Shortcuts to Handy Earth and Planetary Sciences Network Stuff:

The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Computing Resources

The Department provides local area network (LAN) - based computing services to all faculty, staff and graduate students upon request.  We also maintain a small computer lab with a sixteen computers primarily used by graduate and advanced undergraduate students.  UNM’s Information Technology (IT) Department provides the high-speed network connections on campus, computer pods for use by all students located at various points on campus, account management for campus-wide Email services, wireless network services available at most locations on campus (including Northrop Hall), networked software accessible by remote users, and numerous other computing-related services.  IT’s web site (http://it.unm.edu) includes a lot of information about services provided.  The balance of this section describes E&PS-based computational resources and their use.

What is needed to use the Network in EPS

All users of the network must have an EPS network account in addition to a UNM NetID.  Registered students, faculty and staff should visit the IT NetID information page (https://netid.unm.edu/) from which users can create and/or update their account information. A NetID is required before an EPS network account can be created.  Account request forms for the EPS network may be obtained from the Main Office in Northrop Hall or online on the Department’s web site (http://epswww.unm.edu/help/new_acct_req.pdf/ ).

All offices, laboratories and classrooms are wired for access to the department network,  IT services and the Internet via Ethernet that is capable of up to Gigabit speeds.  Not all network ports, however, are active.  All users who wish to connect their personal computers to the EPSCI LAN network in Northrop Hall must have

  1. Ethernet network port on their computer and
  2. A standard Ethernet cable, and
  3. Request that their port be activated.

All requests for network connections should be directed to the network administrator, Jim Connolly via Email (connolly@unm.edu), and include the following information:

  • Your Name,
  • Your Status in the Department (Grad Student, Staff, Post-Doc, Official Visitor, etc.)
  • Your Office Location,
  • The numbers on the network port “box” you plan to connect to,
  • The type of computer you plan to connect (PC, Mac, Linux, etc.). 

Before requesting port activation, please plug in your computer to the port and see if it works (so we won't request something unnecessary be done). The actual port activation is done by IT, and can take up to 5 working days to complete.  Please direct questions regarding port activations to the Network Administrator, Jim Connolly, either by Email (connolly@unm.edu) or in person (Northrop Hall Room 108).

 

Computational Resources in E&PS

The Department has operated Unix (Sun SOLARIS) and Linux clustered systems for research. Some of these systems are in the process of being decomissioned and their computational capabilities being moved to other platforms. Questions about the Sun/Solaris system (for climate modeling and research) should be directed to Dr. Peter Fawcett and questions about the Linux system (used for climate and tectonic modeling) should be directed to Dr. Joe Galewsky. A LIDAR Laboratory is available for imaging earth surface features; contact Dr. Gary Weissmann for information about these capabilities. A group of portable tablet computers with GIS capabilities that can be used for field mapping projects can also be made available for student use; contact Dr. Lou Scuderi or Dr. Gary Weissmann if interested in using these systems.

The department currently has five active network windows-based servers. These systems provide user data storage, print services and program access for software. Some of these are planned for retirement in the near future as we migrate our network to the "Colleges" domain in UNM's Active Directory tree. Included are:

  • EPS2: Dell Poweredge 2600 running Windows 2003 server with 2GB of memory and 180 GB of RAID 5 storage; this system drives most department printers and provides about 130 GB of disk space for shared resesarch-related files, and some storage and license services for network software applications.
  • EPS3: A custom "in-house" built Intel Quad-core system running 64-bit Windows 2003 server with 8GB of memory, mirrored (Raid 1) operating system drives, and 1.5 TB of Raid 5 storage, providing the bulk file space for research by faculty, staff and students. This system also hosts, as a Microsoft "Virtual" server, our department Web site, epswww.unm.edu.
  • EPS1: Dell Poweredge 2400 running Windows NT 4.0 serves as a backup domain controller, storage for network-installed software packages for workstation deployment, and as a license server for several specialized software packages. This system will soon be either upgraded to Windows 2003 Server or retired.
  • EPS: An older (ancient?) Dell Optiplex system that serves as the primary domain controller for the Windows NT 4.0 user database and also hosts our FTP site. It will retire when our NT 4.0 domain retires.
  • EPSWWW1: A Dell Poweredge 1400 running Windows NT 4.0 that until recently was our department web server, and now serves as backup for a few web functions that could not be migrated to the new virtual system. It will be upgraded to Windows 2003 server and host our FTP services when EPS is finally retired.

The department supports both Windows and Macintosh computing platforms through the servers to include network file storage, printer access, and program access. While Macs are supported for on the network, the highest level of functionality and compatibility is on Microsoft Windows systems. Basic use of the Mac Finder to connect to the EPSCI network is quite simple and addressed in this linked document. While older Windows systems may be used on the network, users are encouraged to use Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate as their desktop operating system. We are currently migrating our network resources into UNM's Colleges Active Directory (AD) domain, and expect migration to be completed by the end of 2011 and AD will fully support only Windows 7 clients. Support for the "Home" versions of all Windows operating systems is somewhat limited since neither of these operating systems support Domain-level authentication, but they can be made to work for file access and (in some cases) for printer access.

