===================================================================== Stony Brook University Computer Science SYSTEMS STAFF MONTHLY NEWSLETTER April 2009 In this issue we have 7 general announcements, 4 ongoing-work items, 4 future work items, and 6 reminders. *** MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. Currently we are migrating the SSO and the Faculty only area to the new CS web site. Please visit to test it. For any queries contact the Webmaster @ x2-1637 or email webadmin AT cs DOT sunysb DOT edu. 2. During the second week of March we encountered major network problems within the department due to power fluctuations. We are working with campus facilities to repair the electrical system in our building. 3. Both Undergraduate and Graduate students are now allowed to submit work requests directly to the WREQ system instead of emailing "ntadmin" or "root"; the latter two will be deprecated after the semester is over. This will help consolidate all work requests into a single system. 4. Most faculty PCs are no longer using Network Address Translation (NAT) for their connectivity. Those machines now have a unique address in the department public address space. This makes it easier to allow remote access to faculty's workstations (e.g., via rdesktop from home), and to enable remote printing. 5. The large departmental Cisco switch is now connected to a dedicated UPS which can support the system for approx. 20 minutes. This will eliminate one of the main causes of the network problems in March. 6. Some emergency moves of faculty network connections (done in March) were undone and those systems are now on higher-speed connections. 7. Some unmanaged (and thus less secure) systems which were placed on the same network as the managed/secure faculty Windows PCs, were moved to a network segment supporting DHCP for unmanaged, less secure systems. *** ONGOING WORK 1. Work continues on the backup server being setup to address backup needs including research labs, secretaries, faculty, and staff. The backup storage array on BAKSERV1 has been moved to CEWIT. Be advised there might be some intermittent downtime or performance during drive replacements. The new host name is bakserv1.cewit.stonybrook.edu. 2. Remaining faculty PCs are being moved to the faster network ports and dedicated network switches. Preparatory work (trace cables, update labels and configuration files) had begun to migrate those faculty's PCs on slower taps in the QMS printer room to high speed connections. 3. The Email/Anti-spam system is being upgraded with newer hardware. 4. We are replacing the old compservs with newer linux based machines (faster machines, much newer software, wider selection of tools). *** FUTURE PLANS 1. The Wireless network will migrate from WEP key to WPA and eventually authentication based upon user login id/password. 2. We continue to investigate options for the use of LDAP servers in our department for Unified LDAP-based logins. This would help to consolidate the many user-ID domains we have into one; currently there are different user-ID domains being managed on the Unix systems, undergrad and grad teaching labs, database servers, and more. With LDAP, we hope to be able to manage all user IDs more efficiently and centrally. 3. We are slowly moving infrastructure from the older machine room into a newer one, room 1313. The new room has better/cleaner power, and better cooling, but moving to it will take time (pulling cables and such). We are in the process of repairing one of the A/Cs in that room, and adding additional power sockets. 4. Reconfigure the Cisco to eliminate performance issues with other vendors network switches. This will improve performance of the Compservs and Popmail systems. *** REMINDERS 1. Web site Announcement of activities and events (e.g., DLS, invited guest speakers, dissertations, ongoing research presentations, etc.) should go to "allfaculty" or even to "all", which includes everyone in the department (allfaculty, sec, staff, grads, postdocs, visitors). Please also note that the webadmin will list activities and events prominently on the main page of our website, so you are encouraged to send such information also to the webadmin. 2. Security We have sent out security alerts recently regarding "Adobe Acrobat/Reader" and the "Conflicker worm". Besides these, there have been a number of security vulnerabilities reported in various Operating Systems (Windows, Linux, Mac) and applications (Firefox, Thunderbird, Itunes). Please make sure you update your system regularly with patches provided by the manufacturer or your software vendor, run a firewall software and the latest anti-malware software where applicable. You can download Symantec Endpoint protection for Mac or Windows from the SSO website. If you have any questions, please send email to WREQ. 3. User Accounts and Graduate Lab Printing We want to remind users that they are responsible for having a secure password and any activity related to their account (No account sharing). Please review the department policies under the facilities section for more information. We log printer usage in the Graduate Lab on an individual user basis. We request that the Graduate Lab printers be used for homework and research only and not for personal use. Even if you are using it for homework/research, use it wisely and try to reduce the pages printed. Printing large books is not acceptable and you should use the library resources instead (including Safari books online). If you continue to consume lots of paper, your printing privileges will be curtailed. 4. WREQ Problem Reporting Tool Work requests and problem reports should be submitted to WREQ and not to ntadmin/root or individual staff members. This helps us track the progress of work requests better. We suggest using the Web interface to submit wreq requests at the URL: . You can also email wreq AT cs DOT sunysb DOT edu but the Web interface is preferred. If you send email, please send plain text (without MIME attachments) and send from your CS department account. 5. SECWREQ Problem Reporting Tool You are encouraged to use SECWREQ for requests such as requisitions, course room changes, office supplies, grade changes, room reservations, payroll issues, tuition issues, reimbursements and building management issues (heat/cooling/ lights/leaking roof). The SECWREQ tool is located at: . You can send mail to secwreq AT cs DOT sunysb DOT edu; please do not send MIME mail or attachments there. Send email from your CS department account. 6. Staff hot-line x2-2772 (CSSB). It will ring all staff office phones and has voicemail. Business hours are 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon-Fri except State and Federal holidays.