Making CCB's very important ChemGrades DB more robust, and enabling necessary increased functionality, especially for teaching faculty and students. Ensuring its long-term support and operation. Representing customer is Pat Hine's (PatH).

Links

When completed, here's the URL for the read-only web access:

• https://chemlabs.arts.cornell.edu/grades/

Eval from 8/13/13:

• https://chemlabs.csotest.arts.cornell.edu/grades/

Updates

8/16/13

• Cname of grades.chem.cornell.edu from as-chm-vsrv-09.ad.cornell.edu to sf-as-data-001.serverfarm.cornell.edu has been submitted and will take effect at the 11am DNS update.

Projects anticipated to start-up, once everything is settled and working

Enable NetID access to FMPro server

• For all TAs and for all staff.
• Expect prep work in fall 2013.
  • Thus, expect implementation/ cut-over no sooner than winter break.

Review Becky's needs of Grades DB

• Any benefit in changing the current "export" process?

To do's for this project

See the following section for context related to these to-do's.

Enable Pat's "push" capabilities so her DB info can be seen on the web

• Tu will work with Roger.
  • Tu needs IP addresses. Roger can do the installs.
  • And Roger may have better alternatives. :-)

Confirm PatH's MacroExpress scripts work with server-based FMPro.

• PatH to confirm right away.

Change all TA access to be by NetID (and FMPro p/w), instead of their name

• PatH to make the appropriate updates soon.
• This is not to be confused with enabling true NetID-based access, using CU's NetID p/w's.
• PatH must reinforce to TA Grads that they should //not// use their true NetID p/w's!!

Test PatH's restore procedure.

• Do ~end of Sept? (No later, please!)
• To be done by PatH. Presumably via self-service. :-)

Enable PatH's remote access

• ChemIT must do this. Oliver must do or assign.

Enable ChemIT staff's access to CCB FMPro DBs.

• Do via AD group. Enable only "Admin" accounts, not ChemIT staff's user accounts. (Right, Roger?)
• Tu to work with Roger.

Change all TA access to be by NetID (and FMPro p/w), instead of name.

Ensure FMPro access by TAs and a few staff

• Ensure that all "single account set up for a whole course for use by many TAs" is cleaned up. (Legacy capability which is no longer needed. And confuses things now.)
  • Dani and PatH
• Ensure works from systems at: TA room, DanL, CynthiaK, and Sam's.
  • MichaelH.
• Create appropriate "read-only" account for Becky to allow her to continue doing exports herself.
  • Roger (working with Becky)
  • Outline some options, for later focus. (Unlikely do any other changes right now!)

Shut off access to old ChemIT-run instance (Win7 VM). "Legacy Grades".

• Per 8/15/13 meeting, do anytime. Not being used now- no current data and not being updated anymore.
• Roger to do.

Decisions, processes, and procedures

Make appropriate changes to source FMPro data

• Change all TA access to be by NetID (and FMPro p/w), instead of their name.
  • This keeps the access process the same as it was, but:
    • Enables the correct access restrictions via the web application.
    • Facilitates transition to trueNetID-based access, as a future project.

Establish procedure for PatH to update web-hosted data. "Push the button".

As of 8/16/13, function doesn't exist for PatH.

• Requires ODBC connection. Not possible at FMPro server; must be set up at FMPro client's computer.
  • Do for PatH's computer. As backup, do on Sam's computer.
  • Current plan: For each computer, set ODBC up as system's Admin (vs. user) so ODBC accessible/ configured for any computer account.

Establish semester-start procedures and processes. Includes:

This fall, PatH's first pull is no sooner than 8/29/13 (Thur). Later for lecture-only courses.

• Initially populating the DB with PeopleSoft data via a PeopleSoft import.This is a one-time event each semester for each course. (Courses done at different times, depending on course.)
  • Do imports in productions course DBs.
    • Can zero out if mistake made. If major problem, contact Dani or Tu to revert to prior DB.
• At the beginning of the semester (add/ drop period), PatH will periodically grab copies of the back-ups so she can created statistics re: rate of enrollment changes.

Establish semester-end procedures and processes. Includes:

• PatH pulls the final data from the backups.
  • NOTE: If an edit is done, must wait until that edit shows up in a backup (~ half a work day) and then that backup becomes the "final data" for that course.
• PatH zeroed out each of the ChemGrades DBs before the start of their next use.
  • PatH does this within FMPro, when she needs it done (varies by course).
• Cut off TA's access to FMPro.
  • PatH does this within FMPro, when she needs it done (varies by course?).
• Some courses must not show the grade of the final exam, per faculty member's requirement.
  • In those cases, PatH will simply not "push" her final data to the web (varies by course).
    • For these courses, grade changes for a student done after the last push (right before final exam grades entered into FMPro, ideally) will thus not show up on the web.
      • These are edge/ rare cases and PatH will inform the student of this fact.

