Volume 3. No 1
Information Technology News of the University of California, Davis Fall 1994
Information Technology News of the University of California, Davis Fall 1994
An active member of the Internet Engineering Task Force, an international organization that sets the standards for the Internet, Hobby is devoted to advancing the use of networked applications for teaching and research. Lately, Hobby has been wearing three hats on campus -- director of ANSA, director of Technology Resources and technical director of the Network 21 project.
"Our role in ANSA is to investigate new technologies, test them and bring them to campus," says Hobby. "Initially, we work with a small group interested in applying the technology; however, the technologies we introduce are ones that will have broad use on campus over time." One example is the Geographic Information Systems. "This started as a small group project which has grown to cover many disciplines," says Hobby. Hobby also serves as director of Technology Resources, which provides Apple Repair Service, workstation support and auxiliary equipment. "We have decided that these services can be delivered more efficiently by combining them with other areas of our I.T. organization," says Hobby. He has worked with a variety of campus groups to determine the best way to restructure the delivery of those services.
As technical director of Network 21 project, Hobby balances the coexistence of new technologies and established technologies. For instance, 10BASE-T to the desktop is an established, cost-effective technology. However, the Network 21 backbone will use ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), a new technology that will transmit data at high-speeds between buildings. The ATM technology is vital to the project, says Hobby, because "we are getting a lot more people who use a lot more bandwidth. It's the aggregate of all those people who cause the need for higher bandwidth on the backbone."
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