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DSN Laboratory
Lab Configuration [Configuration] [Administrators] [Photos] [Usage Policy]
Hardware

Currently there are 8 Pentium 3 PC's (1 GHz with 256 MB RAM and 20GB HDDs). These PC's are installed with RedHat« 7.2 and Windows« 2000 Professional. There is a rack of 8 Sun« Netra Unix boxes (500 MHz Sparc with 1 GB RAM and 2 * 40 GB HDDs) running Sun« Solaris« 8. There is also a gateway to the RMITCS * Network and the Internet.

Network

All the computers are connected on a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet network to a router. The computers are on a local network (192.168.10.X subnet) and hence invisible from the outside world. The PC's are called distributed21 through to distributed28 and the Unix boxes are called distributed11 through to distributed18 (there is no domain). The IP addresses for these computers are 192.168.10.X, where X is replaced with the last two digits of machine name (for example, the IP address for distributed11 is 192.168.10.11).

Login

The username for the machines in this lab is the same as your RMITCS username. You can logon to the Unix/Linux Network using the same password. Distributed11 provides a centralised authentication service for users of this network amongst other things like your home directory and application mounts. Windows machines run on the "dist" domain with distributed11 running a Samba Primary Domain Controller. The password for the windows account are separate to the Linux/Unix accounts and should be under 8 characters in length. If you would like to have local accounts (on PC's), please send such a request to the administrators.

Password

Technically users only have one account on the Unix/Linux network and hence password changes on one machine would be reflected globally. It is recommended that users change their passwords from the Unix Boxes (one of distributed12-distributed18), you can use the passwd command to change the password. Windows passwords can be changed from Windows itself.

Home Directory

Home directories for all users are located on distributed11, which uses disk mirroring as the only means of redundancy/backup of data. Home directories are automatically mounted on Linux, Unix and Windows. There is no disk quota restriction in place, however it is expected that disk space is used judiciously and due consideration is given to other users. Please read the section on Data from the Lab Usage Policy with regards to the integrity of your data.

Software

  • Linux
    All standard packages come with RedHat« 7.2 are installed
    Java 2 version 1.4.0 and 1.2.2
  • Unix
    Standard installation of Sun solaris 8
    Java 2 version 1.4.0 and 1.2.2
    gcc package version 2.95.3
    vim version 6.1
  • Windows
    Most of the software installed on the RMIT CS PC's
For installation of any unavailable software, please contact the administrators.

Lab Administrator [Configuration] [Administrators] [Photos] [Usage Policy]
The Current Administrators for this lab are:
  • James Broberg (jbroberg@cs.rmit.edu.au)
  • Herry Hamidjaja (herryh@cs.rmit.edu.au)
They are your first point of contact (not necessarily in the above order) for any queries or problems with accounts, access, etc. Please bear in mind that they are full-time students too, hence, even though they are expected to resolve problems as soon as they occur, this might not always be the case.

The RMITCS Technical Services Group contact person for this lab is:
  • Kate Morris (krm@cs.rmit.edu.au)

Any other queries should be directed to the Activity Unit Leader:

Associate Professor Zahir Tari
Web page: www.cs.rmit.edu.au/~zahirt
Email: zahirt@cs.rmit.edu.au
Phone: 992 53782

Lab Photos [Configuration] [Administrators] [Photos] [Usage Policy]

Sun Blades

Peter and Kwong hard at work.

Many PC's

Kwong and Bodo are always working hard

Rack of 8 Sun Servers

Busy Lab

And Again


 
Acceptable User Policy [Configuration] [Administrators] [Photos] [Usage Policy]
Purpose and Scope

The RMIT Computer Science Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for computer and network usage https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/rules/acceptable-use.shtml governs the usage of the DSN lab. However, there are certain restrictions imposed by the AUP that are relaxed to a certain extent to accommodate the purpose of this lab.

Users of this lab

All students undertaking research in the area of Distributed and Networking systems, either under one of the staff members of this Activity Unit (AU) or by express approval from the AU leader (Associate Professor Zahir Tari) may apply for an account for this lab. The express purpose of this lab is testing research outcomes. However, students are encouraged to work in the lab beyond this purpose. Students are required not to share their username, password and access codes with other users or users from outside this research unit.

Applying for an account

Students wishing to apply for an account should request their senior supervisor to email the lab administrators for such a request. This request should contain the following details:
  • Full Student Name
  • Student Username at RMITCS.
  • Student Number
  • Name of Senior and Secondary Supervisor
  • Expected term of usage (approximate is ok)
  • Purpose of usage (a brief statement is ok - to help the administrators better manage the lab and anticipate future usage)
  • Software requirements (O/S Platform, special software required, etc.)
The purpose of the above information is to collect usage statistics for the lab.

Once a request has been submitted, the student would be required to see the administrator(s), to get their username, passwords, access code, etc. Please do not request this information over email, as it would not be provided.

Software

A separate document lists all the software that has been installed in this lab. The lab machines have all the software that us usually found on RMITCS machines. For additional software required by a student, approval needs to be sought from their research supervisor (and stated in an email to the lab administrators). It is important to know that all software installed and used in this lab must be legal and licensed (and as such should be notified to the lab administrators). Where such requirements are breached, the student would be reported to the AU leader. Please consult with the RMITCS Technical Services Group (TSG) regarding licensing, they generally have or can obtain academic licenses for most of the software that might be used. It is the responsibility of the students to manage their software, though help is available from the lab administrators or from the TSG on a limited basis.

Data

All user data must be stored in your assigned home directories. The only sort of backup that is provided in this lab is disk mirroring. The chances of loosing two hard drives in the same machine are rare; hence the chances of loosing your data are remote, thought no responsibility is taken for the integrity of data stored in this lab. It is recommended that you store important data on your RMITCS accounts (which is backed up regularly by the TSG and almost impossible to loose).

Internet Access

The lab has access to the Internet and all other RMITCS systems via the RMITCS proxy server. You would be required to authenticate yourself to the RMITCS proxy with your RMITCS Windows« NT« username and passwords. It is your responsibility to have this information. Please note that alternate means to access the Internet is a breach of both the RMITCS and this policy.

Food

It is acceptable to be having food and drinks in the lab, though it is required to be not doing so in front or near the computers. There is a lot of other space in the lab that can be utilised for this purpose. At some point in the future, provisions for a small refrigerator and coffee/tea would be made. It is expected off students to clean their own garbage and keep the place hygienic. This policy is being trailed for a while and adherence will determine its continuance.

Games

We acknowledge that after a weeks work it is entertaining to be doing something fun. Why not entertain yourself the same place we work. On Fridays, we would welcome all staff and students to a round of fun and network games (time and other details to be worked out).

Other

It is expected by students to behave responsible and communally so as to create a great collaborative research environment. It is the responsibility of the students to follow this policy, since there would be no active enforcement. Remember, this is your nest within RMICS and it is equally important to have fun while working. Good luck to all.

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