A SUN Classic is on order and will ultimately replace zimbix. There is no campus wide network at UZ and at the present there are only three terminals to zimbix in the Computer Centre, and one each in the nearby Department of Computer Science and the Institute of Mining Research. Lines will shortly be operational to six more Departments. These use spare pairs in the campus telephone network cables. Lightning damage during the rainy season is a major problem.
Minor damage is usually the loss of one or two serial ports.
On the last occasion, two multiserial cards were severely damaged and the three PCs used as terminals were all damaged. Getting such boards repaired in Zimbabwe is a problem and sending them back to the USA is an even greater problem. At present there are about 180 registered users of zimbix and about 1000 messages pass through zimbix each week. The number of users grows continuously as more of the UZ community become aware of what is available. Project is a project funded by the Canadian IDRC and its objective is to link the Universities of Kenya, Zambia, Makerere, Dar es Salaam and Zimbabwe by electronic mail.