Information Technology Practical information for new faculty about information technology at UMR Christopher Dew Manager, Relationship

Information TechnologyPractical information for new faculty

about information technology at UMR

http://it.umr.edu

Christopher Dew

Manager, Relationship & Asset Management

http://it.umr.edu/

04/19/23 Information Technology 2

Information Technology• One-stop-shopping for all of your technology

questions and problems.

• IT Solutions Center– HelpDesk, 341-HELP (4357)– Walk-In Center, Ground Floor, Curtis Laws Wilson Library– Online Help Request through https://help.umr.edu

• Information Technology News– Announcements are distributed through the following mediums

• eConnection (Employee News) http://econnection.umr.edu • IT Press blog: http://itpress.umr.edu

– Scheduled outages– Virus alerts– System/network maintenance– New products/services

https://help.umr.edu/

http://econnection.umr.edu/

http://itpress.umr.edu/


Campus IT Resources(Overview)

• Access to Computing Resources/Facilities

• Instructional Computing Environment

• Research Computing Environment• Campus Network and Internet• Purchasing Hardware/Software

– Desktop Enhancement Program

• Service and Support for IT-related Issues


Access to Computing Resources• Access Via Single Sign-On (SSO) login

account– Referred to as: UserID & SSO ID– Only one account per employee– Other accounts exist for research, project, or

departments.

• SSO Account provides authenticated access:– Desktop/TLS systems (WinXP, Unix, Mac)– Information Kiosks (I-SPOTs)– UMR Network from off-campus: VPN (Requires ISP)– Email, 500 MB of network file storage (DFS),

Blackboard, PeopleSoft, etc.


Desktop Computing• Support for PC/Windows, Macintosh and Unix*

– Campus systems (approximate):• 2200 PC/Windows • 200 Linux, Solaris Unix systems• 100 Macintosh

– Support focus and bench strength PC/Windows– PC/Windows Laptops: WinXP

base OEM distribution will be installed for systems unable to run WinXP.

* Unix base support includes installation of OS and applications and verification of network and e-mail connectivity. Limited support available for applications.


Desktop Computing(PC/Windows base install)

Base set of software installed on new Desktops*:– WinXP– SUS – automatic application of MS critical patches– McAfee Virus Scan– General IT utilities/tools in support of desktop systems– Microsoft Office XP Professional

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access – Internet Explorer & Mozilla Firefox– Adobe Acrobat Reader– X-Win32 – Xwindow emulation for Unix applications– WinSCP (secure FTP) and PuTTY (secure terminal)– (site licensed academic packages optional)

* These are campus licensed applications for university owned equipment only. Most other applications are licensed per system or per max simultaneous users.


Desktop Computing(Macintosh Base Install)

Base set of software installed on new Desktops*:– Mac OSX – General IT utilities/tools in support of desktop systems– Remote Desktop Client– Microsoft Office (with Equation Editor)

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Entourage (Eudora, Outlook available)

– Internet Explorer– Safari– Stuffit Expander– Adobe Acrobat Reader– Telnet– iLife (iTunes, iPhoto, etc.)

* These are campus licensed applications for university owned equipment only. Most other applications are licensed per system or per max simultaneous users.


Desktop Computing(Unix Base Install)

Base set of software installed on Unix Desktops:– Operating System: Linux, Solaris*– General IT utilities/tools in support of desktop systems– FTP & Telnet– Netscape Browser

Note: some unlisted apps are a part of baseOS (e.g. latex)* Support for Redhat and Solaris


Instructional Computing Environment

• Desktop Computing– Office machine for day-to-day activities (e-mail, documents,

scheduling, etc.)

• Technology Learning Spaces (TLSs)– Classroom instruction and general student use

• Technology Classrooms– Rooms equipped with basic presentation style technology

package

• Infrastructure Servers/Services– E-mail storage, network file storage, campus web, etc.


University Center TLS

University Center 105University Center 105


Petroleum Engineering TLS

McNutt 130McNutt 130


Technology Learning Spaces (TLS)(Formerly CLCs)

• 1000+ computers in 40+ locations

• Primarily funded by Information Technology Fee (assessed as part of a student’s tuition), thus reserved for general student use and classroom instruction

• Systems have base install plus discipline specific applications installed.

