Channel, Issue No. 23

Abstract

[evdate 1995-03-15] THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER OF THE CENTRE OF COMPUTING SERVICES & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

March 1995 Issue No. 23 What's inside 2 Intel Paragon and SGI Onyx in HKUST 2 Introduction 2 What are the Intel Paragon XP/S and SGI Onyx? 3 How can I get access to these resources? 4 How can I start using the machines effectively? 4 Available software 5 New PC Environment Upgrade 5 Overview 6 Upgrade Progress 7 Essential Changes of the Upgrade 8 New Windows Setup 9 Some Tips about the Upgrade 9 Highlights on Technical Information related to the Upgrade 10 Feedback and Comments from Pilot Users 11 World Wide Web Rollout 11 What is WWW? 11 How to access WWW information? 11 What is a URL? 12 SUN Microsystems announces SunSITE at HKUST 12 Anonymous FTP site for HKUST 13 Training News 14 Announcements 14 New Arrangement for CCST Manual Library Services 14 HKUST Newsgroups Released 14 New Telephone Function Codes 14 Security Enhancement on Dial-up Service 15 Staff News

Supercomputers: Paragon, Onyx, HP Clusters / UNIX Servers Computing laboratories _ . . _ _ CCST _ _ -' m Staff Quarters & Student Dormitories Internet Administrative Systems 7 Clear Water Bay Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong channel@usthk.ust.hk

2 CHANNEL Editor's Notes Channel is a regular newsletter of the Centre of Computing Services and Telecommunications (CCST) of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Prepared by the Computing Information Centre (CIC) of CCST, Channel provides information about CCST facilities, services, development and plans. Topics on new trends in computing technology and other related topics of general interests are also included. Copies of Channel are available for distribution to staff and students of the University through departmental offices and computer barns, respectively. Members of other organizations can also subscribe their names to our mailing list by filling in the subscription form at the bottom of the second last page of this newsletter. Users contribution to Channel are much welcomed at any time. Please send the articles and suggestions to: Karen Chan Editor of Channel Centre of Computing Services and Telecommunications The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clear Water Bay, Kowloon Hong Kong Telephone : (852) 23586253 Fax : (852) 2358-0967 Internet : channel@usthk.ust.hk Portions of this newsletter may be reprinted without prior permission if the source is clearly acknowledged and a copy of the reprinted article is sent to the Editor. Production Support Wendy Fung Anna Mak Intel Paragon and SGI Onyx in HKUST Introduction With the fast-advancing computer technology, academics and researchers keep on exploring new scope and depth of many disciplines. Many of our users who are renowned in their own disciplines have experienced in successfully employing high-

performance computing facilities in conducting their researches before coming to

HKUST. Our aim has been to assist these users to continue their researches (and teaching)

locally, and at the same time open up the possibilities to others who are new to this

field. In the past October, two important high-performance machines were formally launched to our users. They are the Intel Paragon XP/S system and the SGI Onyx system. What are the Intel Paragon HP/S and SCI Onyx? The Intel Paragon XP/S system is composed of 140 processor boards, called the compute nodes. Each processor board in turn contains 2 75-MFLOPS Intel i860 processors, one for computation and the other for communication in a &I-bit wide

mesh network operating at 50 MHz which connects all the 140 processor boards. As each compute node has its own main memory, it is basically a Multiple Instruction

stream Multiple Data stream (MIMD) machine. In the Paragon, compute nodes normally work concurrently on parts of a single job

and communicate with each other to share partial results or to synchronize the tasks. The fast mesh network serves as the dedicated communication channel which

connects the nodes so they can co-operate effectively to perform processing tasks.

The successful usage of the Paragon system requires good problem solving techniques

using the message-passing paradigm. The SGI Onyx system consists of 8 75MFLOPS R4400 processors. With the IRIX 5.2 operating system, the machine is running under the Symmetric Multi-Processing

(SMP) mode. All 8 processors share the same main memory and co-operate with each other under the discretion of the operating system. As such, the utilization of

multiple processors could be made transparent to the user easily. An important ingredient of the Onyx system is its graphics subsystem. It is called

the Reality Engine 2. As its name suggests, the graphics performance of it is high

enough to achieve effects appearing as real to the audience. In order for our users

to utilize this graphics performance, we set up the Scientific Visualization Lab where

users can access the Reality Engine 2. March 1995 Issue No 23

3 CHANNEL Intel Paragon XP/S SGI Onyx How can I get access to these resources? As both the Paragon and Onyx systems are under strict security control agreement with the government, user account application

must go through a peer review group mainly formed by our faculty staff from various academic departments. Users may obtain

the account application form electronically from the ntel Paragon" or GI Onyx" folder of the CST On-line Information"

service. The instructions on how to complete the application form can also be found in the same folder.

