Summer and Early Fall 2004 System Updates

• Network Upgrades - We have upgraded the CS network in Lindley Hall to support gigabit ethernet. All networking ports in the building are now capable of 10/100/1000Mbps operation, giving every user a gigabit connection to the campus backbone.

• Linux Changes - Due to changes made by Red Hat last year in the support model for Red Hat Linux, we were forced to reevaluate our position regarding the use of this Linux distribution. We are now supporting two Linux distributions within the department, Gentoo and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). For the vast majority of desktop systems, as well as a few servers, we are now running Gentoo Linux. This is a free distribution that allows us a great deal of flexibility in how we deploy Linux. We are also supporting RHEL, which is in use on some central servers as well as a few desktop systems that have particular needs for RHEL such as to maintain compatibility with commercial software or research collaborators.

• Workstation Upgrades - We replaced approximately 50 older workstations with new 2.8GHz Pentium 4 systems running Gentoo Linux. The new systems have 1GB of memory, CD burners, DVD players, and 20" LCD monitors. These systems have been installed in graduate student and faculty offices as well as a number of research labs.

• Access Grid Node - An Access Grid Node is now up and running in LH101. This provides a presentation and collaborative work environment linking us to research institutions around the world.

• New Burrow Annex - There is a new Burrow Annex/Lounge available in LH016. The Burrow is an undergraduate lab supporting a wide array of classes and projects. The addition of the LH016 annex provides students with wired network drops for laptops and a large whiteboard to support group projects. The original Burrow lab in LH004 provides a quiet workspace with a mix of Linux and Sun workstations.

• Door Locking - In response to the UITS computing facilities no longer being open 24 hours, the outside doors to Lindley Hall are now being locked at 10pm. One door in the front of the building, the north door in the back, and the elevator are now on card access so CS faculty, staff, and students still have 24 hour access to the building

• Goofy Giggles - A new hardware platform has been developed to be used in the Computer Structures course (H335 Spring '05). The platform is based on a commercial robotic toy called "Goofy Giggles". The link below describes the process of how "Goofy Giggles" robots are being transformed into learning tools to be used in the H335 laboratory. http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~geobrown/goofy.html

• Analog Computers - Four Extended Analog Computers have been constructed and deployed on the LH008 hardware laboratory. Students in the VLSI course students are using the machines this semester to explore the unique computing paradigm that they provide. The link below has more information on the design and usage of the machines. http://www.cs.indiana.edu/Facilities/hardware/extended_analog_computer/

• Help Desk Changes - The Computer Systems Group maintains a Web-based Help Desk for the reporting and tracking of system requests. We've changed the configuration of this help desk to prevent the harvesting of email addresses by spammers. In order to access this system you will now either need to be coming from a system in the IU network or be able to authenticate via a UITS Network ID. If a user doesn't satisfy either of these conditions, they will receive an error page that tells them how to submit requests via email but will not be able to view the help desk.

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