Close-up for Directors , Heads, and above

 

With the higher speed and reliability that comes with the successful implementation of the in-house modem pool, all modem services from Hong Kong Telecom (HKTELCO), namely the dial-up lines and Minilink are replaced. Both dial-up lines and Minilink allow users to connect their home PCs to host machines on our campus network, the former are used by all staff and students while the latter are primarily for senior members (Directors, Head and above). At the moment, staff and students are already enjoying the hi-speed connection. A new dial-up arrangement is offered to senior members to replace their existing Minilink with Datel line (a phone line with better quality for data communication) and their 2400bps modem with a 14.4Kbps modem.

This new arrangement offers hi-speed connection and comes with two setups: the standard setup with interface like that of Minilink, and the PC-PC Link setup that provides an interface to the office PC. Greater effort is required in the latter setup because in addition to the equipment required by the standard setup, another hi-speed modem and telephone line need to be attached to the office PC. Moreover, two copies of a communication programs (Close-up) have to be installed on PCs at both ends. Once connected, every keystroke pressed at the home PC will be sent to the office PC as if it was pressed on the office PC, and every display on the screen of the office PC will be sent back and displayed on the screen of the home PC. This mode of operation allows one to use his/her home PC to control the office PC, thereby creating an identical office working environment at home, that is, he/she will be able to use all software on his/her departmental LAN without the need to install the equivalent software on the PC at home. Examples of some accessible facilities are Pathworks Mail, EIS (Executive Information Systems), data on office PC's hard disk, files transfer back and forth between the two ends, etc. Unfortunately, due to technical constraints, facilities such as access to Library's CD-ROM collects are not possible.

The Close-up option does offer more features and flexibility. However, it requires more PC knowledge and intervention from the user and performance depends a lot on the power of the PCs at both ends. Currently, we are still at the stage of exploring ways to achieve best results. Due to the manpower limitations, the Computing Services Centre can only provide full support (installation, training and consultation) to Directors, Heads and above. In future, we hope to extend our support to all staff when our technicians and software support teams become more equipped and knowledgeable in the area.

Computing Services Centre City University of Hong Kong ccnetcom@cityu.edu.hk