Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
VII DBA and TUSC Cellular DBA. Palm VII DBA supports user-level security for UNIX or new
restricted shell log-ins for wireless access. The command menus can be customized with
choices for privileged and regular users, and it supports any UNIX command issued from the
Palm VII. Common database operations are supported with prebuilt database scripts.
FUTURE WIRELESS SERVICES AND RAUL
Mobile access to data will bring significant changes to distance-learning services.
According to Sun Microsystems, “The number of wireless communications devices installed
worldwide already exceeds the number of desktop PCs.” This proliferation of mobile
information technologies is creating new demand for educating IT managers.
For example, the MBA High Technology Program at Arizona State University (http://
www.cob.asu.edu/mba/courses/tech_curriculum.cfm) offers Compaq iPAQ Pocket PCs
preloaded with course materials to the students of the program. The focus of the program is
on a “continuous project in which teams develop a new product from beginning to end” (http:/
/www.cob.asu.edu/mba/asu_mba_tech.cfm). The specific feature of the project is address-
ing “the issues of cross-team coordination, particularly when the teams are geographically
dispersed.”
Students of courses based on the Unix Lab use computers extensively and are expected
to have access to personal computers off-campus. With wireless access planned for the
winter quarter of 2002, the RAUL will offer the complete learning solution for students who
will be able to access RAUL resources, with firewall restrictions, from off-campus, and on-
campus, using wireless mobile devices such as Pocket PCs and Handheld PCs.
Sun identifies three components in mobile architecture: new services; utility-like quality
and availability; and a flexible, future-oriented platform (Sun Microsystems, 2000). Enhanced
RAUL server configuration will include Oracle9
i
AS Wireless and Oracle9
i
Lite on students'
Pocket PCs. Oracle9
i
Lite provides infrastructure and application services specifically for
mobile devices. Oracle9
i
Lite is an add-on to Oracle9
i
AS Wireless, providing a simple mobile
e-business environment (Oracle, 2001).
Students will communicate with RAUL resources using mobile devices like iPAQ
preloaded with Windows CE and Oracle 9i Lite for mobile applications (other databases for
iPAQ are also available).
CONCLUSION
Planning and setting up a Unix lab architecture has been progressing through several
phases:
•
Setting the direct access UL facility (DAUL)
•
Setting the remote access UL facility (RAUL)
•
Expanding RAUL resources for various functional groups of users (Solaris adminis-
trators, DBAs, etc.)
•
Expanding RAUL resources to remote and wireless services for on-campus and off-
campus users
