University IT at the University of Bonn celebrated its 50th anniversary in November 2024. Established in November 1974 as the “Regionales Hochschulrechenzentrum,” or “Regional University Computer Center,” it has developed into the mainstay of the University of Bonn’s IT infrastructure over the past five decades.
Putting people front and center
Putting people front and center
“University IT always puts people front and center,” Dr. Rainer Bockholt explained during the celebrations. He himself has been Director of University IT for over 21 years now and is especially proud of its pleasant working atmosphere, a view echoed by many current and former employees. Rather than being an empty phrase, “we’re happy to be here” is an accurate reflection of reality, reveals Daniela Korden, the project manager responsible for DiCe projects at University IT.
Professor Maren Bennewitz, Vice Rector for Digitalization and Information Management, expressed her thanks to University IT staff, who she said had had a big hand in the University now being able to look back on a great many fantastic achievements: “When University IT came into being half a century ago, only a tiny handful of people in the academic world could have foreseen what a vital role data processing, digitalization and information technology would go on to play in research, teaching and administration. While University IT was initially engaged in pioneering digital work, our society—and this University with it—experienced one technological revolution after another in the decades that followed: from the transition from centralized mainframe computers to interconnected systems through to the invention of the Internet and the harnessing of artificial intelligence.”
Vice Rector Bennewitz added that all of these developments had brought about a fundamental shift in how people research, teach and learn: “University IT has accompanied this transformation over the years and made the University of Bonn fit for the digital age. Many research projects would have been virtually unthinkable without its services and technical expertise, and a fair few scientific breakthroughs would simply never have happened.”
Advances in technology call for flexibility
From the point of view of a former user, Professor Max P. Baur recounted the early days of the former Regionales Hochschulrechenzentrum and how cumbersome to operate mainframe computers still used to be back then. In his ceremonial speech, Professor Harald Ziegler from Ruhr-University Bochum explained that “a computer center year corresponds to about 22 university years,” because technological changes in a computer center’s operations happened much faster. Given the fast pace of advances in technology, therefore, one key attribute shared by all University IT staff was their flexibility, he said.
Susanne Sigmund, a former training manager and head of the User Support section, highlighted the successful apprenticeship scheme at University IT: “Every single apprentice has passed their final exam since we launched our apprenticeships to train IT specialists for system integration in 2005.” One particularly remarkable achievement is that the first two apprentices from the 2005 intake are still working at University IT.
University IT has been the driving force behind numerous technical developments over the past 50 years. Some of its more noteworthy milestones include:
1979: The then Regionales Hochschulrechenzentrum was involved in the projections for the 1979 European elections, one of the largest international projects of the time.
Switching from mainframes to microcomputers: the transition from centralized mainframes to decentralized microcomputers began in the 1980s, ushering in a new era of flexibility for researchers and students.
Integration into the Wissenschaftsnetz: during the 1990s, the University of Bonn was connected to the Wissenschaftsnetz science network, or WiN, which brought about a sea change in international research.
“Millennium bug” vanquished: by taking action early, University IT successfully averted the “millennium bug,” or “Y2K problem,” that threatened numerous computer systems worldwide.
Year founded: University IT was established on November 1, 1974 as the Regionales Hochschulrechenzentrum, or RHRZ for short. When it started out back then, it was still processing data using punched cards.
1975—a year of consolidation: the IBM/370-165 data processing system was upgraded to an IBM/370-168 with the help of a new central unit, thus giving the core memory a capacity of between 512 kilobytes (kB) and 2 megabytes (MB). high-speed data network operated by the DFN association, known as the Breitband-Wissenschaftsnetz (“Broadband Science Network,” or B-WIN), went live on April 1, 1996. It offered a connection capacity of 34 or 155 MBit/s.
Demand: the RHRZ had over 21,000 registered users in April 2000, and the University of Bonn was sending and receiving around 30,000 emails every day by this point. The Internet was being accessed about 100,000 times a day, resulting in some 100 GB a day being received and 60 GB a day being sent. The central back-up and archiving system contained roughly 2 TB of stored data in 2000.
The RHRZ becomes University IT: the Regionales Hochschulrechenzentrum was renamed University IT (or Hochschulrechenzentrum in German) in 2003. The move emphasized the key role that it played as a technical service provider for the University itself rather than as a regional provider to several institutions as previously.
IT services: numerous central services that form the backbone of the University of Bonn’s IT setup were developed on an ongoing basis during the 2000s, including the University-wide network BONNET.
Marvin the supercomputer: christened “Marvin,” the University’s new high-performance computer was inaugurated on October 20, 2023. The supercomputer boasts 18,432 CPU cores and was ranked 423rd out of the world’s 500 fastest high-performance computers at the time it was switched on. Its acquisition was part-funded from Excellence funding and forms part of the University of Bonn’s Digital Strategy. With its new resources and computing capacity, the University of Excellence is sending out a strong signal to its competitors in Germany and further afield.
In order to meet the growing requirements in research and teaching, University IT is driving forward issues such as virtualization and expanding network capacity with an eye on the future in its role as a major player in the University of Bonn’s Digital Strategy. Its current projects include research data management, IT support for the Hertz Chairs and the ongoing optimization of the Uni Bonn app. Its eyes are fixed firmly on the future, which will call for innovation and flexibility—without ever losing sight of the needs of students, teachers and researchers.
About University IT
University IT at the University of Bonn provides central IT services for research, teaching and learning. In particular, its high-performance computing capacity has been expanded in recent years. It has succeeded in increasing computing power several times over through significant investment in infrastructure, especially with the installation of the supercomputer “Marvin.” This is opening the door to simulations that would have been unthinkable a few years ago and is supporting researchers in general with their complex computing tasks. University IT operates the BONNET internal communication network and provides IT and network services as well as running the IT helpdesk, teaching courses and giving advice on IT procurement.
Curious about even more HRZ history?
Video series with the most important development steps from the founding decade
Bild © HRZ Universität Bonn / YouTube