Chronicle
Electronic data processing has played a significant role at the University of Vienna for 50 years. Following the installation of the first computer for academic research in 1960, the inter-faculty and later inter-university IT centre developed to become the Vienna University Computer Center (ZID) of the University of Vienna.
You can find more information about the early days of IT at the University of Vienna at 650plus – History of the University of Vienna.
Initially, the ZID mainly managed mainframe computers, before introducing the first microcomputers and PCs at the university. As a result, the number of users and services has multiplied.
1960
- One of the first computers in Austria made available for academic research is set up in the newly constructed Neues Institutsgebäude (NIG) at the Department of Statistics. This computer is a Burroughs 205 Datatron, equipped with 1,600 electron tubes.
- The manufacturing company Burroughs finances half of the purchase, while the other half is financed by the Rockefeller Foundation. Professor Slawtscho Sagoroff, Head of the Department of Statistics, who had been endeavouring to obtain a computer for statistical applications since the 1950s, had good personal contacts with this company.
- In addition to the Department for Statistics, the Department of Theoretical Physics, the Department of Physical Chemistry, the Department of Mineralogy and the Department of Psychology also use the Datatron – for example, to determine the definitive orbit of binary stars or to analyse the athletics performance of secondary school students.
Manual of the 205 Datatron (PDF)
1968
- The Datatron, which still works with electron tubes, is replaced by a computer that uses transistors – an IBM 360, model 44, which is specially designed for scientific applications.
The IBM 360/44, which thus represents a significant technical advance, also handles administrative tasks such as the enrolment of the 20,000 students at the time.
1974/75
- The purchase and maintenance of high-performance computing facilities, which is already essential for a university at the time, entail high costs. To bundle resources, the computing facilities of the Technical University of Vienna (TU Wien) and the University of Vienna are therefore combined to form an inter-university IT centre.
- Despite the merging of the computing facilities, each university then establishes its own computer centre, as the remote processing of data is not yet possible to a sufficient extent. At the University of Vienna, a new CDC Cyber 73 computer replaces the old IBM 360/44 system.
- A first data line is installed in the tram tunnel underneath tram line 2, where the U2 underground line runs today, to connect the computer systems of the University of Vienna and TU Wien.
1979
- The first microcomputers (Micro-Systems 8001 with two 8-inch floppy drives) are installed in the user rooms of the IT centre. The WordStar programme, a word processing programme, is available on them for data collection. As IT-supported text processing offers significant advantages compared to typewriters, users who have not made use of the IT centre before now also use these computers intensively.
1980
- At the end of the five-year lease agreement with CDC, a CDC Cyber 170-720 is put into operation as the successor to the CDC Cyber 73 computer system.
1986
- The increasing age of the CDC computers makes it necessary to install new mainframe computers – a NAS 9160 at TU Wien for computing-intensive projects and an IBM 3083 (disk space: 12.7 GB) at the University of Vienna for data-intensive calculations.
- The two universities give up the joint organisation of the computer centres in the inter-university IT centre due to the difference between the two mainframes and the IT requirements. An independent IT centre is established at the University of Vienna.
- Creation of the first large databases at the IT centre.
- Foundation of the ACOnet association (Austrian Academic Computer Network) to promote an Austrian academic data network.
1987
- The IT centre puts the first graphics-capable laser printer into operation. To enable users to familiarise themselves with the laser printer, each user is given a free quota of 100 pages.
- Introduction of the IT-supported library management system BIBOS – the IT centre takes over the operation of the system for all academic libraries in Austria. Among other things, the IBM computer is being expanded for this purpose.
- 24 people work at the IT centre.
1988
- The first black and white scanner is available to users.
- To increase the number of available room and spaces, the IT centre is allocated premises on the 1st floor of the NIG. To create space for the planned supercomputer in the basement, the ground floor accommodates user rooms, while the first floor accommodates offices for the employees.
1989
- The European Academic Supercomputer Initiative of IBM makes it possible to install the Supercomputer IBM 3090-400VF – this means a tenfold increase in performance compared to the previous IBM computer and entry into the supercomputing age.
- The first departments are equipped with comprehensive LAN cabling and are connected to the University's data network. Many other buildings at the more than 100 locations of the University of Vienna are equipped in the same way in the following years.
1990
- The IBM computer at the University of Vienna is the first Internet node in Austria. It is connected to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva, via a 64 kb/sec data line, which is financed by the European Super Computer Initiative. From there, a fibre optic connection leads to the US.
