An Interview with William T. Bowley

William Bowley, LAN manager and data processing technician firstclass, was a key player in implementing Windows NT and Microsoft Exchange aboardthe USS Carl Vinson. Here are some of his thoughts on the project:

What did you like about the project's implementation?

I love NT's easy central administration, using the administration tools suchas the User Manager for Domains, Server Manager, and Microsoft's Exchange ServerAdministrator. We have completed a dozen NT 3.51 and NT 4.0 Server builds fromscratch in the last six months or so. The learning curve is steep, but thehands-on experience is an invaluable learning tool that you can't get from abook.

What didn't you like about the project's implementation?

The NT Messages Database was particularly unhelpful. "Contact TechnicalSupport" can be enormously frustrating at 3:00 am.

What would you have done differently on the project?

I would have attended an NT administration and implementation course beforeI arrived. On-the-job training is wonderful to a point. NT training for networkadministrators is in its infant stage. Training information will be most helpfulonce we can implement it and add it to the training syllabi and the NavyTraining Tracks.

What advice can you give your peers?

Purchase the NT Resource Kit books from Microsoft Press and the MasteringWindows NT series by Minasi, Anderson, and Creegan for both NT 3.51 and NT 4.0.Both have been invaluable aids in solving many problems.

Solution Summary
The US Navy has launched a bold new initiative that will providecutting edge technology for its forces into the 21^st century. TheInformation Technology for the 21^st Century (IT-21) initiativecenters around Windows NT 4.0 and will move to NT 5.0 when it becomes available.Under this initiative, the USS Vinson aircraft carrier has launched the GoldEagle LAN to support its 6000 crew members. This floating LAN consists of sixmain NT-based servers and approximately 600 NT, Windows for Workgroups, andWindows 95 client computers throughout the ship. The network uses MS Exchangefor messaging and MS Office for administrative tasks. The LAN provides crewmembers with departmental orders and administrative information. The networkalso provides satellite connectivity so that the Vinson crew can access theInternet to stay in touch with friends and family while the ship is out at sea.Internet access also provides news and current events during the ship'sdeployment. The IS team aboard the Vinson plans to use Adobe Acrobat and otherWeb-related tools to create an intranet on the ship so that each department canprovide instructions and information to its crew members.