ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. - In October 2009, with the Army's Logistics Modernization Program on the depot's horizon, the Directorate of Information Management was looking at what the new system would require in terms of computer infrastructure.
One of the necessities, according to Kendell Marbury, network manager for DOIM, was more bandwidth.
At the time, the installation had 45 megabytes per second of bandwidth, meaning that 45 MBs of information was shared by all depot employees through the Wide Area Network connection.
Marbury said the capacity was high enough to allow depot workers to access the sites they needed quickly enough, but the installation was using every byte.
"With all the computer activities going on here on the depot, the bandwidth was completely utilized. With LMP coming, we knew we would need more bandwidth," said Marbury.
A few days into 2011, the goal of additional bandwidth was met. With 90 megabytes per second, the depot's capacity has now doubled and the additional circuit provides redundancy in case of loss of the primary circuit.
This additional capacity not only ensures LMP users can access the web-based content they need, it also allows quick viewing of all authorized Internet content, including some sites that have been restricted because of heavy graphic content since LMP's go-live date.
"When athletic sites were available, we found a lot of bandwidth was being used," said Marbury. "Now that we have this additional capacity, those sites will be gradually opened back up."
Larger inboxes coming soon
In July 2011, the depot plans to transition to the Enterprise e-mail service. This means that, rather than accessing e-mail messages stored on servers located on the installation, depot employees will retrieve their e-mail from the Department of Defense "cloud" through the Internet.
For most users, the transition will be nearly invisible. According to Denise Burford, chief of DOIM's Operations Service Center Division, e-mail will still be retrieved through Microsoft Outlook. The only change will be in the storage of mailbox messages.
One visible change will be in the amount of storage granted to each user.
Currently, depot employees with e-mail access are allowed about 100 megabytes of storage. When the new system is implemented, storage capacity will increase to four gigabytes.
DOIM, however, will need the help of each user to ensure a quick and easy transition when the time comes.
"DOIM has to make sure the correct software versions are on each computer and we have to prepare the mailboxes," said Burford, adding the size of each mailbox will make a difference. "The less you have in your e-mail, the easier the migration will be."
She encouraged each e-mail user on the installation to check their mailbox size regularly and either store messages in their personal folder, located on either their C: or V: drive, or delete the message if it is no longer needed.
To check your mailbox size:
Aca,!Ac Right click on "mailbox-your username" in the upper left hand corner of your Outlook folder.
Aca,!Ac Select properties
Aca,!Ac Click on the folder size button
The size of each subfolder in the mailbox is listed, which should assist each user as they clean out their mailbox.
For more information or assistance with cleaning your mailbox, call the DOIM Helpdesk at Ext. 4357.
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