Email services are provided by UNM's IT Computing Department and they strongly recommend using the WebMail system to access your Email, particularly on systems that will be shared among multiple users. Unfortunately the operative word for UNM's WebMail system is slow. UNM is currently in negotiations to contract for an integrated Mail, Calendar and Scheduling system that they hope will be in place by early 2012 to replacing the aging client/server based system currently in use. For those looking for an alternative to Webmail, if you have a personal desktop or laptop system there are many other free (or almost free) mail clients that be used to access Email on-campus from individually owned systems including. Theses include Thunderbird (good, free and recommended by your Network Administrator), Outlook, Outlook Express, MacMail (on OS X Macs), Mozilla, and others. A variety of open-source, free or shareware programs are available for Web browsing, Email Access, and other Internet tasks. Some of these are available on the Department's public FTP site but these are not the latest versions of most packages; the newest versions are best downloaded from their source on the Internet. Use Google to find online sources and check with the Network Administrator for suggestions.

Software that may be used under license at UNM may be downloaded and installed by UNM faculty, staff and students by connecting to IT Computing's Download page. You will need to log in using your NetID to access this page. The SSL Telnet and FTP clients required to log into UNM's Linux/UNIX systems may be found and downloaded from this site, as well as other items required for Banner access.

A series of Network Help documents, accessible through an index of Frequently Asked Questions, are available online to assist users with different aspects of our network. An ongoing project (as of this writing in August 2011) is to update this FAQ page and update the information for the ever-changing computer environment.

The department employs a part-time Network Administrator (Jim Connolly) to maintain operations of the servers, printers and other hardware and software on the network and maintain our Web pages. During the academic year, we usually have a "Lab Support Assistant", a graduate student whose main duties are to maintain the department's computer lab and assist lab users.

By far the fastest remote access to UNM computing resources is by home-based high-speed networking, either DSL or Cable. This sort of service is not free, but can be purchased reasonably from Qwest (the phone company) or Comcast (the cable company), particularly when bundled with other phone or TV services.

Free wireless Internet access (you must provide the wireless notebook or other device) may be found at a fair number of local businesses, and with the proper login security these may be used to access Email and other computing resources.

Wireless connectivity may be found at most locations on campus including Northrop Hall. You will find a separate document on this web site that outlines the different types of wireless access available on campus. There are currently three active wireless networks on campus: LoboWiFi, LoboSEC and Lobo Guest. The first two require a UNM NetID for login, and LoboSEC requires a passphrase that may be obtained from http://it.unm.edu/download. Lobo Guest is limited to web access only and does not require a login (but does require an "agreement" to behave legally). Most UNM users should opt for the LoboWiFi access that requires a NetID login, but gives full access to LoboWeb and other computing services.

In early 2004, in cooperation with ITS, we installed a hardware firewall to protect against increasingly damaging attacks on our systems both from within and outside of UNM. By default most of our systems are not visible from outside of Northrop Hall. The firewall may be programmed with "rules" that allow different levels of access to particular systems including our servers. Individuals with computers connected to the network who desire a level of connectivity with their internal systems should contact Jim Connolly to discuss their needs and see if they can be accommodated.

Security concerns have forced us to shut down a number of TCP/IP ports that enable LAN-type connections to our network from outside of Northrop Hall. At present the only access to EPS servers from outside the network are by the use of FTP, and this will probably have to shut down in the near future because of security concerns. This link will connect you to an old (but updated) document that explains how this is done.

A summary of the hardware and software resources currently available follows. As much as possible, we will assist users with installed software packages, but we are not experts in many of the advanced capabilities of most of this software. Providing technical support for specialized software (such as ArcGIS) is beyond our local expertise. In any case, we will do all we can to help you make productive use of our computing resources.

Hardware and Software Resources Available

In the Department Computer Lab (Rooms 209A - Effective August, 2011):

Computing Systems:

  • 10 - Intel Core i5 Workstations (Dell Precision T-1500), Windows 7 Enterprise 64bit, 4GB RAM, DVD/CD+/- Drives
  • 2 - 3.2 GHz Pentium IV Workstations (Dell Optiplex), Windows XP Professional, 4 GB RAM, DVD+/-RW combo drives.
  • 4 - Apple iMac Systems, MacOS X 10.5, 24" All-in-one units

Computer Projector

  • Mitsubishi XD490U 3000 ANSI Lumens projector installed in Room 209 for classroom use.