Alternatively, the instructions and application form can be found respectively from:-

/usr/local/share/ustinfo/paragon/app-instructions /usr/local/share/ustinfo/paragon/app-form /usr/local/share/ustinfo/onyx/app-instructions /usr/local/share/ustinfo/onyx/app-form respectively in the central UNIX environment. Users may email to CCSCACCT for help concerning account application matters.

1 CHANNEL How can I start using the machines effectively? As mentioned above, programming the Paragon system involves problem solving skills using the message-passing paradigm, and thus requires some training. A 5-day introductory training course on Paragon programming was held in November last year, with an attendance of more than 60 potential users. The video tapes of the lectures in this course are now available from the Library. A more advanced programming course is planned for this year when our users become more experienced and sophisticated. On the other hand, the Onyx system can basically be programmed using traditional programming techniques. Its compilers can help a user to develop codes which automatically exploit the multi-processor architecture. Also, there are powerful packages which help the users to make use of the high-performance Reality Engine easily. For example, scientific visualization users may usually find the Explorer package extremely useful. For problems regarding the usage of the Paragon and Onyx systems, users may email to CCSCHELP for help. Available software In Paragon, there are native C and Fortran compilers and their cross-compilers on SUN. There is also a third-party High Performance Fortran (HPF) pre-compiler which can automatically analyze a serial Fortran 77 or HPF program and generate an immediately compilable SPMD (Single Program Multiple Data) parallelized Fortran 77 code with calls to the vendor parallel runtime library interface to Intel NX message-passing library. For the message-passing system, there are Intel NX library, PVM and EXPRESS. For program development tools, there are Interactive Parallel Debugger (IPD), XIPD, the Motif interface of IPD and pmake, and the parallel make utility. For numerical libraries, there are customized BLAS (Basic Linear Algebra Subroutines), FFT, and Signal Processing Library. In addition, there are parallelized libraries, the ProSolver package, for the solution of large systems of linear equations. For visualization, there are X 1 1 Release 5, PEX, Motif and DGL (Distributed Graphics Library). In the future, we shall have C++ and HPF compilers from Intel and other third-party softwares in the area of numerical libraries, computational chemistry and finite elements analysis in our Paragon upon demand and availability. In Onyx, there are Power C, Power Fortran and C++ compilers in which the former two are supported with multiprocessor features. For program development tools, there are dbx, the source level debugger, and CASEVision, the graphical user interface based software development tool. For numerical libraries, there are customized BLAS (Basic Linear Algebra Subroutines) and NAG Fortran Libraries. For graphics and visualizations, there are OpenGL (Open Graphics Library), Open Inventor (Graphics Toolkit), Explorer (Visualization Software) and Performer (Visual Simulation Toolkit) besides the standard Xl 1 and Motif environment. There are also third-party softwares, Gaussian 92, for computational chemistry and ABAQUS for finite elements analysis. For details of the software lists, please consult the ntel Paragon" and GI Onyx" folder of the CST On-line Information" service. Alternatively, they can also be found respectively from:- /usr/local/share/ustinfo/paragon/swlist /usr/local/share/ustinfo/onyx/onyxswlist respectively in the central UNIX environment. Samuel Kwan K.K. Tam Phone: 2358-6206 Phone: 2358-6246 E-mail: ccsamuel@usthk.ust.hk E-mail: cckktam@usthk.ust.hk March I995 Issue No 23

5 CHANNEL New PC Environment Upgrade

About 70% of the desktop computers in our university are PCs. The majority computer users are using

