If you work in our popular 756 ESB computing classroom and open lab facility, you may have noticed some new hardware appearing through the Fall semester.

24” LCD widescreen displays were the first to appear. These displays replaced the CRT monitors that were suspended beneath the desks on racks and were visible through glass surfaces. We polled faculty members and teaching assistants that frequently use the 756 facility for lab sections and the sentiment was clear; placing the displays on top of the workstation surface is more popular. This change also allowed us to remove the hardware that constrained legroom. The open HDMI ports on the new displays allow users with laptops to take advantage of extra screen real estate.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday our techs worked quickly to deploy all new Core i5 based systems. Here are some details about the new spec:

Mainboard: Intel DP67DE
Processor: Intel Core i5-2500 3.30 GHz 6MB Cache
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600MHz
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATA
GPU: ATi Radeon HD5570

The processor and RAM combination allows for more smooth running Virtualized systems, such as the Windows XP VM used for CS230 courses requiring access to Microsoft Visio. The host systems run Ubuntu Linux 11.04 to accommodate CS classes that require a broad spectrum of compilers and software development tools. The next scheduled OS upgrade is set for July 1st, 2012.

Our hardware replacement cycle for lab computer systems is 3-4 years. This makes the next scheduled hardware upgrade for 756 ESB during Fall 2014.

Stay tuned for more news and info from LCSEE Systems.

LCSEE Systems is now offering cLOUD Storage for LCSEE Faculty members as well as students enrolled in LCSEE Department courses. While USB storage, such as thumb drives or portable hard drives, is one mechanism to store files needed on while on the go, more ubiquitous storage that leaves physical media behind can be much more convenient.

Some users may find Dropbox to be an adequate solution but cross-platform client compatibility and data security may be an issue. Other alternatives include Ubuntu One and Spider Oak cloud storage.

cLOUD Storage with LCSEE Systems is hosted on a private cloud within the LCSEE Computing Infrastructure. With a simple request to lcseehelpdesk@mail.wvu.edu, LCSEE Systems can enable one’s cLOUD Storage. Once enabled, it’s possible to save and retrieve files in cLOUD Storage while using Ubuntu computers in LCSEE Computing Facilities or from anywhere in the world via the LCSEE Shell Pool.

Accessing files and folders in cLOUD Storage on the Ubuntu Linux lab systems or on the Shell Pool is as simple as navigating or changing directory to /cloudhome/username. Copy files over the Internet with Secure Copy clients such as WinSCP, PSCP, FUGU, and Cyberduck.

Save files in a lab or office in cLOUD Storage and then access or copy to/from anywhere. Stop worrying about USB keys that can be left behind or become damaged. Just email LCSEE Systems for more details or to have this service enabled.

Over the past year, LCSEE Systems has been realigning the LCSEE Department’s computing infrastructure to make use of WVU MasterID for login names and passwords. The LCSEE Computing Accounts maintained locally in the Department are being phased out.

This project has come one step closer to completion. LCSEE computing facilities that employ Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X have authenticated using MasterID credentials for over a year. As of last week, LCSEE computing facilities and servers running Linux, such as the LCSEE Shell Pool, now require a MasterID to logon.

Students and Faculty members need to have their MasterIDs authorized by LCSEE Systems before using computing resources. Most students are pre-authorized based on rosters for LCSEE courses. LCSEE Faculty members’ MasterIDs have been authorized as well. Forms will remain available outside of the LCSEE Systems office (701ESB) to request authorization in the event a person was missed or wasn’t included on the rosters from August 19th, 2011.

Remember, for help with your MasterID, visit http://masterid.wvu.edu.

The LCSEE Shell Pool (shell.lcsee.wvu.edu) has been affected by this transition. While new users will not notice a difference, people used to accessing the Shell Servers with an LCSEE Computing Account will see a significant change.

The transition away from automatic mounting of network home directories to optional cLOUD Storage has begun. Students and Faculty members with LCSEE Computing Accounts that need to access their old LCSEE Home Directories (/home/usermame) to retrieve files or modify websites stored in /home/username/public_html directories, may still do so by logging onto our our Legacy Shell Servers at either dmzlegacyshell001.lcsee.wvu.edu or dmzlegacyshell002.lcsee.wvu.edu.

The LCSEE Legacy Shell Servers will use the old LCSEE Computing Account usernames and passwords and will remain online for at least one year to aid in the migration of users’ files, websites, and configurations to cLOUD Storage. These legacy servers will not be accessible for new users as additional LCSEE Computing Accounts will no longer be created.