10 years of the Internet in Austria (PDF, in German) from Comment, issue 2000/2
1995
- The University of Vienna and the IT centre present themselves on the WWW. In addition to the personnel database, the directory of departments and other university units as well as the library database, the course catalogue is already available online.
1996
- The Vienna Internet eXchange (VIX) goes live. It is used by its participants to exchange national and international Internet traffic.
2001
- After a project period of five years, the renewal of the telephone system at the University of Vienna is completed. The old telephone system from 1979 is decommissioned and replaced by a digital house branch exchange – the MD110 telephone system by Ericsson. A total of 63 telephone systems with a total of 6,900 sets and 1,800 other connections as well as a thousand kilometres of lines are installed at the locations of the University of Vienna, all connected with the switchboard in the Main Building.
2002
- The Supercomputer Schrödinger goes into operation. Each of the 160 nodes of this supercomputer is about 25 times as fast as one of the two processors of the IBM 3090-400VF supercomputer of 1989.
- With uniADSL, the ZID offers an affordable (compared to commercial offers) ADSL connection for university members for the first time. The maximum download speed is 512 Kbit/s.
2008
- The newly built server room in the Main Building of the University of Vienna is taken into operation. There is space for 40 server racks in the 120 m² server room, which is equipped with an emergency power supply system, fail-safe air conditioning and a fire extinguishing system.
- The first u:book sales promotion – offering high-performance laptops at particularly favourable conditions – takes place in the summer semester.
2009
- The new Supercomputer VSC (Vienna Scientific Cluster) – a cooperation between the University of Vienna, TU Vienna and Boku Vienna – starts operation. In the November 2009 list of the 500 fastest supercomputers in the world, the first expansion stage of the VSC, the VSC-1, was ranked 157th.
2010
- The u:stream service is launched. In selected lecture halls, lecturers can use it to record their courses or broadcast them live on the Internet.
- Start of the general refurbishment of the data network cabling.
2011
- The Helpdesk front office on the ground floor of the NIG opens. It offers more space and is easier to find.
- The second configuration level of the Vienna Scientific Cluster, the VSC-2, is taken into operation. In June 2011, it was ranked 56th on the list of the 500 fastest supercomputers in the world. Thanks to energy-saving processors and an efficient cooling system, it is around twice as energy-efficient as the VSC-1.
- The e-learning platform Moodle replaces the Fronter platform, which was previously operated by the University. As Moodle is an open source product, it can be further developed flexibly.
2012
- With u:phone, the new voice-over-IP telephone system is introduced, replacing the old digital system from the 1990s.
2013
- The deployment system, which has been in operation since 1998, allows operating systems and applications to be made available on centrally managed PCs without any manual steps required. Increased requirements (almost 6,000 managed PCs and over 300 software packages) make it necessary to introduce a new deployment system – Matrix42 Empirum.
2014
- At the beginning of 2014, the Academic Moodle Cooperation is founded for the sustainable operation, further development and maintenance of Moodle.
- For the third expansion stage of the Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC-3), collaboration in the field of supercomputing was further expanded. Cooling the VSC-3 with synthetic oil increases energy efficiency and reduces operating costs.
2015
- u:cloud is launched. It offers employees storage space for their data on the servers of the University of Vienna, accessible from anywhere.
- The introduction of software and asset management (SAM) for managing software and licences and the associated self-service portal makes it possible to automatically process employees’ software orders.
- The new u:space portal provides students with centralised access to all services relating to the organisation of their studies. It is gradually replacing the old UNIVISonline portal.
- The PC rooms in the NIG are moved from the 1st floor to the ground floor and renamed computer rooms. They are larger, more modern and now also wheelchair-accessible.
2016
- The VPN service is taken into operation. Users can now access the University of Vienna's data network from anywhere, faster, more secure and more stable.
- The computer centres Neues Institutsgebäude, Main Building and Arsenal have been in operation for several years without any changes. The ‘new data centre’ project brings additional central routers and new software as well as optimised data paths.
2017
- The new u:card in credit card format is gradually replacing the old paper student ID card.
- u:space now contains all functions for the administration of courses for lecturers; the previous lecturer interface in UNIVISonline is taken offline.
- The fibre optic backbone of the ACOnet is being converted and expanded. In addition to a topology adjustment to create ‘short connections’, the connection points are upgraded and the switches and routers are renewed.