PCs to facilitate teaching, research as well as administration. CCST has planned for a significant PC

environment upgrade since early 1994, with the objectives to provide more powerful applications

and, more importantly, to lay down a new networking infrastructure such that we are able to enjoy new

software technology in the coming years. Our upgrade includes DOS, networking, server and Windows applications. The new environment will

open up new arena of applications for accessing client/server network database, browsing Internet

WWW servers using Netscape, and using future groupware and email system such as Microsoft

Exchange, etc. The upgrade also provides a stepping stone to the long awaited new Windows system

- the Windows 95. Students can also make use of this new environment to develop sophisticated

network research projects such as multi-media and video-on-demand. After a pilot test period of more than three months, the campus-wide upgrade is scheduled to be

conducted in the second quarter of 1995. While we have put a lot of time and effort in this exercise,

we have not forgotten the Macintosh and other systems. The other projects in our pipeline also include

major upgrades of Macintosh software, Chinese Windows, Internet tools and new email clients.

Victor Cheng Manager of Computing Information Centre Phone: 2358-6203 E-mail: ccvictor@usthk.ust.hk Overview The PC population of the campus network has been growing rapidly within these few years, presently with the size of more than

3,000 PC nodes. To plan, design and manage such a large PC network is a challenging job. As computer technology is

advancing so rapidly, CCST is always keen to keep HKUST PC network system close to the latest client-server computing

technology. To provide and maintain a reliable and productive working environment for all PC users has been our aim.

While CCST was planning to upgrade the PC environment (which involves operating systems, applications and system design),

some users began to ask questions like: an I use the Defragmenter of DOS version 6 and s it possible to access the

Internet World Wide Web (WWW) information on my PC The queries of these users indeed reflect the increasing demand

for accessing the latest software utilities and network services. March / 99.5 issue No 23

66 CHANNEL CCST began the project of PC Environment Upgrade since the second quarter of 1994. The main theme and target of the

upgrade project is to make the most from today powerful personal computers and to ensure an effective client-server computing

environment that could satisfy the outgrowth of PC software. Being one of the big projects of CCST, it involves changes in

different areas such as boot-up mechanism, user interface, applications availability, network security, network printing and

client-server design, etc. The project requires the effort of different teams of CCST as well as the cooperation and support of all

departments. On the other hand, feedback and comments that we received from users of the pilot PC environment also help us

to improve our design. In order to make it easier for us to refer to the different PC environments, let us call the existing PC environment (with DOS 5.0

and PATHWORKS 4.1) the old PC Environment", and the upcoming PC environment (with DOS 6.2 and PATHWORKS 5.0)

the ew PC Environment". Upgrade Progress The PC network of HKUST provides computer services for both student and staff environments which consist of six main user groups:- Student Environment : 1. Computer Barns 2. DTRs/Labs 3. Undergraduate Dormitories Staff Environment : 4. Staff Offices 5. Senior Staff Quarters (SSQs) 6. Postgraduate Dormitories Technically speaking, the platforms for both student and staff PC environments are basically the same. Both comprise the two operating systems, Microsoft DOS and Digital PATHWORKS, where the latter one is a network operating system. Student Environment The new Student PC Environment was ready in August 1994. All PCs of Computer Barns were upgraded to use the new system before the term start of September 1994. Almost at the same time, students living in the Undergraduate Dormitories began to use new boot diskettes to boot their PCs into the New PC Environment. Starting from October 1994, CCST provides assistance to those departments that have their own PC servers to upgrade the PCs of their DTRs/Labs to the new Student PC Environment. The new design allows departments to have larger freedom to control the usage of computer facilities of their DTRs/Labs. For example, departmental software can be installed on the PC servers by following the instructions given by CCST and additional security control can be applied on network resources provided by the PC servers when necessary. In order to provide technical information about installation and management of the new system, departmental computer supporting staff who need to provide support for their PC users were invited to a seminar conducted by CCST in December 1994. Staff Environment A pilot model of the new Staff PC Environment is available since the early stage of the upgrade project. Users of different departments who have shown interests on the new system are being invited to join the pilot scheme. CCST has recently finished the design, implementation and testing of the new Staff PC Environment in March 1995, and our department PCs are firstly upgraded to the new system to evaluate its reliability and performance. While some departments' PCs have already been upgraded to the New PC Environment, other departments' PCs will be upgraded department by department according to our rollout schedule. We expect the whole upgrade process will be completed by the end of May 1995. Before the upgrade for a department, the Departmental Computer Coordinator, Office Manager and staff users will be properly informed about the upgrade. March I995 Issue No 23

