Friday, August 3, 2001

'Virtual Private Networks' Give Campus-Network Access to Off-Campus Users By FLORENCE OLSEN The University of Pittsburgh is among a growing number of colleges expanding campus-network access by offering "virtual private network" service to faculty members and students who live off campus. With a virtual private network, or V.P.N., an off-campus user connects by modem -- phone, D.S.L., or cable -- to a commercial provider chosen by the institution, and can then log on directly to the campus network using encryption software that guarantees a secure link. The V.P.N. verifies the user's identity, permitting access to campus-network offerings such as e-mail and the electronic journals and databases to which the university library subscribes. "We're expecting to get a lot of faculty and students who live off campus signing up for the fall term," says Jinx P. Walton, director of computing services and systems development at Pitt. Computing officials at Pitt and other colleges that offer V.P.N. service over the Internet view it as a newer, more reliable alternative to campus modem pools or proxy servers. A modem pool is a large rack of telephone modems that students and faculty members off campus can use for dialing directly into the campus computer network. A proxy server is a computer connected to the Internet that students and faculty members off campus can connect to from any Internet service provider, entering a name and a password to gain access to the campus computer network. Proxy servers often create their own problems "because security is not set up properly, or there's no authentication," Ms. Walton says. Last year, the university nearly doubled the number and capacity of its remote-access modems, she says, and a month later, the pool of 800 modems was already "saturated" at the hours of peak network use. This year, the university decided to offer a V.P.N. service, in addition to the modem pool. The V.P.N. can be used by anyone who depends on remote access to the restricted resources of the campus computer network for research or course assignments. At Pitt, the cost of V.P.N. service will be shared between the university and the students and faculty and staff members who sign up to buy the service, which is offered by Stargate.net Inc., a Pittsburgh-based Internet service provider. The university signed a three-year contract with Stargate. Pitt subscribers will pay $16.95 a month for the service and for standard dial-up Internet access. They will be charged higher rates for broadband access over digital subscriber lines or cable-modem connections. To use the V.P.N. service, subscribers must download special software onto their Windows, Macintosh, Linux, or Unix computers. Microsoft Windows 2000 has V.P.N. software built into the operating system. Besides Pitt, the University of Rochester and Georgia State, McGill, and Northwestern Universities are among the colleges that offer V.P.N. service. In the future, other colleges that want to protect their intellectual property or to let students register for courses from off campus may consider offering V.P.N. service, says Vijay K. Vemuri, an assistant professor of management information systems at Long Island University's C.W. Post campus. But, as with any new technology, it's an additional cost, Mr. Vemuri says. And encryption, a part of the V.P.N. that keeps data private on the Internet, can make remote access to the campus network seem slower than normal. Michael B. Spring, an associate professor of information science and telecommunications at Pittsburgh, says he is glad to see the university offer more remote-access options. "From where I live, it's a long-distance call to the modem pool," he says. "There are a hundred ways to skin the cat of extending [campus networks]," he adds. "This one is very well received and shows a good intent on the part of the university." Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

Pennsylvania rewards fast graduation, but public colleges cry foul A community college and its foundation feud over right to donor records, but accord is near 8 new chief executives announced "Virtual private networks" give campus-network access to off-campus users Rio Salado College plans an online teacher-certification program