We encourage students that would like to retain network file storage services and websites to request cLOUD Storage by sending an email to lcseehelpdesk@mail.wvu.edu. Once activated, users must copy any content needed from legacy LCSEE Computing Account home directories to new cLOUD Storage space. We hope to have an FAQ entry on the LCSEE Help Desk Website by the end of the week. Keep an eye on @lcseesystems on Twitter for a tweet about that FAQ entry.

Our next installment here on the Blog will mostly likely be about cLOUD Storage. Stay tuned. . .

On December 21st, OIT Network Operations, in conjunction with LCSEE Systems and CEMR IT, will be implementing a new set of security measures on the Lane Department’s server networks. While significant preparations have been made and serious outages are not expected, there may be a few interruptions as final adjustments are made.

The implementation window will begin at 8:00am, Tuesday the 21st and last most of the day. Please plan accordingly. Impact is expected to be minimal but if you have questions or concerns, please contact the LCSEE Systems help desk via email or phone.

LCSEE Systems has wrapped up the integration and installation of new computer systems for the 851 and 953 ESB Computer Teaching Labs. These two labs are primarily used for EE and CpE course lab sections and depend upon software packages such as Matlab, PSpice, and various other electronic design automation software.

The new systems are complete with 22” widescreen LCD displays to optimize screen real estate and accommodate simultaneous use of multiple tools. The dual-core Intel processors were chosen based on excellent reviews and benchmark results. Our own testing showed excellent performance using Matlab benchmarking tools.

The new systems will be in place for three to four years with possible memory upgrades halfway through their life cycle.

To comply with CEMR policy concerning use of official WVU (mail.wvu.edu, mix.wvu.edu) addresses for email correspondence, LCSEE Systems has been working to bring our issue tracking system email addresses in line. Currently, students, faculty and staff members, and researchers contact LCSEE Systems using the address helpdesk(a)csee.wvu.edu. The new address will use the official @mail.wvu.edu domain.

LCSEE Systems technicians are putting the finishing touches on the changes so expect an announcement within the next few weeks with the new contact address. The new address will also be automagically listed in the CEMR/WVU GroupWise Address Books for your convenience.

Stay tuned…

LCSEE Systems will perform server maintenance starting at 11:59pm on Saturday, February 27th until 12:00pm on Sunday, February 28th.

Some tasks will involve power re-distribution and network hardware changes. These tasks may require most of the LCSEE Computing Infrastructure to be unavailable. Please note that impacted services include website hosting, network file services, Linux computer lab systems, and the shell server cluster.

Downtime may not last the full maintenance window but services are not guaranteed during this time period. Please make necessary arrangements. If you have questions or concerns, please contact LCSEE Systems by sending email to helpdesk@csee.wvu.edu or calling 304-293-3475.

The 756 ESB computer lab will be closed from 6:00pm to 10:00pm tonight, 11/09, for software maintenance. The lab’s virtual Windows XP installations will now include Matlab 2009a, Visual Studio .NET 2008 Professional, and VTB 2009 to accommodate Dr. Jignesh Solanki’s EE591A course.

Matlab and Visual Studio have been available in department labs for many years. However, VTB is a new addition to the department’s facilities. VTB stands for Virtual Test Bed and is developed by USC. VTB is used for simulating large-scale, multi-technical dynamic systems, including electrical, mechanical, thermal & control systems.

More information about VTB can be found at http://vtb.ee.sc.edu

New for the Fall 2009 semester (literally, we put them in place the first week of classes) are 23 brand new Intel Core2 Quad based PCs. It was time for the good ol’ P4s in 813 to go per our replacement cycle. We gathered input from our faculty and students to get a feel for specs of the next generation machines. Here are some details:

Mainboard: Intel G45ID
Processor: Intel Core2 Quad Q8400
RAM: Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR2
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 160GB SATA
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9600GSO w/ 512MB GDDR3 by ASUS

We went with quad core processors to accommodate requests for multicore programming projects. Beefed up graphics cards were added to accommodate requests for courses teaching OpenGL programming.

The room remains split with half of the systems running LOUD based on Ubuntu Linux 9.04 while the other half run Microsoft Windows XP. Additional software upgrades for Fall include Matlab 2009a and Visual Studio .NET 2008 Professional.

Stay tuned for more information about other labs scheduled for hardware and software upgrades.

If you haven’t caught E-NEWS or heard the buzz around the department, make note that OIT will be upgrading GroupWise on the server side this Wednesday, September 16th. The maintenance window will run from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.

GroupWise will be upgraded to version 8 and will include changes to the Web Access client. Desktop clients aren’t being upgraded at this time so for those of you that are ambitious, I wouldn’t recommend trying to change your client just yet. OIT is going to make version 8 of the client accessible in the coming weeks. LCSEE Systems will be glad to help with upgrades on department systems if you’d prefer not doing so on your own.

More info as it becomes available…