7 CHANNEL Essential Changes of the Upgrade The following paragraphs highlight some of the key changes/ advantages of the upgrade:- 1. Network Operating System Upgrade The network operating system PATHWORKS running on almost all PCs that are connected to the campus network is upgraded from version 4.1 to 5.0. This version provides better TCP/IP network support and conforms to the LAN Manager 2.2 standard. The new network programs have smaller memory footprints, thus easing the conventional memory problems. 2. DOS Upgrade The DOS system is upgraded from version 5.0 to 6.2. This DOS version provides better extended memory system (XMS) management together with a number of new DOS utilities. For example, some users may find the Diagnostics and the Defragmenter utilities useful. 3. User Interface Changes and improvements on the user interface have made the new environment more attractive and easy to use. For example, there are the new user menu system which provides color display and supports mouse input, and the 'User PC Setup Customization' options under the 'Others' submenu of the HKUST PC MENU which allow users to tailor their working environment, etc. 4. Windows Applications Upgrade Bundled with the PC Environment Upgrade, a number of Windows based applications are upgraded to newer versions, such as the Microsoft Office tools which include Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access. Also, some new applications, such as Netscape and FTP for Windows, are available for users to access the Internet network. 5. 6. 7. Effective Network Administration We believe users would find these applications more useful and interesting. (About the changes on Windows system, please refer to the following section of this article.) Improved Support on Departmental Software The new design of PC environment allows departments to install their departmental software (DOS and Windows) on their own departmental PC servers. These servers are totally under the control of the System Administrators of departments, but CCST will provide technical information and support when necessary. Server System Migration By taking advantage of the powerful and affordable hardware of today high-performance micro-computers, the Pentium and DEC Alpha server machines are being selected as the new standard hardware platforms for PC servers. The Microsoft Windows NT Server system will be run on the servers to provide basic network services for PC clients. The new server architecture is more flexible and cost-effective. The printing mechanism is also improved - not only is it well integrated into the client-server computing design but it also allows larger degree of freedom for users to do network printing. The Centralized PC Registration System maintains and keeps track of PC records dynamically. Also, the enhanced User Accounting System allows better control on network access and network printing. March 1995 /Issue No. 23

CHANNEL New Windows Setup With the current Windows setup, users have faced problems like out-dated Windows applications and limited networking capabilities. In realization of this, CCST has been working seriously on re-designing and re-implementing our networked Windows environment. The new design and implementation have now been completed and is being rolled out with the PC Environment Upgrade. In the new setup, many changes and improvements as listed below have been made:- The Microsoft Office Manager (MOM) 1. New Office Tools With the new Windows setup, users can benefit from the new Microsoft Office, which includes Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, PowerPoint 4.0 and Access 2.0. A better office tools integration can be achieved with the installation of the above software, through which users may gain greater productivity. However, owing to the resource requirement of these office tools, only those machines with 8 MB or more memory can enjoy the newly available tools. For those machines with 4 MB memory, the current office tools (Microsoft Office 3.0) will have to be retained for their use. 2. Various Software Upgrade Besides office tools, many other Windows applications for various purposes are also upgraded to newer versions. Examples include Aldus PageMaker 5.0, Harvard Graphics 2.0, Microsoft Project 4.0, MathCad 5.0 and Mathematics 2.2.2, etc. 3. New Training Software With the installation of the Computer Based Training package (CBT), an interactive self-training software for Microsoft Windows 3.1, Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, PowerPoint 4.0 and Access 2.0, users can now learn the common office tools in Windows at their own pace. It will greatly reduce the effort needed for software turnover. 4. Cleaner Windows Desktop Environment The desktop for the new Windows environment is to be re-built. Those old or obsolete application groups provided by CCST will be removed from the Windows; however, groups created by users will remain intact. This will provide a better outlook of the Windows desktop and users may find it easier to access the applications they want. 5. Optional Software Installation Mechanism With the introduction of the new Windows software installation program, the 'NetApps-setup' in the 'HKUST Applications' group, users can now conveniently install all the Windows applications available in our network at their own discretion. 6. Windows Networking Capabilities Upgrade With the PC networking system upgrade, TCP/IP is now used as the standard Windows networking protocol. The new setup also supports WINSOCK that allow users to develop and run WINSOCK-compatible applications. 7. New Internet Tools In the new Windows setup, we also provide some standard Internet tools such as Netscape for Windows, FTP for Windows and Telnet application. These tools provide our users with a broader exposure to the largest international information network. Note: Due to the hardware requirement, those 286 machines or machines with 2 MB memory or less will not be

