November 2005 -- Volume 2 -- Number 3
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* Cycle Server Update
We recognize the need for more available compute cycles on the
department Linux servers. To meet this need in the long term, we are
in the process of evaluating new server hardware and hope to have new
equipment in place in the coming months. In the meantime, we have
designated "willy" as a machine to be used for non-interactive Linux
computing (i.e., avoid pine and X applications on this machine). The
"tux" and "opus" machines can be used for more interactive tasks.
* Guest Wireless
For members of the Princeton University community who are visiting
the CS Department, we have reconfigured our wireless infrastructure
to allow them Internet access. Specifically, wireless users who are
registered with OIT (but not CS), will be recognized and placed on a
separate virtual network (VLAN). This means that collaborators
visiting from other departments as well as non-CS students taking
classes will have Internet access.
If you are hosting a workshop or conference in the department we can
also, upon request and with advance notice, enable Internet access
to the group. For security and by policy we will only enable access
for the duration of the event.
If you are hosting an outside guest or two who needs wireless access,
please continue to use the host registration form.
* Mailing Lists - Colloquium/Announce
Need to get the word out on an upcoming talk or event?
We use two mailing lists that are often confused: announce and
colloquium. The announce list is limited to people with an office
in the CS building and includes, faculty, staff, and graduate
students. The colloquium list, however, includes anyone (anywhere)
wishing to be on the list and generally includes affiliates,
undergraduates, researchers, alumni, and members of the general
public.
Which lists should I subscribe to?
Everyone with an office in the department should sign-up for both
lists. Other interested parties including alumni, affiliates, and
undergraduates, are welcome to sign-up for the colloquium list.
Which list should I use to tell people about an upcoming talk?
That depends. First of all, don't send an e-mail message to both
lists; pretty much everyone on announce will also be on the
colloquium list. If it is a formal talk and you are giving at
least a week's notice and it's public, send the *first* message
to colloquium. If the talk is not public or you are sending a
same-day announcement or reminder use the announce list. The idea
is that someone who has to travel to get here may want to know a
week in advance but will not need/want to see a message stating
that the talk is starting in 5 minutes.
Why don't I just send messages to both lists every time?
A good rule of thumb for these lists is to give the recipient
control over what they receive. Some people on announce have
specifically chosen not to be on colloquium to reduce the number
of announcements they receive.
When should I not use either list?
If the talk or event is not of interest to most of the people in
the department, consider sending it to a more specific list (e.g.,
theory, graphics, systems, softball). A reasonable exception is
to make a broad announcement once or twice a year to the announce
list or to the colloquium list (as appropriate) with details of
the event and invite readers to join a more specific list for
future messages.
* Project Data Storage and Backup
Over the past few months we have increased our storage capacity for
projects (not home directories). Currently all project data is
stored on mirrored RAID-5 (or RAID-6) arrays. This means that there
needs to be at least 4 (strategically placed) simultaneous disk
failures before there is a loss of data due to hardware failure.
In addition to redundant disk storage, some of the project data is
backed-up daily. While we will probably never reach the point that
all data can be backed-up daily and retained for an entire year, we
have made changes and upgrades to our infrastructure over the past
few months that will improve the situation. We are still evaluating
the impact of these changes; our goal is to offer more options on
how data is backed-up. Stay tuned.
* Ending the Loaner Laptop Program
For several years, CS Staff maintained several laptops that were
could be borrowed for use within the building. Since then, the
laptops have become woefully obsolete and more trouble than they are
worth to maintain. As a result, we are discontinuing this service.
* Consistent Printing from the Linux/Solaris Cycle Servers
We have once again unified the printer names as seen by the Linux and
Solaris cycles servers. (There is no change in how one prints from a
Windows machine.) As a result, we are retiring printer names with
suffixes like s, d, and m. Instead, we now use suffixes like
/simplex, /duplex, and /manual. (Simplex means "1-sided" and duplex
means "2-sided.") If you print to a printer name without a suffix you
will get the default behavior (usually, duplex). The available print
queue names are listed with the "printers" command on the cycle
servers.
* UPS for CS 002
As this Gazette goes to press, electricians have been at work in 002
connecting the room to our under-utilized uninterruptable power
supply (UPS) in the Friend Center. This will protect the equipment
in the shared research space from power loss in the event of short
outages in the power to the building.
* Gazette "Live"
Early next year, we are planning on giving a talk describing the
department computing and networking infrastructure at a systems
lunch. Stay tuned.
* Caching Web Crawlers
Be aware that anything you put on your website may then exist
indefinitely on the Internet even if you remove the content. This is
because web crawlers may cache or even archive your content.
* Security Updates
And finally, this is a reminder to keep your machines up-to-date with
respect to security patches for both the operating system as well as
applications.