About Infrastructure Management
Infrastructure management business focuses on diverse technical operations that generally include hardware, software, networking, and communications in both physical and virtual environments to reduce downtime and maintain business productivity. The department also supervises the basic IT infrastructure elements required to provide business services that include software applications, network components and hardware components so as to ensure the planning, implementation, management and control of activities related to the development of operational and security projects for the data center and network at the university level and telecommunications systems to comply with quality standards . The IT Infrastructure Management operations procedures are implemented through Network and Communications Unit, Systems and Servers Unit, Data Center Unit, and Information Security Unit.
Network and Communications Unit
The Network and Communications Unit is responsible for all networking and communications activities including network cabling, operation and maintenance of network infrastructure and services. It is assigned the following tasks:
- Managing the main network devices and specifying their settings and different protocols.
- Coordination with various companies to provide the necessary technical support for network and communications components.
- Supervising and cooperating with provider companies regarding networking projects.
- Monitor the network of all kinds (wired and wireless).
- Regularly update network controller systems.
- Provide remote technical access service for users who require access to (Virtual Private Network-VPN) resources
- Coordination and follow-up with the telecommunications companies contracting with the Northern Border University that provide the Internet departments with the departments, and raising the capacity of external data.
- Coordination and supervision of the unified university network in all its branches.
- Coordination with the various university branches to provide their own electronic circuits to connect them to the university network.
- Supervision of Load Breaker Equipment and Load Balancer.
- Work to raise the efficiency and performance of data flow between the various university branches and within its internal network.
- Develop proposals for future projects in relation to network communications (for example: the network phone).
- Installing and establishing local network ports for the university's needs in all the university's branches.
- Raising the section's needs of tools to build the network and communications on a regular basis.
- Supervising the different extension teams in the morning and evening shifts.
- Installing wireless network access points.
- Providing the necessary technical support to fix any malfunctions related to network points or their extensions in all university branches.
- Coordination with the concerned departments of the university's projects to ensure that there are foundations for building networks in the new sites of the university.
- Providing the university’s branches in Rafha, Turaif, and Al-Uwaigila in terms of network and communication infrastructure equipment.
- Submit periodic reports on the department's performance or any difficulties and problems that require urgent intervention.
Systems and Servers Unit
The Systems and Servers Unit is responsible for operating, maintaining, and protecting all physical and virtual systems and servers at Northern Border University. The tasks are as follows:
- Managing, monitoring and updating storage servers in the Northern Border University data center.
- Granting storage capacities to the various university authorities, and defining their policies.
- Develop a proposal for the backup process policies, and approve them by the authorized person.
- Follow up the backup storage process and coordinate with various departments to ensure the quality of the backup.
- Coordination with supplier companies to support and find solutions to storage server problems if they occur.
- Follow-up with new technology in order to raise the performance of current storage units or develop them for newer systems.
- Managing, following up and updating the work of the various system servers (Windows, Linux servers, etc.).
- Supervising network servers (VM Ware), DHCP and DNS
- Assisting with the Single Sign On process
- Manage peripheral devices while entering the university's secure network
- Preparing backup copies of the preparation and configuration files for various systems and servers for use in cases of disaster relief
- Develop plans for disaster recovery
- Manage resources for university services that are available in the cloud and related to providing infrastructure resources
- Follow up with cloud service providers with regard to technical support or update and development.
- Building new cloud services provided by the university to its beneficiaries.
- Coordination with other departments in the Deanship to help provide distinctive and effective cloud services.
- Installing the virtual environment for the different e-services servers.
- Support and maintenance of virtual environment systems in case of problems.
- Managing the work of the various laboratory services at the university and providing them with technical support.
- Submit periodic reports on the department's performance or any difficulties and problems that require urgent intervention.
- Participate in the development of plans for the use of the cloud and the virtual environment.
- Implementation and evaluation of plans for the use of the cloud and the virtual environment.
- Providing self-service clouds on demand according to the policies used.
- Enable broad access to the network according to usage and security policies.
- Pooling the available resources to ensure flexibility and speed in the provision of virtual services.
- Evaluation of virtual services benchmarking service to ensure proper utilization of infrastructure resources, platforms and applications.
- Supervising the university's backward e-mail servers and systems related to staff and students, and updating its systems, data for usernames and passwords in Active Directory or Active folder system management
- Suggest policies for the format of usernames and passwords (Mail Exchange)
- Monitor the main email server
- Provide technical support regarding creating or changing email login information
- Supervising the backup and archiving of email contents
- Submit periodic reports on the department's performance or any difficulties and problems that require urgent intervention.
Data Center Unit
The data center unit performs the following tasks:
- Receiving and dealing with physical failures or services for the network or servers.
- Overseeing data center components and safety systems, and ensuring their effective functioning
- Communicate with companies supplying emergency center technologies
- Follow up on the data center periodically to ensure the safety and proper functioning of the center
Information Security unit
The Information Security Unit is responsible for providing the basic elements of information security: confidentiality, integrity and accessibility of the information resources to be protected, and managing the risks and threats that surround them. The unit performs the following tasks:
- Communicating and coordinating with the authority concerned with cyber security within the university, following up on the Director of the Infrastructure Department in accordance with the policies regulating the Deanship of Information Technology
- Dealing with reports received from the University's Cyber Security Department, and directing them to the relevant units for processing
- Achieving data center protection
- Ensure that all its contents are adequately protected
- Granting access to the university's data centers according to the necessary requirements
- Verify the protection of the network and information systems in coordination with the specialized units of the Deanship
- Ensure the effectiveness of protection programs on all users' devices