PC and LAN Networking Services

Services Provided by the Novell LAN
File Access, Deletion and Recovery Issues
Home Access of the LAN Directory
Network Printing
Desktop Setups
Room 135 Computing Lab
Use of Personally Owned PCs

Services Provided by the Novell LAN

The Novell Local Area Network (LAN) provides four key services - file storage, data reduncancy, backups and network printing.

When you login to the LAN a network drive is mapped to the drive letter F: on your PC. Associated with this drive location is your network home directory. Files you write to the F: drive are stored on the network server. A login to any departmental PC maps to the same F: drive location, so when you store files on the network you access the same file holdings regardless of the PC used.

The disk space used to store files is a RAID array. This is a series of disks across which data storage is spread. RAID technology allows data to be preserved in the event that one of the disks in the array fails. This allows a first level of data protection against catastropic hardware failure. If one disk fails, the server continues to function and is able to deliver uncorrupted files.

A second level of data protection is provided by tape backups that are run nightly to store copies of files created or modified on the server in the previous day. This protects against complete failures of the RAID array and users mistakenly deleting files.

Finally, each PC is configured to print to one or more network printers that provide high-speed printing and printing for PCs without locally connected printers.

File Access, Deletion and Recovery Issues

As noted, an important LAN service is the ability to login to any PC in the department and get the same network files. Unless you forget to logout, no one else can get to your files except by special arrangement.

When you delete a file from the F: drive, it is moved for a period of time to a holding area. If you later decide that deletion was a mistake, try to salavage the file. This operation is done by opening a DOS window. [If you don't have a DOS icon, click Start, then Run..., type "cmd" into the Open box and click Okay. This produces a DOS window.] From the DOS window, run the filer command. Filer opens a menu-driven dialog. Search through the list of your recorded deletions and select files for restoration. If a file is not available, check with a computing staff member who will see if the file can be recovered from nightly backups. Note that salvaging applies only to network files. Filer cannot be used to recover files deleted from the local hard drive.

Home Access of the LAN Directory

Home access is possible if you have a fast, persistent connection to the Internet, such as DSL or cable modem. A Novell networking client must be installed and configured on your home PC.

Network Printing

There are threenetwork printers in the department. No charges are currently associated with the use of network printers and they are available at all times. Each PC is configured to print to one or more of the network printers. Selecting the Print option within a PC application provides choice of the network printer. These printers provide better speed and paper capacity than desktop printers. Each PC is configured with print drivers for one or two of the network printers in closest proximity.

Network printers are located in:

• Room 135 – HP LaserJet 5si Mx – 24 pages per minute
• Room 258 – HP LaserJet 4100dtn – 25 pages per minute
• Room 331MR – HP LaserJet 5M – 12 pages per minute

A networked Xerox color laser printer is in the main office. It is available by arrangement for work-related color printing needs. Because of the high cost of consumables, it is not available for general production printing and access is restricted to normal office hours.

Desktop Setups

Desktop computers are set up for use by faculty, staff and graduate students in conformity with general best practice guidelines developed by Arts and Sciences Computing. The operating system of choice is Windows 2000. We do assist users with Windows XP setups for home machines and laptops. A version of Microsoft Office is installed on each system. WordPerfect is installed for those who require it. Internet Explorer is supported along with standard plugins. We also support Mozilla as an alternative web browser. An SSH client program is installed, with F-Secure currently preferred. McAfee Antivirus software is installed and configured to perform automatic updates at regular intervals. Email client usage varies, with Pegasus Mail and PC Pine being the recommended and supported clients.

Statistical and other application software is installed as needed and in accordance with licensing requirements. Administrative access to desktops is restricted to the computing staff who ensure the integrity of systems, apply patches and maintain licensing compliance.

Room 135 Computing Lab

This location is maintained as a resource for Sociology graduate students to carry out research and other computing activities. There are 8 computers, a network printer and documentation for commonly used statistical packages. It is used occasionally for small group instruction. Secure 24-7 access is provided via a combination lock door.

The systems maintained in this lab are included in the regular equipment upgrade cycle. This makes available to all Sociology graduate students a core of PCs adequate for advanced research needs. Fall 2004 upgrades to this lab, are providing a front row of 4 PCs with Fedora Core Linux as the base operating system with a Windows 2000 virtual machine that runs on top of Linux. This is intended to provide user access to desktop applications under both operating systems. The back row of 4 additional machines are Windows 2000 PCs only.

Use of Personally Owned PCs

Laptop computers are increasingly being purchased by faculty and graduate students. Ethernet and wireless connections are both possible within the Sociology/Psychology Building.

Laptops with ethernet cards may be wired to unused ports in offices and classrooms. The wall port must be active for you to connect and the network card in the PC must be registered with Arts and Sciences Computing for DHCP access to the network. Please consult with a member of the computing staff for assistance in registering your network card or making sure that a network port is activated.

Laptops with wireless cards may be used in any campus building with wireless connectivity, if you have registered your wireless network card with OIT. Wireless became available in the Soc/Psych Building in 2002 and is now available in most academic buildings. Wireless connections are more convenient than wired ones and wireless cards are becoming increasingly affordable. OIT maintains a detailed web site on campus wireless networking. Because wireless network traffic is subject to eavesdropping, it is important that any connection (terminal, email, file transfer and ecommerce) with privacy or security considerations be based on end-to-end encryption techniques.