Back in the early 2000s, HSU purchased a number of Alpha servers to host the University website, email system, mailing lists, applications, and databases. Since 2007, we’ve been gradually retiring outdated systems and their host servers, replacing them with hardware that’s better architected to support cloud computing, virtualized environments, and other online developments while still maintaining high performance and robust security.

On Wednesday, July 20^th, 2011, the last of the Alpha servers were taken out of the HSU data center. Their hard drives have been removed and the data securely destroyed, and the servers themselves have been responsibly recycled so their remains will not pollute the environment. 

As an added bonus, retiring the Alpha servers has resulted in significant cost-savings to the University for hardware maintenance, reduced energy costs, and annual licensing fees. 

Upcoming developments that will take advantage of the upgraded server infrastructure include: 

• Virtual labs for anywhere, anytime lab work
• Document management and workflow automation for greater admin efficiency
• Campus-wide portal – access to all HSU online resources in one place

For those interested in such things, here’s a brief timeline of the Alpha servers’ demise and what drove each replacement server decision: