In order for the new computing system to be implemented for Student Administration in an effective and stable manner, new database instances in which development, testing and reference can occur will need to be created and maintained. The following outlines the strategic approach that will be used to facilitate the appropriate decision making regarding the addition and retiring of instances.
Instances will be delivered as needed in a timely, comprehensive fashion. The anticipation is that different types of instances will be need throughout the preparation, implementation and production phases of the project.
The number and type of instances created must match the needs of the community and the resource availability of the support staff. The included CIT staff will work with the community to define and support critical instances. Alternatives to new instances may be investigated, such as time sharing an instance with another group. The driver is to meet the needs of instance use in one form or another.
The goal of instance creation is to provide the computing system community with the tools and arenas to reference delivered functionality, develop and deploy custom functionality and to test both at the unit and integrated levels. A variety of instances are needed to meet all of these expectations. No more and no fewer instances should be created than are necessary to meet the deliverables of the project.
By applying a methodic approach to instance requests, creation, and retirement, Cornell Information Technologies (CIT) can ensure that the hardware/software and staff that create the instance are available in a reasonable timeframe.
The following outlines the proposed lifecycle of instance creation for the duration of the project. Items are listed in the order that they should occur.
Each functional area needs to designate an individual(s) who will be recognized as the official requestor for the area. New Instance Requests must be sent by these designates. In a specific request, a different contact person may be named for the specific instance build.
The Configuration Management (CM) and (Database Administrators (DBA) will provide a Request Form to the official requesting contacts. The form is available on the CITFS server in this location <>
The ‘New Instance Request Form’ (attached as appendix 1) must be completed to request that a new instance be created.
Upon receiving the New Instance Request, the CM team will initiate the Approval of Requests process.
CM will submit Request Tracking request RT to the CM queue stating that an assessment for a new instance is to be done.
CM will work with the DBA group to determine if the instance is necessary to satisfy the investigation needs or if there is an alternative such as “time sharing” on another instance. The CM group will engage in preliminary discussions with the requesting party to obtain any necessary clarifications or alternative ideas.
The CM and DBA groups will assess the availability of resources given the current priority set. These resources include CM, DBA, Security, and Systems staff and physical resources, such as disk space. CM will provide to IS ADs (Donna Taber and Rick Jones) a recommendation based on instance need/resource availability regarding the instance. The ADs will be responsible for approving the instance and, if necessary, re-arranging priorities, and negotiating timings and resource procurement with the requesting parties as necessary. Work will commence with the CM team has received notice from the ADs that the build has been approved and resources have been allocated appropriately.
The CM and DBA teams will work together to determine the sizing, location, infrastructure needs, outages etc. for the instance.
A mini project plan will be created by the configuration management team for each instance creation. The “plan” will contain the following: the instance name, the originating group, the target life span, the reason for the instance, the service level for the instance, the dates of creation, the checklist for creation, backup schedules etc.
This plan will be submitted for approval by the ADs and requestors. Once the approval is received the RT for assessment will be closed. The instance requestor will be provided a deliverable date for the instance.
A point person will be designated in the project plan from the DBA and CM areas. The pointed person will be responsible for ensuring that the work is completed and that the instance creation checklist is maintained. An RT will be created by the CM point person for the instance creation.
Once the instance is created and the initial backup is taken, the infrastructure will be made available to the requesting group for integrity verification of the system. Formal approval of the instance or any issues found will be submitted to the CM group from the instance contact person. The RT will be updated accordingly and closed upon final approval.
At the end of the fiscal and calendar years, the instance maintenance spreadsheet will be reviewed for instances to be retired. If server and disk space need to be reallocated during other time periods, the spreadsheet will be reviewed as needed. The configuration management team, with DBA input, will outline a plan to retire any available instances. This plan will be presented for review to the stakeholders. If the users of the instance feel that the instance should in fact not be retired, they will need to submit the justification for continuing the instance in writing to the configuration management group who will in turn present the case to the ADs and DBA group. The CM and DBA teams will re-assess the availability of resources to continue supporting the instances and provide the information to the ADs who will then pursue negotiation with the contact for the instance. The ADs will inform the configuration management team as to what the disposition of the instance should be at that time.
CIT, particularly the Configuration Management and the Database Administrators, are committed to providing the instances necessary for the investigation, development and testing needs for the deployment of new and maintenance of existing ERP systems (currently PeopleSoft). Specific roles are detailed in the table below:
| Task | Role |
|---|---|
| Instance Creation Assessment | CM/DBA |
| Request Template Creation | CM |
| Instance Tracking | CM |
| Instance Request Submission | functional or technical use area official requestor |
| Instance Creation Assessment | CM and DBA |
| Instance Creation Approval | ADs for CMs and DBAs |
| Instance Design and Planning | CM and DBA |
| Creation of Instance | CM for Infrastructure, Middleware, Security and DBA for database and system level requirements. These groups will work with systems and operations as necessary. |
| Approval of Instance | contact person from the requesting area (designated in the request) |
| Retirement of Instances | CM will initiate the retirement process |
| Negotiation for Resources | ADs |
| Communication regarding the specification and creation of the instance | CM point person |