Out JeffShare (continued) Internally Piloted within Jeff IT for Several Months Decided on Limited, Targeted Roll-out of Groups with Immediate Needs Initially Relied on Word-of-Mouth Testimonials Took Volunteers for Early Adopters Began with Research Grants Administration Office Targeted Mobile Faculty who Found VPN Awkward Looked for Individuals with Large eMail Attachments (>10MB) Goal of Retiring FTP Servers
Rolling Out JeffShare (continued) Moved MS Domain Home Drives (95% done) Targeted Students Last: Not Set up as HTML Folders Currently Implementing Xythos Blackboard FileBridge No Chargeback for JeffShare. Access Control Managed by User Departments Archival Storage – JeffShare not being Used for Fixed Content or Image Files (Radiology, MRI, etc.)
Benefits & Impact of Xythos Feature-Rich, Open, Browser-Based Access Granularity of Access, Logging, and Audit Feature - Better Document Control Features – Store Once Windows Desktop Client Facilitates Roll-Out and Learning Curve Elimination of FTP Servers Facilitates Collaboration, Team Documents, and Project Management – Especially for TJU Committee Members, Off-Site, and Traveling Staff
Benefits & Impact of Xythos Storage (continued) Researchers can meet Electronic Application and Submission Policies of NIH Faculty Can Share Information with Colleagues in other Institutions that previously had no Access to TJU Storage Work-Flow and Document Sign-off Facilitated Improved Communication and Collaboration General Feature Set for Diverse User Population
JeffShare Issues & Challenges How to Roll-Out? Incremental vs. “Big Bang” Think Through Training and Documentation Needs Define Local Departmental “Super Users” and Processes for Access Control: Administrative Granularity and Access Features are Powerful and thus Potentially Problematic What Policies are in Place for Publicly-Accessible Read-Write Folders? Publishing out as Web Folders? Decide on Appropriate Use Policies and Click on Agreement
JeffShare Issues & Challenges (continued) Review Xythos Global Settings and Defaults Before Installation Versioning On, Trash Auto-empty, Modify Message Off Default choices have implications for file/folder restores (e.g., necessity of Xythos admin intervention vs. user-self-remediation) Batch Migration from Legacy Storage (Xythos Developed Tool) Consider Data Mirroring and Fail-over Options. Load Balancing Front-End Web Servers – How Many? Health Monitoring of System: Nagios and Restart Scripts
JeffShare Issues & Challenges (continued) Performance Tuning Metadata and SQL Server Xythos Drive for Windows Performance Issues Looking at other Options: Native WebDAV Intellitach Plug-in for Outlook Windows Vista to have Native WebDAV Drive Letter Mapping
The Future Continuing to add Enterprise Document Management (EDM) Functionality Workflow Scanning and Paper Reduction Integrate EDM with Web Content Management Application Integration Tiers of Service Document Retention, Archiving and Regulatory Issues
For More Information Visit the Jeff IT web site at: http://jeffit.jefferson.edu Or Contact: Doug HerrickSr. Director, Infrastructure ServicesJefferson Information TechnologiesDoug.Herrick@jefferson.edu