able to run the upgraded Windows environment. March 1995 issue No 23

9 CHANNEL Some Tips about the Upgrade Highlights on Technical Information related to the Upgrade

1. 2. 3. 4 5 The minimum hardware requirement for the PC Environment Upgrade is a model 386 (with at least 4 MB memory) PC. For those departments that have 286 PCs running, CCST will continue to maintain the Old PC Environment for them until all 286 PCs are upgraded to higher models. However, the Old PC Environment will be frozen and applications within the old environment will not be upgraded and aligned with the new environment in such case. To upgrade a PC, obsolete files on the hard disk will be replaced by new ones and unused files will be removed. We have made the upgrade procedure as convenient and transparent as possible to users. Users will be instructed to respond to a few simple prompts and the rest of the upgrade process will be totally automatic. The user interface of the New PC Environment is very similar to the old environment except that new features have been added to make the new system more attractive. To determine whether your PC has been upgraded to the New PC Environment, you may invoke the HKUST PC MENU. If you see a colorful (instead of mono) menu screen, it implies that you are working in the new environment. Release notes and other information related to the upgrade will be posted onto CCST On-line Information and Electronic Notice Board. Please refer to them for details when necessary. Teddy Poon Phone: 2358-62 16 E-mail: ccteddy@usthk.ust.hk 1. DOS Upgrade l better XMS utilization helps PCs with less memory l new utilities such as DEFRAG (Defragmenter) and MSD (Microsoft Diagnostics) 2. NOS (Network OS) Upgrade l smaller conventional memory footprint easing memory problem l a more reliable and compatible TCP/IP module l no more Telnet Gateway l adheres to LAN Manager 2.2 standard opens a better path to welcome the next generation of PC networking system l WINSOCK interface supports the fascinating WINSOCK-compatible applications 3. New/Upgraded Windows Applications l MS Office tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access) l WWW browser (Netscape) l FTP tool (FTP for Windows) 4. Improved Support on Departmental Software l new system design allows departments to install their own departmental software on their PC servers 5. Enhanced User Interface l boot-up process is divided into 8 phases l well organized and informative messages will be displayed l new menu system provides color display l supports mouse input and Windows environment l auto-detection of software synchronization keeps up-to-date system files on users' hard disks l 'User PC Setup Customization' options allow users to tailor their PC environment 6. Scalable Server Platform l down-sizing of PC servers from mini-computers to high-performance microcomputers makes the server architecture more flexible and scalable 7. Efficient Network Administration l centralized PC Registration System maintains and keeps track of PC records dynamically for easier network management March I995 Issue No. 23

ill CHANNEL Feedback and Comments from Pilot Users To help us evaluate the reliability and performance of the New PC Environment, CCST has invited users from different departments

to join our pilot scheme. Followings are some of the feedback and comments we received from these pilot users (presented in

the order when we received the comments improvement on the old. Some of the nice features that I like are: the MS Office 'buttons' (Editor note: Microsoft Office Manager) which go with you whichever software you are using; the new 'NetApps-setup' facility which allows one to download new Windows applications; the new FTP facility which is very user-friendly . . . to name but a few. What I would like to see are more n- house' applications (e.g. the Library CD ROM database and administrative applications) made available on the Windows platform . . . I think what your team has achieved so far is an excellent Frederico Castro Director Admissions, Registration & Records Office "After the upgrade, we found various such as color menu upgraded applications, improved network performance, more conventional memory available in Windows, support of WINSOCK specification and flexibility of installing departmental software. We are looking forward to a better print lobs control system in the future." Senior Technician School of Business & Management he new PC environment conforms to WINSOCK standards which allows me to do WINSOCK network programming for my year project. The new user interface is attractive and various upgraded software are useful." Eddie Yue Year Three Student Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering he pilot PATHWORKS 5.0 environment has been remarkably stable and is a significant improvement over the previous situation. Having TCP/IP as the default protocol layer is especially helpful - both for improved Internet access and for compatibility with a wider array of electronic Library March 1995 issue No 23

