Salsa-DR Working Group Conference Call
June 8, 2007
**Attending**
Don McLeod, Cornell University (chair)
Rodney Peterson, Educause
Ken Schroyer, Penn State University
Steve Strickler, Penn State University
Anthony Maszeroski, University of Scranton
Norma Hall, Educause
Lee Arning, Southern Methodist University
Rob Banz, University of Maryland-Baltimore County
Eric Lafferty, Ohio Supercomputer Center
Steve Olshansky, Internet2
Dean Woodbeck, Internet2 (scribe)
**Action Items**
[AI]{Eric} will send the MoU to Don and SteveO for posting on the WG page if there are not problems with him sharing the document.
[AI] {ALL} All participants are asked to list their institutions’ information on the disaster recovery matrix on the wiki: https://spaces.internet2.edu/display/salsadr/DR+Exchange+Matrix
[AI]{ALL} Post to DR “best practices” page in the wiki.
https://spaces.internet2.edu/display/salsadr/DR+Best+Practices
[AI]{ALL} After attending conferences/meetings related to disaster recovery, post a summary to the email list or send it to SteveO <steveo AT internet2 DOT edu>
**Call Minutes**
There were no comments on the Salsa-Disaster Recovery group’s charter, found on the WG website, so it is approved. (http://security.internet2.edu/dr/)
**Reciprocal backup agreements**
Don McLeod led a discussion about reciprocal agreements among universities for backing up critical data. One question is whether institutions use an informal arrangement or have formalized contracts. He reported that Cornell does everything by contract.
Eric Lafferty said the Ohio Supercomputer Center, which provides internet services for many Ohio institutions, does a Memorandum of Understanding with state schools and a contract for private universities or other clients. [AI]{Eric} will send the MoU to Don and SteveO for posting on the WG page if there are not problems with him sharing the document.
** Prioritize WG activities **
Don reviewed the priority topics for this working group, as defined in a session at the Internet2 Member Meeting and in the last phone call. The group confirmed that this priority list is still accurate (in no particular order):
**Emergency Notification Systems**
In the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy, campuses are reviewing emergency notification systems – methods for quickly providing information to large groups of people. Of particular concern are 1) contacting students, faculty and staff and 2) providing notifications when large groups of guests or other people not normally included in standard notification databases are on campus for such events as alumni reunions or athletic events.
Penn State uses a system called PSU Text, an SMS system for cell phones. Users must join the system by providing their cell phone numbers. After the Virginia Tech incident, the number of users jumped from 4,000 to 14,000.
SMU has just purchased a notification system after reviewing six possibilities. They chose Send Word Now because of the system’s redundancy, its robust delivery of SMS text, and the ability to populate the database by transferring data from the university’s PeopleSoft system. The system can be tailored to use multiple lists or it can be used to broadcast to everyone. Send Word Now also has a conference call capacity.
UMBC is looking at E2Campus. SMU looked at that, but students have to subscribe to the service. Some schools are seeing a relatively small percentage of their students sign up for the service.
Penn State is starting to create a policy for collecting emergency phone numbers from all students. Do others have such a policy? The University of Scranton collects this information via a portal and has experienced a 90 percent rate of registration. SMU is going to require students to provide the information.
The question was posed about what campuses are doing to get information to people during large on-campus events. Some campuses have reported using large text message boards and/or amplified speakers.
SMU works with a government entity that has a voice-over capability on its emergency siren. Coincidentally, the siren is next to the football stadium, which would work to SMU’s advantage during an emergency. Steve from Penn State reported on a campus that has installed a similar system (siren with voice-over capability) that uses three sirens to cover 90 percent of the campus. SMU also has voice-over capacity on their fire alarm system. The disadvantage is that older buildings to not have this capacity, so it doesn’t cover the entire campus.
Ohio State has formed a partnership with the campus amateur radio club, enlisting their help with disaster communications.
[AI]{ALL} Post DR “best practices” to the wiki
https://spaces.internet2.edu/display/salsadr/DR+Best+Practices
**Conferences/Meetings with sessions related to disaster recovery
As a way to gather information about trends and best practices, it was suggested that those attending any meetings related to disaster recovery post a summary on the email list, web site or wiki. Please send these summaries to the disaster recovery email list or to SteveO <steveo AT internet2 DOT edu>.
Resource Matrix
The wiki includes a matrix that asks for information from universities about 1) areas of interest related to disaster recovery, 2) DR technologies available, and 3) whether there is interest in working with others on specific issues. [AI] {ALL} All participants are asked to list their institutions’ information on the matrix:
https://spaces.internet2.edu/display/salsadr/DR+Exchange+Matrix
**Next call—Friday, June 22, 1:00 p.m. EDT**