SAS Installed on WinStat Servers
The title says it all -- SAS is now available on Windows Terminal Server. For those of you more accustomed to using SAS in batch mode on Linux, Doug Hemken, SSCC Statistical Computing Specialist, will give a demonstration of using SAS in a Windows environment Thursday, March 8th, from noon until 1:00 in Social Science 3218. SAS uses its own built-in editor for writing syntax and submitting code. If you wish, you can also perform many tasks without syntax. Doug will also demonstrate just how easy it is now to access SSCC's Windows Terminal Servers from the SSCC Terminal Server web page (or click on the Wincenter/Winstat link at the top of most SSCC web pages). Please register for this demonstration at our training web page.
New Password Requirements
We have changed the password requirements on SSCC's Windows and Linux network in order to adhere to the new campus-wide password policy. The new policy requires that passwords chosen must:
- be a minimum of eight (8) characters in length
- be memorized; if a password is written down it must be secure
- contain at least one (1) character from three (3) of the following categories:
- Uppercase letter (A-Z)
- Lowercase letter (a-z)
- Digit (0-9)
- Special character (~`!@#$%^&*()+=_-{}[]\|:;”’?/<>,.)
- be private
Passwords chosen must not
- contain a common proper name, login ID, email address, initials, first, middle or last name
We think you will actually find it easier than before to set an acceptable password on SSCC's network; yet the password will still be very secure. If your current SSCC passwords for Linux and Windows do not meet the above requirements, please visit our Change Password web page and set a new password. If you haven't already, this would also be a good time to set your security questions so you will be able to reset your password should you forget it.
Change in CPU Usage Policy
In the past, the SSCC CPU Usage Policy has limited members to running one job at a time on the Linux servers other than Condor. Given the power of today's processors, we can loosen that restriction somewhat: members are now welcome to run one job each on KITE and HAL.
Keep in mind that if your jobs can run on Condor you can submit up to six jobs at a time that way--and if they're Stata jobs they'll actually run faster on Condor than on KITE or HAL. See An Introduction to Condor for details.
FALCON remains a special case: please reserve FALCON for jobs that require its ability to allocate very large amounts of memory and jobs that cannot be run anywhere else.
Printing Large-Format Posters
With PAA just around the corner, it's good to know that there are several places on campus for printing large-format posters. Visit DoIT's web site for locations and pricing. Of the four locations mentioned in the article, The College Library InfoLab is the cheapest, but is self-serve. The other locations offer more service.
Tip: If you're using Windows, use Windows Project space
Historically, the SSCC made project space available on our UNIX system before we made it available in Windows. Thus many projects are stored on Linux today simply because, at the time they were created, that was the only place they could be. However, many research groups now work exclusively in Windows. This can create headaches because Windows users are typically not familiar with Linux file permissions, preventing them from sharing files with other group members.
If your research group never uses Linux but still has project space on the Linux file system, consider requesting that SSCC staff move it to the X: (Windows Project) drive instead. This has several advantages: group members will not have to map a new network drive in order to access it, reading and writing will be somewhat faster, and there will be no need to deal with Linux permissions.
The disadvantage is that while Samba makes the Linux file system available to Windows, it cannot make the Windows file system available to Linux. Thus if you need to run Linux programs, you need to use Linux project space. Of course you're welcome to use both: if most of your group uses Windows but you occasionally need to run Linux programs, you can request a small Linux project directory just for those things that need to be accessible from Linux along with your Windows project folder on the X: drive.
On the other hand, keep in mind that the Y: (Public) drive is not a substitute for project space. The Y: drive is intended as scratch space or as a quick way to share files with others. Files on Y: are completely public and can be read, deleted, or modified by any SSCC member. They are removed automatically if they are not used for 30 days. Most importantly, files on Y: are not backed up. Be sure to store any files you care about on either the U: drive or the X: drive. Files on these drives are backed up and can be easily restored if necessary.
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