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ECE: Computing Help:
Basic Information
Basic Information
- Introduction
- Available Computing Resources, Obtaining Accounts
- ECE's Web Sites
- Departmental
Computer Support
- ECEDB Database System
- UCSD Remote Dialin Information
-
ECE Computing Guidelines and Security
- Electronic Mail
1. Introduction
-
The computing environment at UCSD and in the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering offers a wide array of
computing infrastructure
support. From networking support to information about site licensed
software and hardware maintenance programs,
we encourage everyone
to take advantage of the resources available. The resources at UCSD
and ECE are not unlimited, and thus certain
platforms, packages and
programs are preferred and supported over others. With group purchasing
power, educational discounts, and
departmental computing support staff,
you can save a lot of time and money by taking advantage of the available
resources. This document
describes what resources are available,
and who to contact. New faculty, staff and students
can use this document as a computing resource
guide.
The Dean's Office in the School of Engineering (
http://www.soe.ucsd.edu)
provides
network infrastucture support to the ECE Department. These
programmers are also available for recharge for many types of services.
For
more information on SOE's recharge service, see SOE Computer Recharge Services
(
http://soeadm.ucsd.edu/oec/rechser.html).
A large percentage of computers are purchased at the UCSD Bookstore.
They maintain
very competive prices and take advantage of educational
discounts offered by many vendors. For more information about purchasing
computers
contact ECE departmental computer support staff or the computing
section of the UCSD Bookstore's web site
(
http://www-bookstore.ucsd.edu/computers/ucsd.html).
2. Available Computing Resources, Obtaining Accounts
-
The computing environment in the Department of
Electrical and
Computer Engineering is a heterogeneous network
of Unix workstations, PC's, Apple Macintosh computers, X terminals,
and
others. Thin ethernet is primarily used in EBU-1 (some labs
have twisted pair hubs). EBU-2 is primaryly twisted pair.
All IP addresses
are assigned and maintained by departmental computer
support staff.
ECE Departmental Computers
The ECE Department provides
Unix computer accounts for ECE faculty,
staff, and visiting scholars on two departmental servers (SunOS
and Solaris). These accounts are
intended to be used for basic
services like email, text preparation, and basic web service.
They are not intended to be used for CPU
intensive tasks.
To obtain an account on an ECE Departmental server,
fill out an ECE Account Application Form. These are available:
Submit completed forms
to the ECE Computing Support Group (ecehelp),
room 2906, EBU-1.
ECE Research Computers
The majority of ECE's
computing environment is made up
of research workstations that are obtained by faculty and researchers.
Most computer accounts on ECE's
research computers are created and
maintained by the ECE Computing Support Group.
Currently there are roughly 170 Sun Unix workstations
alone,
twenty some Silicon Graphics workstations, and an assortment of other
types of Unix computers.
Computer accounts are available
on ECE Research Computers to individuals
who work or collaborate with the faculty member or PI responsible for
those workstations.
To obtain an account on an ECE Research computer,
fill out an ECE Account Application Form.
You will need to get the signature
of the faculty member or PI
who oversees the workstation(s).
Submit completed forms to the ECE Computing Support Group (ecehelp)
,
room 2906, EBU-1.
You can also have the faculty responsible for the workstation(s) fill
out an
online Web form for the account.
OCE
Unix Accounts
ECE students may take part in the UCSD Open
Computing Environment (OCE). This is a service administered by Academic
Computing Services (ACS) to provide Engineering students access to a single
computer account and electronic mail address for the duration
of their
stay at UCSD. Upper Division and Graduate students are strongly
encouraged to apply for an OCE account at the ACS Accounts Office
(AP&M 1218). There are several labs in buildings EBU-1 and EBU-2
that contain ACS administered Sun and HP workstations, Apple
Macintosh
computers and PC's.
For more information see the
Academic Computing's Open Computing Environment document ).
San Diego Super Computer Center Accounts
ECE faculty,
staff, visiting researchers and students can have access to
the San Diego Super Computer facilities (
http:
//www.sdsc.edu).
For more information and to access on-line account application forms,
see the Super Computing Block Grant Resources
document (
http://soeadm.ucsd.edu/oec/sdscblock.html).
3. ECE's Web Sites
-
The ECE department supports two web sites. One is designed as an external
public site that
provides information about departmental academic programs
and research activities to the world.
