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NEWS - 01.10.2007

Exciting Changes in Network Services

There's been some very good news around here lately. Over the last few weeks, three "new" staff have been added to Network Operations and Network Engineering groups within Network Services.

In Network Engineering, Rick Skibiniski was the successful candidate for the Senior Network Engineering Analyst position, replacing Ziad Sarieddine, who left for Cisco Systems. Rick has also been designated as the new Lead for the Network Engineering group, a role for which he is well qualified given his years of experience here at CSUMB. A new recruitment is currently in progress to fill Rick's former Network Engineering Analyst position. Rick was co-architect for our new ITRP Cisco network and has overseen its implementation during the last 18 months. He is currently focused on engineering and implementing a second, high-speed, Gigabit connection between CSUMB and the Internet. When completed, CSUMB will be connected to Internet in both Soledad (our current connection) and in Sunnyvale, thereby further increasing the reliability and robustness of our OtterNet network.

In the Network Operations group, Brian Smith has joined as a Network Operations Analyst. In the short time he has been here he's already contributed significantly to Net Operation's efforts to monitor and protect against hostile attacks from the Internet. It was no surprise to confirm that we are continually under attack. However, now with Brian's installation of a new Intrusion Detection System (IDS), NetOps is able to gather critical information about the attacks and quickly respond to protect our campus resources. In addition, the IDS provides information that helps NetOps prevent these attacks from even occurring in the future.

And finally, right before the Christmas break, Steve Nixon joined Network Operations as a Network Operations Analyst. We are very fortunate to have the services of one of CSUMB's brightest graduates (TMAC, Spring 2006), who last year impressed many of us with his OtterOS Linux-on-a-CD capstone project. Steve's knowledge of Linux helps Network Services fill a skills gap in the important area of Unix/Linux operating systems.

Please join us in welcoming our "new" colleagues to their current positions on the IT@CSUMB team.