Introduction to Computing Resources
Users must acquaint themselves with the full rules for the use of HEP Group computing resources (see the link to the left) before you start to use these facilities. You will be required to sign an Acceptable Use Document before you are allowed to use the facilities - signing this document will be taken as acceptance of the rules. The rest of this page is meant to summarise some of the salient points in the rules, but it is not exhaustive.
Most of the local computing facilities used by the HEP group (desktops, printers, disk space, wired and wireless networks) are maintained by HEP local administrators. Laptops are usually the responsibility of their owners, but can only be used within the group with the agreement of the HEP local administrators.
The upshot of this is that all requests for and about HEP computing facilities should be addressed to the local administrators. They are also sources of information about the availability of resources elsewhere (eg. the University Computing Service, CERN, Fermilab, DESY, SLAC).
The bulk of the systems within the HEP group are PCs running either Linux or Windows (or in a small number of cases set up to dual boot either of these operating systems). More information on the Linux and Windows systems are available via the links on the left. The other links point to a variety of topics that might be of interest.
All users in the group will have accounts set up on both the Linux and Windows systems when they join the group. Accounts on these systems are loosely coupled - we do not have single sign-on, but the passwords for these two systems are synchronised. Users should be very careful to keep their passwords secret, and to choose passwords that are not easily guessable (there are minimum password requirements imposed in any case).
Users are reminded that they are bound by the rules for connection to the University Network. Acceptance of these rules is implied whenever you login to one of the HEP computers, or connect your own computer to the network. Also, there is now an Acceptable Use Policy document (in MS-Word or PDF formats) which you will be required to sign to indicate that you agree to the rules. Software Policy is also more carefully defined by the department than in the past (see the document in MS-Word or PDF formats). New employees of the department will have explicitly agreed to these conditions during the entry procedure, but existing members of the group are deemed to have also agreed. In particular, all computers must have an identified owner and an administrator (who need not be the same person), so that problems caused by any given computer can be addressed to the correct person. Users are also reminded that all electrical equipment must be safety-tested before being brought into the group - this includes users' own property (see the link on the left).
Many of the pages linked to the left have been updated recently - check them out for changes (12 October 2010).
Other Useful links:
