Topics

1) General News: Vacation
2) General News: Mailing Lists
3) General News: Backups
4) General News: New Users
5) General News: dhcp available

Newsletter Archive:
        http://www.chemistry.ohio-state.edu/compsupp/Newsletter/





IMPORTANT:

    Due to a scheduled power outage in Newman-Wolfrom and Evans Labs Sunday,
    July 12, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. the Chemistry Computer Facility will be
    unavailable during this time.

    There will be no webservice and no email from Saturday evening to Sunday
    evening. While no mail will be delivered during that time, no message
    should be lost.

    The Computer Lab 2105 NW will be closed from FRI 5 p.m. to MON 9 a.m.





1) General News: Vacation:


Steve Parker: MON, 7/27/98 thru FRI, 7/31/98

Please make sure you send all requests to support@chemistry.ohio-state.edu.


2) General News: Mailing Lists:


For a long time, we've had mailing lists for faculty, staff, postdocs
and graduate students. Sometimes new users slip through the cracks and
don't actually get added to the list. Please ask around in your research
group and let us know if anybody in your group does not receive this
newsletter, which is sent to everyone@chemistry.ohio-state.edu.


3) General News: Backups:


Sadly, hard drives don't last forever, and sooner or later data will be
lost. On the chemistry Unix server ("chemistry"), everybody's mail and home
directory is backed up nightly to minimize potential losses. Users frequently
avail themselves of this recovery option after accidentally deleting
important files. The same kind of nightly backups are performed on the
chemistry NT server ("chem-nt"). We are in the process of migrating more and
more PC users (departmental staff) to NT; once your data reside on the NT
server, you don't have to worry about backups anymore.

However, if you are using a standalone machine (Unix, PC, Mac), don't forget
to do your own backups! Recently, somebody (who shall remain nameless) lost
months worth of data because they didn't have a backup of their data.
Sadly, since their machine was networked, they could have at least ftp'd
their data to chemistry.

There is no excuse for not having backups. We are strongly encouraging
everyone to keep their data on centrally maintained disks. If you haven't
done this, and if you haven't made your own backups, we can do little more
than sympathize for you should desaster strike.


4) General News: New Users:


We have written a general introduction for new users who want to avail
themselves of Chemistry Computer Facilities. We recommend this for all
first-year graduate students and undergraduates who have recently joined
the Department.

This introduction can be found at
Internal --> Computer Support --> Introduction for new users.

Among other things, this document explains how new users apply for computer
accounts: with the help of somebody in the group they're joining, they fill
out and submit a form on the web. Postdocs and graduate students in research
groups: Please don't tell new group members to knock on Steve's door to get
an account.

The exception is, when new users arrive in groups (e.g. summer research
students, firstyear students), the Graduate Office will send us the names and
SSN#'s, and we'll create all accounts in one batch. These students should
not submit a request via the web.


5) General News: dhcp available:


Chemistry now operates a dhcp server. Users with laptops don't have to
set static IP addresses anymore, but can dynamically request IP addresses.
Please don't use dhcp for anything other than laptops.

More information is available in the Computer Support Bulletins
Internal --> Computer Support --> Support Bulletins.