2018
- The comprehensive modernisation of the u:stream infrastructure, which began in 2017, is completed.
- The new websites of the ZID go online. Users were involved in the creation of the new menu structure, and the service descriptions now follow a clear structure and language. Users can thus quickly find the information they are looking for.
- The first organisational units of the University of Vienna are using the Servicedesk – a central point of contact for user enquiries.
2019
- The Vienna Scientific Cluster 4 (VSC-4) is put into operation and reaches 82nd place among the top 500 supercomputers in the world. It is the most powerful computer ever put into operation in Austria. As a joint project of several universities and with the support of the Federal Ministry of Science and Research, the VSC-4 ensures that research in Austria as an academic location in the field of high-performance computing can continue to occupy a leading international position in the future.
- The u:card receives an additional function. Students can now pay for print jobs on u:print devices with the u:card.
- The computer rooms in the NIG are equipped with district cooling and are thus air-conditioned in an environmentally friendly way.
- In September, the ZID launches its profile on Instagram.
2020
To support working, teaching and studying from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ZID expands its infrastructure and introduces new services.
- In Moodle, new collaboration tools ensure easier communication between students and teachers via audio and video conferencing and the chat. A newly integrated video platform also allows the recording of videos and their management in Moodle.
- More lecture halls are equipped with u:stream and many IT courses are held as webinars for the first time.
- MS Teams is now available as a further tool for collaboration.
- The new services u:sign – signing digitally and POLYAS – voting online make working from home easier.
A technical upgrade and a soft relaunch turn the University’s wiki into the u:wiki – equipped with new functions for improved online collaboration.
2021
- Numerous IT infrastructure projects are finalised, including: Modernisation of server room infrastructure, renewal of the VPN service, network and server rooms for new locations (Biology Centre Sankt Marx, Kolingasse), AV media technology for hybrid teaching.
- The network node Vienna Internet eXchange (VIX) receives a completely new hardware infrastructure in May. This makes it more efficient and it consumes around 80 % less energy.
- New overview pages on the ZID website provide information about IT services for the various target groups at the University of Vienna (students, teachers, etc.) and on the topics of IT security and cloud computing.
- The central support unit Software Design & Development becomes a department and is renamed IT Support for Research. It supports researchers in the management of research data and develops the necessary IT infrastructure together with them.
2022
- Hybrid working and studying remain the new normal even after the COVID-19 pandemic. The ZID is therefore providing additional new services. For example u:stream-Studio, with which students and employees can easily record videos in their browser. Overleaf, an editor for the word processing programme LaTeX, enables collaborative work on documents in the browser.
- Support for researchers is further expanded. For example, with the new event series IT 4 Science Forum, which presents innovative IT solutions for research. The new VSC-5 supercomputer provides a powerful infrastructure for demanding computing tasks.
- The new webspace service allows employees and teams to set up personal websites related to university activities and official websites, for example for projects with just a few clicks .
- Students now also receive 50 GB of storage space for study-related or private data in the University of Vienna's cloud via the u:cloud service.
2023
- The new u:stream administration allows teachers to keep track of their videos and edit them. The u:stream service is now available in 53 rooms.
- The e-learning team is preparing one of the largest Moodle upgrades in years. It brings a modern, clearer look and new features.
- Multi-factor authentication is being introduced to increase the security of IT systems at the University – as a first step for VPN, Microsoft 365 and Azure.
- For 15 years, u:book has been offering high-quality laptops at affordable prices. To mark the anniversary, there is a new label for particularly sustainable products.
- With Microsoft Azure, the ZID provides more than 200 services from the cloud, including many AI services for research.
- The focus is on the implementation of digital accessibility, including information pages on the topic and courses.
2024
- Computer rooms, administration and course rooms are equipped with new PCs. An Intel Core i5 processor and 32 GB of RAM ensure sufficient computing power and smooth operation while minimising energy consumption.
- Cyber attacks against universities are commonplace. The campaign Using IT securely with videos, quizzes and webinars aims to raise awareness among users so that phishing and malware do not stand a chance at the University.
- Moodle becomes participatory. In the test environment Moodle-Preview, users can test new functions and give feedback on Moodle.
- The work mobile phone service changes to a new provider, making it cheaper, simpler and faster.
- The source code of the long-term archive PHAIDRA is now available on GitHub. In line with the open source concept, PHAIDRA can be put into operation in just a few steps and the PHAIDRA community can grow.