11 CHANNEL World Wide Web Rollout What is WWW? WWW stands for "World Wide Web It is a distributed hypermedia-based information service developed at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva, Switzerland. It is one of the most popular tools for you to disseminate or retrieve information through Internet. It adopts a client-server architecture where information providers can set up WWW servers to disseminate their information to other users. For instance, a computer vendor in USA would like to put their products information on their WWW server so that their customers all over the world can browse through the information through the Internet. It can deliver text, graphics, sounds, video, software and other information directly to your desktop from thousands of computers worldwide. Apart from its capability to deliver multimedia information, WWW adopts hypertext to facilitate the users to browse through relevant information or references much efficiently. How to access WWW information? In order to view the WWW information, you need to have one of the WWW browser programs set up in your computer. CCST is setting up WWW browsers on most of the CCST supported hardware platforms which include SUN workstations (running SunOS 4.1 .3 or Solaris), Apple Macintosh and PC running Microsoft Windows 3.1. Netscape WWW browsers for SUN workstation and Apple Macintosh is now available. The Microsoft Windows browser program will be available after our pilot testing. For more information on the availability of the WWW browser programs and the setup instructions, please refer to the CCST On-line Information. What is a URL? Every WWW information object in Internet could be located in the Internet by its URL (Uniform Resource Locator). URL is a draft standard for specifying object on the Internet. Users could ask the WWW browsers to access most of the Internet services through URL including FTP, GOPHER, USENET NEWS, SMTP MAIL, WAIS, TELNET and finally HTTP (protocol for WWW). The followings illustrate how you can tell your WWW browsers to access those legacy Internet applications:- gopher hk.super.net news:comp.multimedia ftp wuarchive.wustI.edu/mirrors/msdos/graphics/ gifkit.zip news:comp.multimedia mailto:ccmorris@usthk.ust.hk wais quake.think.com:2 1 O/directory-of-servers telnet ustlib.ust.hk http sunsite.ust.hk The RFC draft was prepared by Tim Berners-Lee, who is one of the most influential persons in CERN when the idea of WWW spinned out. For more information, you can check the Web pages on URL by Tim Berners-Lee. The URL for the Web pages is as follows:- http sunsite.ust.hk/lynx-help-files/lynx-help/ URL-guide. html

12 CHANNEL SUN Microsystems announces SunSITE at HKUST On 27 October 1994, Sun Microsystems Hong Kong, in conjunction with The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

(HKUST), has announced the debut of the SunSITE Hong Kong Internet World Wide Web (WWW) Server.

SunSITE (Sun Software, Information, and Technology Exchange) is a new interactive information repository for the education

and research communities which allows users 3f Sun SPARC / S o aris systems to easily access public domain software, I

shareware and technical documentation. Using a Sun-sponsored SPARCserver 1000 system running Solaris 2.3, the HKUST SunSITE offers information and pictures from

the University USENET newsgroup archives, an</ newsletters, patches and white-papers from Sun Microsystems. The server

will also provide information on SunSITEs around the world and other WWW server-s listed by category. The server also

supports links to the HKUST anonymous FTP and (Gopher servers. s the top UNIX vendor for the education and research sector in Hong Kong, Sun works closely with universities worldwide to

promote and enhance their research and development effort, " said Gabriel Leung, country sales director of Sun Microsystems

Hong Kong. SunSITE will be of immense benefit to students, researchers and teaching staff. It will a/so be a vital source of f

international research information and leading-edge software " To access the HKUST s new WWW server, simply point to the URL (Uniform Rec)ource Locator) of any WWW browser such as

Netscape or Mosaic to:- http sunsite.ust.hk Welcome to the SunSITE Hong Kong Multimedia Information Service Anonymous FTP site for HKUST With the setup of our SunSITE ftp archive (SunSITE.ust.hk), CCST h as decommissioned the old experimental ftp server