• Software and hardware is maintained by IT

• Primarily centrally scheduled through the Registrar’s office


Infrastructure Servers/Services• E-mail: Microsoft Exchange & Listserv Lists

– Exchange supports POP/SMTP, IMAP, & MAPI protocols.– SPAM Assassin for e-mail filtering -- automatically enabled, but you will need

to establish rules in your email client to handle spam emails.• “mailguard.umr.edu” quarantine server also available to filter spam

• Account File Storage: DFS – Dsitributed File System– S: drive 500 MB– Internet Accessible through VPN, DFS, SFTP, etc.– Backed up by Information Technology for disaster recovery– W: drive 50 MB or personal web space– Y:\<dept> used for departmental share space (WinXP only)

• Web: Linux Apache• Course Management: Blackboard (blackboard.umr.edu)


Infrastructure Servers/Services• General Purpose Unix:

– Redhat Linux systems: gpunix.umr.edu

– All SSO accounts can telnet/login to these systems.

– Used for GNU products (C/Fortran compilers, ghostview, etc.)

– Home directory is same as PC <S:\> drive


Research Computing Environment• Numerically Intensive Computing (NIC)

– High performance computing cluster– Dedicated cluster of over 100 computers– Request account access to NIC by contacting the Help Desk

(341-HELP).

* Access reserved for faculty and graduate students approved by faculty.

• Research accounts are created for faculty for research purposes only.– Research should never be performed on individual/SSO faculty,

staff, or student accounts. • UMR participates in Internet2 research network.


Campus Network and Internet• Campus backbone network is 1GB and most buildings

have a 1GB fiber connection to the backbone. • Within most campus buildings the desktops/TLSs

are inter-connected via 100MB links. • Internet Connection:

– Via MoreNet (a state consortium)– Two 45 Mbps lines:

• Commodity Internet, university business, video classes (QoS priorities)• Internet2 traffic

• VPN– Local ISPs offer high-speed connections (UMR supports VPN)– ISPs RollaNet and Fidelity have a direct connections

into the network. – See http://helpdesk.umr.edu/generalinfo/vpnindex.html

• Wireless network– WPA standard, up to 11 Mbps– Increasing availability on campus– See http://helpdesk.umr.edu/generalinfo/wirelessnet.html


Campus Network and InternetAccessing Services When Traveling

• Access e-mail through web browser: http://minermail.umr.edu

• Using Virtual Private Networking (VPN):– Why?

• Identifies your connected computer as a UMR computer (treats it as if it were an on-campus system). Computer is assigned a UMR IP/network address.

• Communications between your computer and UMR computers is encrypted (while traveling over the Internet) for privacy/protection.

• Allows your computer access to services normally not allowed to off campus systems (library tools, online training materials, SMTP sendmail, etc.).

– Configuring VPN: http://helpdesk.umr.edu/generalinfo/vpnindex.html – Configuring E-mail clients: http://helpdesk.umr.edu/generalinfo/emailindex.html

• Note if VPN is not set up then your e-mail client will have to have the Internet Service Provider’s (ISP’s) SMTP server name configured within the client options (e.g. “smtp.fidnet.com” instead of “smtp.umr.edu”). Otherwise you will not be able to send mail to non-UMR recipients.


Purchasing Hardware/Software• Contacts for technology purchasing assistance:

• Jim Turner: [email protected] • Mary Hinze: [email protected]• http://it.umr.edu/staff/purchasing.html

• Desktops, Laptops, Printers & Software:– Recommend Dell Optiplex & Latitude families (Dell’s corporate line

of computers)– Recommend HP printer line– Software: http://helpdesk.umr.edu/facultystaff/availablesoftware.html

• For personal (home use) purchases you may work with the University Bookstore for academic and VPA prices.

• Desktop Enhancement Program– http://it.umr.edu/staff/desktopenhancement.html


Questions?

Documents

Information Technology Practical information for new faculty about information technology at UMR Christopher Dew Manager, Relationship