Scanners (each connected to a particular workstation in the computer lab):

  • Hewlett Packard Scanjet 6350cxi Scanner with automatic document feeder (600-1200 DPI; connected to Windows 2000 workstation EPS028; soon to be connected to Windows XP system EPS033)
  • CanoScan 9000F Photo, Slide and Film Scanner (9600DPI max resolution for transparencies, 4800 DPI max resolution reflective) for scanning many different sizes of slides, negatives (up to 120 film), photographs, thin-sections, etc.

Printers (available from any system connected to the network, currently hosted on the server EPS3):

  • An HP Laserjet 4200 DTN (35 ppm, B&W, 1200dpi, Duplex printing, Postscript or HP-PCL. Name: EPS209BW)
  • HP Laserjet 4700DN (Color, 1200 DPI, Duplex Printing, Postscript or HP-PCL. Name: EPS209CL)

Large-Format Plotter

  • HP DesignJet Z2100 8-Color Large-Format Printer (600 - 1200 DPI, Ink-Jet, printing on roll media up to 42" wide). All network users wanting to print jobs on this plotter must check with the Network Administrator, Jim Connolly, for information about best-practice printing procedures for this printer. .

Software:

Organization on Windows 7 Workstations Some of the specialized software for Groundwater and Geochemical Modeling require special licensing; consult the person listed if you need to access these programs:

ArcGIS 10.0 (Service Pack 2) including most extensions, ArcInfo Workstation and Tutorials

GIS Tools including:

  • MicroDEM
  • RiverTools 2.4

Adobe Creative Suite (CS) 4 "Web Premium" including:

  • Adobe Acrobate 9 (for reading and creating Acrobat PDF files)
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photshop
  • Adobe Dreamweaver
  • Adobe Bridge
  • Adobe Contribute
  • Adobe Fireworks
  • Adobe Flash
  • Adobe Soundbooth

GWB - Geochemists Workbench (L. Crossey)

GMS - Groundwater Modeling System (G. Weissmann)

Internet Tools and System Utilities

  • Filezilla (Open-source FTP Client)
  • Secure Telnet and FTP
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Internet Explorer
  • 7Zip (Open-source Zip and archive tool)
  • CCleaner (Free registry and file cleanup tool)
  • My UNM and Webmail Links
  • VideoLAN (Open source universal media player)
  • Apple Quicktime player
  • Roxio CD/DVD Creator
  • Cyberlink Power DVD

Matlab R2009b (UNM License)

Microsoft Office 2010 including:

  • Access
  • Excel
  • InfoPath
  • OneNote
  • Powerpoint
  • Publisher
  • SharePoint Workspace
  • Word

SigmaPlot 10.0 (scientific graphing with some statistical analysis)

Structure and Tectonics

  • Seismic Eruption and Seismic Waves
  • T. Atwater's Tectonic Movies

Symantec Endpoint Protection Version 11

Water Chemistry

  • PhreeQC for Windows
  • Phreeqc Interactive

X-Windows

  • X-Win Logon
On Macintosh Workstation:
  • Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Entourage)
  • Adobe Creative Suite 4 (Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Acrobat Professional) Two systems include the "Web Premium" suite, and two include the full "Design" suite.
  • Mac Mirada Internet Suite (Mulberry, Netscape Navigator, Telnet, Fetch FTP, etc.)
  • Apple's Safari web browser and Mozilla Firefox for Mac OS X
  • Symmantec Antivirus for Macintosh
  • A variety of Mac-specific specialty programs for Petrology and other geological applications.
In the Classrooms:
  • Dell Latitude D610 (PentiumM, Windows XP, 1.2 GB, internal swappable DVD/CD-R, Zip250 or floppy drive) Notebook Computer for use with Lecture Hall or other projection system-equipped classrooms (with built-in network, wireless and modem connection)
  • Dell Latitude D610 (PentiumM, Windows XP, 1.0GB, internal DVD-RW/CD-RW drive) Notebook Computer for use with computer projector in classrooms (with built-in network, wireless and modem connection)
  • Mitsubishi XL1U Portable Computer Projector (XGA, 1000 ANSI Lumens) for use in classrooms with Notebook computers
  • Epson PowerLite 735c Projector (XGA, 2000 ANSI Lumens) for use in classrooms with Notebook computers
  • Built in Computer Projection Systems with dedicated, networked computers are installed in the following classrooms: Northrop Rooms 105, 115, and 340.
  • Built in Computer Projector for use with a notebook computer is installed in Rooms 117, 134 and 146.
In Lab or in the Field:
  • Kodak DC-210 Digital Camera (1.2 Megapixel)
  • Olympus D-510 Digital Camera (2.1 Megapixel)
UNIX Computing Facility (Room 207):
  • Sun Workstation/Servers (See Dr. Peter Fawcett for details about this facility)
  • Various Windows and Macintosh Systems for the LIDAR Lab (See Dr. Gary Weissmann for information about this facility).