Establish DB revert procedure. Initiating request and subsequent restoration from back-up.

PatH has access to last 7 calendar days of backups, 2 times per day. So, 14 backup files per course at steady-state, whether changes were made or not.

• Backups are made for each course.
• Backups are made around noon (morning data changes) and in the evening (afternoon data changes).
• Each backup's name contains a date and time-stamp.
• Files are located on Instruction's file share (R:\ drive).

PatH can do any restore herself using FMPro, ensuring "low friction" access to the backup files (nobody to contact, not hoops to jump through).

• Zero out course data on the A&S FMPro server.
• Importing data from the correct course backup file.
  • Latest version would be from ~half a work day before.
• If PatH needs backup data older than what she has access to herself (> 7 days, so rare), she must contact Dani or Tu for them to get via back-ups of the SQL server data (or from EZ-Backup).
  • Note that A&S's EZ-Backup would itself only have the 3 prior versions. If course DB was changed each day, that's just three backups. If course DB rarely changed, then that can be a long time.

Enable Pat's view of DB data from home.

The need for this has been reduced since many folks can self-serve, and PatH herself has view-only web access.

• Although the web version may be OK for view-only of some data, it's obviously not as flexible for searching. And there is no way for PatH to make changes through the web version.
• On accasions when PatH needs full access, we will enable Remote Desktop on PatH's main work computer. This way she can do everything she can do when she's at work.
  • She access her computer from off-campus via VPN.

As an alternative, if she knows she'll need it ahead of time, PatH can take a backup copy of any course on a FMPro computer for stand-alone access. This works as long as PatH doesn't make changes on the stand-alone DB that she later expects to see on the production, server-based DB, of course!

Rejected idea, for future reference: With FMPro installed on dept. laptop, access AS's FMPro server off-campus and do the work that way.

Ensure security of FERPA data in Grades DB.

See Michael Hint's emails with Tu and Frank for more on this. Some thoughts, initially:

• FERPA-like data so ChemIT would appreciate understanding the ACL (see for subnet?) and firewall configurations.
  • ChemIT thinks there shouldn't be any off-campus access except via VPN. Thus take off of public net and put into 10-space. But there may be other factors to consider.
• Access to the FMPro DB is controlled by NetID (AD groups). Once in, who else has access to Grades DB FMPro DB itself?
  • Answer: Only accessible to authorized FMPro users or groups.
    • If a user isn't authorized for a DB, they dont' even get to see that the DB is available.
    • If a user enters the fully qualified name to the DB they can't see (because they aren't authorized within the DB), the DB still wont' open.
• Ideal: Make all access via NetID/ NetID p/w, not via FMPro DB's own controls.
  • Control NetID membership via Active Directory groups.
    • Start with Grad TA access, via theTA room kiosks? Also start with faculty access?
    • Once process confirmed, establish procedure for enabling and disabling NetID access to Grades FMPro DB by grads and faculty
      • Can take ChemIT staff less than a minute to do this, and is effective immediately.

• Confirm FMPro server access is correct: Functional and secure.
  • Confirm that only permitted staff can access Grades (and other CCB) DBs.
  • Confirm Becky can see what she needs to see.
    • Add a read-only account for Becky.
    • Becky will still be able to exports her data, but no longer using PatH'/ the Admin account.
  • Confirm TAs can see/ edit what they need to edit for the TA room's computers.

Clarify support and maintenance expectations

Useful to distinguish between something breaking (worked yesterday!) and something new needed (consultation/ design/ implementation).

• For now, keep communications flowing directly between PatH, Dani, and Tu.
  • De-bugging, tweaking, etc.
• After project is "completed" (~mid-Sept?), all requests (for breakage or new feature requests) are to go to ChemIT
  • In an emergency (time-sensitive situation), in addition to contacting ChemIT, PatH may contact Dani or Tu.

Instructional staff are encouraged to involve A&S support staff if making structural changes to their DBs. And if Instruction staff make structural changes to any of their DBs, at the very least inform A&S staff as an FYI.

• Debugging a problem is easier if changes to the source DB is known up-front.
• There are many, many moving parts to this complex and interdependent system!

A&S's role

• A&S is providing the FMPro server hosting services.
  • This includes performing and confirming back-ups and restore procedures, especially focus on addressing an infrastructure problem at their end.
• A&S staff can Design/ Creation on a case-by-case basis
  • This will usually require Frank's approval.