Annual Report 1999–2000

教學輔助設施 80 ACADEMI C SUPPOR TFACILITIE S 資訊科技服務 加強資訊科技基建 資訊科技服務處除協助校內的電腦系統順利過渡公元二千年 外，又推出多項全新基礎設施和服務。本年度校園主幹網 絡技術從異步傳輸模式逐步改為「千兆以太網」，使校內建 築物之間的數據傳送速度由 1 5 5 / 6 2 2 mb p s 提髙至 1 , 0 00 mbps。 大學職員證和學生證開始採用多功能智能卡形式，除 可用以識別身分，更可登入資訊系統和作繳費等用途，大大 提髙了行政效率，亦加強了校園的保安。新啟用的資訊科技 學習中心為學生提供培訓和評核服務，有二千五百册六名一 年級學生通過了資訊科技能力測試。校方又於是年裝置資訊 科技敎學系統平台，協助約五百個課程的敎師，利用萬維 網發布敎材和推動小組射論，提升敎學素質。而為了統一校 內軟件標準和提高議價能力，大學採用集體採購的新方式， 購買常用軟件的校園版使用許可證。這些軟件包括辦公室 文書、網絡系統、病毒檢測和公用程式等。 科研設施與配套系統 年中添置的 Sun Enterprise E6500 高性能伺服器,配備十組 Ultra-SPARC 處理器及光纖訊道硬盤陣列，適合要處理大量 數據的研究項目使用。這伺服器加上原有的 SGI Origin 2000 高性能計算密集系統（包含廿四組 MIPS R10000 處理器）， 組成了強大的運算支援體系。資訊科技服務處又為研究及 科技事務處和兩個學術交流處開發系統，管理有關校內科研 項目、敎職員著作，以及海內外學術交流活動的資料。 Computer Services IT Infrastructure Enhancement A t the same time as all computer systems and applications of the University managed to achieve a smooth transition to the year 2000, a number o£ new computer facilities and services were introduced. Campus backbone network technology was upgraded f r om the asynchronous transfer mode ( ATM) to gigabit Ethernet, boosting inter- building bandwidth f r om 155/622 mbps to 1,000 mbps. A new identit y card for staff and students based on multi-function smart card technology was issued during the year to facilitate identification, physical access control, administrative application access, and electronic payment, thereby improving both management efficiency and campus security. A newly established I T Learning Centre began operation to provide training and assessment services, and 2,536 first-year students passed the I T assessment test in 1999-2000. Various worldwide web teaching-learning platforms were deployed to help teachers of some 500 courses deliver instructional materials and organize student discussion forums. License of commonly used software in the areas of office automation, network operating systems, virus protection, and utilities was centrally funded beginning in 1999-2000 to achieve better standardization and to increase collective bargaining power. New Research Facilities and Supporting Applications A new Sun Enterprise E6500 server joined the family of high performance computing platforms in 1999-2000. Equipped w i t h 10 UltraSparc processors and fibre channel disk arrays, the server was targeted at data-intensive research applications requiring extremely high throughput. Together w i t h the existing SGI Origin 2000 supercomputer w i t h 24 MIPS R10000 processors designed for numeric-intensive computation, the new system provides researchers on the campus w i t h a much enhanced and more powerful facility for computation. To effectively manage the evergrowing number of research projects, staff publications, and academic exchange activities, a comprehensive database and enquiry system was established by the computer centre in collaboration w i t h the Research and Technology Administration Office and the Offices of Academic Links.