The second is an internal site that provides
information and resources
to ECE affiliated people. These web sites can be seen from any browser
on an Internet connected machine.
The External Site is http://www-ece.ucsd.edu
The Local (internal) Site is http://ece-local.ucsd.edu
The ece-local web site contains information on the following:
- ECE Directory
Info - Phone numbers, office locations, email addresses,
home pages, and contacts.
- ECE Department Info - Policies, audio visual
equipment and room
reservations, emergency information, and lab safety information.
- ECE Computing Help - Accounts, equipment, policies
& procedures, and help.
- ECE Website Info - ECE sites, external links, and statistics.
4. ECE Computing Support Group
-
Research and Infrastructure
The ECE Department maintains a Computing Support
Group to support
the large number of research computers, and to provide infrastructure
support such as email, account creation and maintainance,
and other
basic services:
-
Soo Hom, room 2906 EBU1, ext. 2-2266
Todd
Williams, room 2906 EBU1, ext. 4-7821
Address email messages to ecehelp@ece.ucsd.edu
for information or assistance regarding departmental research computers.
Email sent to ecehelp reaches the ECE Computing Support
Group as well as
the School of Engineering programmers.
To preserve network security and integrity, ecehelp will at least
be
overseeing the installation of all machines that are connected to
the ECE network.
Generally, there is a 2-3 week turn-around for
installing new and used
machines. For best results, please let us know in advance about the arrival
of new equipment by sending email
to ecehelp.
Administrative
In addition to providing computing support for
infrastructure and research,
the ECE Computing Support Groups provides support to the Administrative Offices
in ECE, including database
administration and programming.
Address email messages to ece-adminhelp@ece.ucsd.edu
for information or assistance regarding ECE Business Office computing, and
faculty support staff computing.
You are encouraged to
send email to computer support personnel
to ask questions or report problems.
5. ECEDB System
-
ECE maintains an in-house Sybase database of student, financial, personnel and
other information
known as the ECEDB System. Faculty and Staff can obtain
access to this database by sending email to ecehelp.
6. UCSD Campus Remote Dialin Information
-
Currently there is one method available to ECE affiliated
people in
which to dial in(modem) from home
to connect to UCSD networked computers. Both methods require
that you obtain a
UCSD network username and password.
-
Network Operations
The Office of Network Operations provides a dialin
service for UCSD affiliated people. This is a
fee-for-service operation.
Their General Plan costs $10 a month for 25 hours of prime time service
seven days a week. For more information
about the Network Operations
dialin service see the Network Operations web site (
http://www-no.ucsd.edu).
- Rent-A-Tech
This is an organization which provides consulting by students.
They are
generally available for configuration of computers
for dialin. See
http://www-acs/Services/RAT.html for more information.
For security reasons, it is essential that only you use your UCSD
dialin
username and password. See the
ECE Computing Guidelinesfor more information on appropriate account
usage.
7. ECE Computing Guidelines and Security
-
All ECE Unix computer users are expected to read and abide by the
ECE
Computing Guidelines (
http://ece-local.ucsd.edu/policy/guide.html).
It is available in hard copy
at the ECE reception desk and outside
EBU-1 room 2808.
It is ECE policy that users only use their own computer account. The sharing
of
accounts and irresponsible distribution of passwords has resulted in computer and
network breaches as well as loss and corruption
of data. Therefore, such abuse is
a direct violation of ECE computing policy and will result in immediate account
deactivation.
It is strongly recommended that you change your Unix password at least every 6
months. Type "passwd" to change your password on a Sun
computer. You will be
prompted for your old password and twice for your new password.
8. Electronic Mail
-
Electronic mail is the official means for distribution of ECE information
including
interdepartmental memos. It is also the official means for reporting
computer problems to the Systems Administration Staff (ecehelp).
Information about UCSD email is available in the UCSD Campus Phone book.
In order to reduce paper usage, much of UCSD's campus
information is distributed
through email. This includes what used to be known as "green sheets." To
register yourself to receive such
announcements, send an email message to
listserv@ucsd.edu with the following message:
add ucsd-flyers add ucsd-notices
If you have any question about email, contact ECE computer support
(ecehelp@ece.ucsd.edu)
or call (4-3999 or 4-7821).
Info From: ECEHELP, Updated: 04/29/2002
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