(ftp.ust.hk) or) 30 .Jan 199.5. After the decommission, both SunSITE.ust.hk and ftp.ust.hk point to the current SunSITE ftp

server. Information archived at SunSITE for anonymous ftp includes the followings:

(1) (4 PI (4 (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) Information Directory Sun related information including Sun Flash, Sun Patches /pub/sun-info USENET Newsgroups FAQs /pub/faq Internet RFCs /pub/rfc GNU software /pub/gnu Gopher software and utilities /pub/gopher World-Wide-Web software and utilities /pub/WWW Xl lR6 /pub/Xl 1 Simtel MSDOS archive /pub/simtel Linux archive /pub/Linux Slackware distribution /pub/slackware ftp.microsoft.com archive /pub/ftp.microsoft.com gatekeeper.dec.com archive /pub/gatekeeper.com In the near future, the followings will also be added:- (1) ClCA Shareware for Windows (2) Sumex-Aim Info-Mac Archive (3) FreeBSD 2.0 (4) Information on East Asia Text Processing Comments and suggestions are welcomed and should be sent to:- ftpadmin@sunsite.ust.hk. Morris Ng Phone: 2358-6247 E-mail: ccmorris@usthk.ust.hk CCST will launch a series of computer training courses for staff beginning from March to April. Those who are interested may register with us when the particular course is announced. Application forms should be obtained from respective Office Managers and returned to our General Office. The following lists the courses we will offer:- 1. Orientation to HKUST PC Environment (6-hour, 2-session; Room 4402) March 28 and 31 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. April 4 and 7 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. 2. Orientation to HKUST Macintosh Environment (6-hour, 2-session; Room 4334) March 14 and 15 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. 3. Orientation to HKUST Unix Environment (3-hour, I-session; Room 4578) March 22 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. 4. Introduction to Internet (3-hour, I-session; Room 4402) April 1 1 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. 5. Introduction to Chinese Input Method - Cangjie (6-hour, 2-session; Room 4402) March 13 and 16 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. March 20 and 23 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. 6. Introduction to CWI Chinese Word Processor (3-hour, I-session; Room 4402) March 17 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. March 24 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. March 1995 Issue No 23 --

14 CHANNEL New Arrangement for CCST Manual library Services Effective from 1 February 1995, the computer books and manuals kept in CCST Manual Library will be transferred to the University Library. Users will be able to search these books and manuals from the Library Online Catalogue, and check them out as with any other library material. It is hoped that this new arrangement will make these computer books and manuals more accessible to our users. HKUST Newsgroups Released Security Enhancement on Dial-up Service After the setup of HKUST testing newsgroups, CCST has noticed tremendous posting activities on them. It shows that newsgroups have become one of the best channels for university members to exchange ideas on various aspects. In realization of this, we would like to announce the setup of the following HKUST newsgroups, with effect from 20 March 1995, namely:- HKUST.COMP : for computer related posting HKUST.ANNOUNCEMENT : for university members to make announcements to the public HKUST.CHINESE : for Chinese posting HKUST.GENERAL : for miscellaneous posting The current testing newsgroups, HKUST.TESTGROUPl, HKUST.TESTGROUP2 and HKUST.VOICES will be removed from our news server with effect from 30 April 1995. The news can be accessed on both UNIX and VAX/VMS platforms:- On UNIX platform On VAX/VMS platform : use the command "in" : use the command "netnews" For more information on the above software, please refer to the help screens. New Telephone Function Codes Starting from 17 December 1994, the facility access codes for our campus PABX system beginning with "5" has been changed to "2". The major changes are summarized as follows:- Service Features Access Cancel Call Forwarding - All Calls 47 + Extn 27 Call Forwarding - Busy/No Answer 48 + Extn 28 Call Pick Up - Direct Pick Up 23 + Extn For details, please refer to the "New Facility Access Code List" in the November 1994 issue of University Communications Directory. Starting from 27 March 1995, our Staff Dial-up modem line has been changed to the following number:- Staff Modem Pool : 2358-4000 The Student Dial-up lines remain unchanged as follows:- Student Modem Pool : 2358-2014 Express Modem Pool : 2358-4937 The above change is to incorporate a User Authentication Server for our Dial-up Service so as to further enhance network security. Besides, this is also a major step in preparing the rollout of SLIP/PPP support for our Dial-up Service in the coming future. For further information, please refer to the document "Security Enhancement on Dial-up Service" under the HAT -NEW" folder of CCST On-line Information. March 1995 issue No 23

