History of Computing at UNT: 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000-2012
Talon supercomputer
2000 - The world survives Y2K.
ACS introduces EagleMail, a new student email service which includes IMAP as well as webmail access.
UNT adopts a policy which designates email as an official means of communication between the University and students.
DCSMT evaluates PDAs for UNT use.
The ILOVEYOU virus hits UNT and many other sites disabling e-mail services all over the Internet.
ACS releases a bulk student email process to communicate via e-mail to all or selected sets of UNT students.
ACS implements online automated activation of student e-mail accounts.
UNT implements a self-service web application for financial aid.
UNT implements a residence hall data network named ResNet.
UNT upgrades its total Internet bandwidth from 9 Mbps to 90 Mbps.
2001 - UNT connects to Internet 2 via new high-speed telecommunications circuits running at 45 Mbps.
ACS installs an 8-node compute cluster to support computational research which grows to 24 nodes (separate computers) by the end of the year.
UNT acquires a campus-wide license for Oracle database products.
ACS UNIX systems only support access via secure shell programs (SSH.)
ACS drops support for the Simeon e-mail client in favor of web-based e-mail access.
UNT begins the process of selecting an Enterprise Information System to replace its suite of administrative applications (SIMS, HRMIS, NOBIS, CEATS) running on the mainframe.
ACS announces the proposed shut down of the academic mainframe system in 2003.
2002 - EagleMail username and password (EUID) are used for web-based registration for classes.
An online password reset utility is made available for EagleMail IDs.
The Jove General Access UNIX system was shut down.
UNT selects Peoplesoft to replace mainframe administrative applications.
Implementation of PeopleSoft begins under the name "Enterprise Information System" (EIS.)
The ACS compute cluster grows to 40 nodes.
2003 - The research UNIX system (Sol) is migrated to a Sun E3500 server running version 8 of the Sun Solaris UNIX operating system.
The Computing System discontinues dialup networking services.
Academic mainframe services are discontinued.
USENet news service is discontinued.
The CheckIn 4 system developed by Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner and Blake Broyles is debuted as a fully web-based application for support of General Access Lab access control.
UNT upgrades to WebCT Vista.
A new account management system is implemented to support activation and password changes for Enterprise User IDs (EUID.)
The EagleNet wireless network is implemented in several key buildings on campus.
SPAM blocking technology is implemented on UNT Mailhosts.
The Computing Center is renamed the Computing and Information Technology Center (CITC) and management positions receive new titles : Richard Harris, Associate Vice President for Computing and Chief Technology Officer; Maurice Leatherbury, Executive Director of Information Technology and Academic Computing; Coy Hoggard, Executive Director of Administrative Information Systems; Steve Minnis, Director of Enterprise Systems Technical Services; Joe Adamo, Director of Communication Services; Allen Bradley, Campus-Wide Network Systems Manager
Creation of a UNT System is formalized by the 78th Texas State Legislature
Apple debuts its online music store in iTunes.
2004 - UNT begins widespread use of PeopleSoft with full implementation for the Fall semester.
The my.unt.edu portal is made availalble.
24 dual Opteron compute nodes are added to the ACS compute cluster make a total of 48 nodes available.
Jove.acs.unt.edu is deleted as a possible e-mail address domain.
UNT joins many other universities in Texas as part of the LEARN state-wide fiber optic data network.
2005 - Richard Harris retires after 42 years leading central computing services at UNT.
Richard Harris
Maurice Leatherbury is named Associate Vice President for Computing and Chief Technology Officer for the Computing and Information Technology Center (CITC.)
Philip Baczewski is appointed Director of Academic Computing and User Services (ACUS).
Philip Baczewski
Oracle purchases PeopleSoft.
UNT subscribes to TurnItIn.com.
2006 - The majority of CITC staff move to offices at Research Park (Discovery Park) with Academic Computing and User Services remaining in the Information Sciences Building (now Sycamore Hall.)
Eight, 64-bit, dual 4-core opteron nodes are added to the ACUS compute cluster for a total of 56 compute nodes including 50 32-bit CPUs, 104 64-bit CPU cores, 336 Gigabytes of RAM, and about 20 Terabytes of disk storage.
Horizon Wimba's Voice Tools Suite is integrated with WebCT Vista.
2007 - The ACUS research Unix system, sol.acs.unt.edu, is decommissioned. A Linux research system with a 4-core Opteron processor (o4.acs.unt.edu) replaces some of the functionality of Sol.
UNT moves from Groupwise to Microsoft Exchange and Outlook for campus-wide email service.
UNT adopts IronPort for SPAM email quarantine.
Microcomputer Maintenance Services and Classroom Support Services joins the CITC.
UNT standardizes on Dell for Windows desktop computers.
A fire guts the former location of the Tomato Pizza restaurant, resulting in fiber cable being burned at two locations severing the connection between the main campus and the Research Park.
2007 Fire at The Tomato Pizza Restaurant
2008 - UNT selects ImageNow for electronic document storage.
Four general-use computer classrooms managed by ACUS are created at Discovery Park.
Collaborative Mac Classroom at the Discovery Park
The CITC begins deployment of virtual services for campus online services.
Migration to Microsoft Exchange is completed and Groupwise is shut down.
The EagleMail student e-mail system is shut down.
CITC implements Microsoft SharePoint for online collaboration.
CITC implements project and porfolio management.
ACUS installs a new high performance computing (HPC) cluster named "Talon", with 222 compute nodes containing 1792 processor cores, 7168 GB of RAM, and 200 TB of high performance disk storage. To accommodate the new HPC system, the CITC machine room installs a dedicated cooling system for the HPC system and a newly-expanded uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system and a diesel-powered generator to provide electricity in the event of a loss of City of Denton power.
UNT joins Apple's iTunes U.
ACUS/Adaptive General Access Computing Lab moves to ISB (Sycamore) 104 providing direct access from outside the building.
The viz wall in the RAVE
Maurice Leatherbury retires as Vice president for information technology and chief information officer.
John Hooper is appointed Acting VP and CIO. November 2010 article in Benchmarks Online.
John Hooper
2011 - ACUS adds 24 additional processing nodes to the Talon HPC system for a total of 2080 cpu cores in the cluster. 4 compute nodes were added with Nvidia's Tesla M2050 GPU computing module that include 448 GPUs per node.
Micheal DiPaolo is hired as the UNT System Chief Information Officer (CIO). John Hooper is named Deputy CIO for the UNT System maintaining his role as acting CIO for UNT.
Michael DiPaolo
A number of computing infrastructure and shared services move to the newly created IT Shared Services organization under management of the UNT System.
University Information Technology (UIT) is formed as the new central computing organization at UNT comprising Academic Computing and User Services, Administrative Information Technology Services, and Classroom Support Services/Microcomputer Maintenance Services. Philip Baczewski is named UNT Deputy CIO with UIT divisions reporting directly to him.
2012 - UNT implements Blackboard Learn 9.1 to replace Blackboard Vista.
UNT drops support for Blackberry devices.
John Hooper is named Vice Provost for Information Technology, and UIT reports to Academic Affairs.
After 40 years in the ISB/Sycamore, ACUS offices move to Sage Hall (the former Business Administration Building).
ACUS and Academic Affairs opens a 136 station computer testing center in Sage Hall.
Blackboard Vista is retired.
Dec. 6, 2012: UNT celebrates 50 years of computing and information technology.
