the goodman group
university of cambridge  


   notes for new users

The Silicon Graphics Teaching Laboratory
has been replaced by the
Chemi cal Information Laboratory
and this information is for historical interest only

Notes for New Users

Your account will give you access to all the machines. Initially, fixed quotas will not be set on disk space and CPU use, because a significant proportion of the machines' power would be lost to accounting. However, CPU and disk use will be monitored, and a quota system will be introduced if it becomes necessary. Priority will be given to those research groups that provided funds for the system.

The computers are hidden behind a firewall, gatecal.ch.cam.ac.uk. Details are available (Cambridge Access Only)

The machines are not suitable for long-term data storage. If insufficient disk space is available for teaching, then files will be deleted. If the owners of the files cannot be contacted, then the files may be deleted anyway. Calculations will be stopped when the machines are needed for teaching.

The machines will be used for courses from time to time, and will not be available for research. A timetable and other information will be available on-line in the directory /info.

  • You may only use your own User ID. You must not permit anyone else to use your User ID
  • The computers must never be switched off. If they seem to have crashed then either:
    1. Wait (this often solves the problem)
    2. Contact JMG.
  • To change your password, type yppasswd. You will then be prompted for your old password and a new password. The passwd command does not do this.
  • Long jobs should be run at low priority. The batch command may be used to do this.
  • Your job will run on the machine that you are logged on to. The rload command tells you the load on all the machines.
  • If your calculation requires a lot of disk access, then you should run it on the machine which stores your directory. Instructions are available.
  • Do not run calculations on fcal. This may only be used for its graphics.
  • As a rough guide, try not to use more than 20 Mb of disk space. This may change at short notice.
  • If you have a program that is likely to be of general use, it may be best to keep it on the server. Consult JMG.

Advice

If you have questions or need help, contact Dr Jonathan Goodman (Room UG10; University Network Telephone 36434; jmg11@cam.ac.uk)




© Goodman Group, 2005-2024; privacy; last updated March 28, 2024

department of chemistry University of Cambridge