Staff News

Over the past few months, there are a number of new appointments and promotions within different teams in our Centre while a few persons have transferred, resigned or completed contract with us. In the General Office, we are happy to announce that Kitty SO was promoted from Personal Secretary II to Personal Secretary I in December. In the Systems & Operations team, we have Vincent Lok newly joined as Assistant Computer Officer in December. In the Information Systems team, we have Raymond Fong and Erica Yuen newly joined the team as Assistant Computer Officers in September. In the same month, Cherry Ho also joined the team as Clerk I. In the Computing Information Centre, we regretted to have Danny Tang left in September. Danny had been faithfully leading as Manager of the team for over four years. Now, we are happy to welcome Victor Cheng, who was previously a Senior Computer Officer of the Systems and Operations team, to lead as the new Manager of the Computing Information Centre in October. Besides, we also welcome Morris Ng, who joined the team as Computer Officer in October; and Antony Chan, who joined the team as Assistant Computer Officer in January. In addition, David Shiu and James Tsang were also promoted from Assistant Computer Officers to Computer Officers in September and December, respectively. However, David Yeung and Robert Luk have transferred from our Centre to the Research Centre in October and November, respectively. Also, Cindy Leung and Rico lam, our former Student Programmers, have left in September when their contracts with us have completed. We wish all of them every success in their future endeavour. In the User Services Group, we have Jackie Leung joined the group as Computer Technician II in August. Following shortly in September, Debbie Leung also joined the group as Computer Technician I. To: Anna Mak Centre of Computing Services and Telecommunications The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Please tick the appropriate box: Add my name and address to the mailing list Make changes to the address Remove my name and address from the mailing list Name: _ _ Organization: Address: Note : This subscription form is mainly for members of other organizations. .Staff: and students of our university can obtain copies of Channel

directly through departmental offices and computer barns, respectively. / I CTi I995 4 1 hJe No 2.2

16 CHANNEL CCST Contact Points Fax 2358-0967 Director Dr. Wm. Max Ivey 6 182 ccmax *- A Assoc. Director Mr. Lawrence Law.: 6201 cclaw d ", Mgr. Systems Mr. Steven Wong Operations (Acing) - 6207 ccsteven \ ,rc A \ *' Mgr. Information ,Mr. William Tung 6221 ccbtung Systems \ j/ H I Mgr. Computing Mr. Victor Cheng 6203 ccvictor Information Centre Mgr. Systems Engineering Mr. Michael Tang 626 1 ccwctang Editor of Channel Ms. Karen Chan 6253 cckaren l Staff (Password is required) l Student : Normal Pool Express Pool 2358-4000 2358-2014 2358-4937 E-mail Account Ms. Theresa Lo 6252 cctlo Coordinator Ms. Cindy Yung 6190 ccyung Telephone Services Ms. Christine Cheng 6190 cccheng Coordinator Ms. Cindy Yung 6190 ccyung Training Courses Registration General Support Academic Support Mr. Victor Cheng 6203 ccvictor Ms. Anna Mak 6189 ccanna Mr. Patrick Leung 6245 ccpleung Mr. David Shiu 6248 ccdshiu Requests for Computing Resources l Admin & Business Mr. William Tung l Others Ms. Theresa Lo Computer Barns - Rms. 1 101, 4402-4404, 4578-4580 Mon - Fri : 8: 15 a.m. - 10:45 p.m. Sat : 8:45 a.m. - 4:15 p.m. Business Computing Laboratory - Rm. 4334 .I r I . Mon - Fri : 8:15 a.m. - 10:45 p.m. I-. '2 r ;/ !+ l :i c, Sat : 8145 a.m. -4115 p.m. 8' I z*. ,( . ' % ' 1 " * I . . Help Desk for Staff - Rm. 2019 Mon - Fri : 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 2:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sat : 9:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Help Desk for Students - Rm. 1101 Mon - Fri : 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. Sat : 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. March 1995 Issue No. 23