The Information Technology Infrastructure and Systems Group provide the core computing infrastructure for Appalachian State University. This group designs, installs and supports foundational computing components such as computer and storage networks, data centers, servers and storage.
The primary goal of this group is to provide robust, reliable and secure computing infrastructure and services for faculty, staff, students and visitors.
Contact
David Earp
Director of IT Infrastructure and Systems
earpda@appstate.edu
828-262-6595
Departments
Linux Enterprise Systems
The primary responsibility of the Linux Enterprise Systems Group is to provide for the design, implementation and support of Appalachian State University's Linux enterprise class systems and services. The group is also responsible for providing directory services, authentication services, identity management, database services and systems monitoring.
The Linux Systems Group is responsible for the system administration of servers utilizing UNIX and Linux-based operating systems. Support of these systems includes hardware and operating system support as well as consulting and integration services for the applications and services provided by these platforms.
Manager: Martin Moore
Network Infrastructures and Communications Systems (NICS)
NICS designs, implements and maintains an enterprise network infrastructure for the delivery of mission-critical services to Appalachian State University. NICS provides a secure, stable end-to-end computing experience for all network-enabled devices on campus.
The academic network provides learning, teaching and research opportunities for students and faculty at Appalachian State University. The administrative network functions as the core for business continuity and is a necessary component of nearly every business continuity plan across campus. NICS is responsible for the management of the switches, routers, wireless access points and security components necessary to provide connectivity, as well as stewardship of all network bandwidth. NICS also manages the Campus Residence Hall Student Network (ResNET) in both wired and wireless platforms.
Our WiFi canopy extends coverage to 100% of Appalachian's academic and residential buildings. This service provides both an encrypted transport platform for faculty, staff, and students with university credentials, as well as, an open platform for guests of the university.
NICS is responsible for the design, implementation and maintenance of the campus VoIP (Voice over IP) phone system, which is deployed campus-wide. NICS does everything from configuring phones to keeping our system up-to-date with accurate information for phone numbers, buildings and users.
In addition to designing and implementing the enterprise network, NICS provides end-user support and diagnostics to campus. NICS often serves as a secondary tier of support to the help desk and support center for end-user questions and hard-to-solve problems. It is a necessary part of our mission to provide friendly, prompt and thorough support to the users of our infrastructure.
Manager: Laramie Combs
Shared Resources
The Shared Resources group oversees the campus data centers, enterprise storage systems, data recovery solutions and the virtualization platforms for campus. Shared Resources is charged with developing and managing computing resources and infrastructure that provide services to a combined constituency base of Information Technology professionals, as well as, functional users, faculty and students.
Shared Resources provides consulting services to our constituents in the areas of virtualized servers and desktop services, enterprise storage, backup and recovery services. In addition, Shared Resources provides overall management for campus data centers.
Manager: Choya Durham
Physical Infrastructure
Our Physical Infrastructure group is responsible for the installation, maintenance and repair of numerous low‐voltage systems across campus. Physical Infrastructure's core ITS functions are composed of supporting the fiber backbone network connecting each university facility and the installation and support of structured cabling networks within each facility.
This group is also responsible for maintaining all conventional analog voice/fax lines throughout campus. In addition to networking, Physical Infrastructure is responsible for the installation and support of fire alarm systems, emergency call stations, duress systems and academic building cameras.
Manager: Mark McLean
Enterprise, Microsoft, Apple & Chrome OS Systems (EMACS)
The primary responsibility of the EMACS Group is to provide for the design, implementation and support of Appalachian State University's Microsoft, Apple and Chrome OS enterprise class systems and services.
The group centrally supports over 100 departmentally directed services as well as over 10,000 Microsoft Windows, Apple and Chrome clients utilized by faculty, staff and campus labs on the main campus as well as satellite campuses in Hickory and Winston-Salem.
The group is responsible for providing
- enterprise-level support for directory services,
- authentication services,
- identity management,
- database services,
- systems monitoring,
- systems administration,
- application deployment and support,
- document management,
- device configuration management,
- device lifecycle management,
- device deployment & onboarding,
- patch management & compliance monitoring,
- endpoint protection,
- endpoint encryption,
- device inventory,
- file services,
- print services,
- web services,
- security camera services,
- electronic health records,
- police & public safety services, and
- e-commerce & AppCard services.
The EMACS Group also has the primary responsibility of maintaining enterprise servers utilizing Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS Server operating systems.
Manager: Justin Cervero