========================= SSCC News, November, 1998 ========================= Inside this issue... Remaining Vaxes and SunOS Computers Retired 9-Track Tape Processing WinCenter New Version of Netscape on UNIX Staff Changes Viruses Via E-Mail Remaining SSCC Fall Training Schedule Copying Data: Information about Output Media ------------------------------------------- Remaining Vaxes and SunOS Computers Retired ------------------------------------------- The two remaining VAX architecture computers users log on to, SSCB and SOC3, have been taken of out of service. EAGLE, an ALPHA architecture VMS computer, now handles all interactive logins. SunOS computers have also been taken out of service. UNIX users who routinely logged into cde2s should use one of the Digital UNIX computers instead (GUY, NORMAN, ELAINE, WINGRA, or MARIAH). ----------------------- 9-Track Tape Processing ----------------------- There are no longer any batch queues for 9-track tape access. All work on 9-track tapes must now be done interactively, using the tape drive in the I/O room. Accordingly, we are returning the 9-track tapes stored in the computer room to group leaders. If you have not yet told the Data Library (specifically Charlie Fiss) which tapes you want returned and which you want discarded ("scratched"), please do so now. Otherwise 9-track tapes will be returned to you in a box, or boxes, over the next few weeks. See the "Copying Data" article below for more information. ---------------- WinCenter Update ---------------- Last month we upgraded WinCenter and added a second server so we could support more simultaneous users. Unfortunately, we encountered some problems and we are now working towards solutions. Below is a summary of these problems and their status: - Wincenter2 is down due to a serious hardware problem. We are purchasing a replacement server which we hope to have installed shortly. Meanwhile, we are working with DoIT to try to resolve the hardware problem on the old WINCENTER2 so that we will have a backup server. - SSCC staff have worked with Stata Corp. to fix the problem with saving files using the Windows pull-down menus on WinCenter servers. This problem is now resolved. - Currently, the Copy and Paste function between a Wincenter session and other Telnet windows only works in one direction. You can copy text within any application in your Wincenter session and paste this text in a Unix/VMS telnet window, but you cannot go in the other direction. We are working with NCD to resolve this issue and anticipate a solution soon. - We have determined that floppy drives attached to NCD Explora X-terminals will no longer be accessible under Wincenter. NCD is not supporting this feature. Those using floppy disks can transfer their tables using one of the PCs available in both public user rooms (2470, 7413). Also, the Social Science Microcomputing Laboratory (SSML) in room 3313 could be utilized for this purpose. ------------------------------- New Version of Netscape on UNIX ------------------------------- In October, the latest released version of Netscape Communicator replaced Netscape Navigator on Unix. Although this transition was beneficial for most users, the product did not display properly on some systems, particularly on black and white NCD X Terminals. Therefore, SSCC has made both the older Netscape Navigator and the newer Netscape Communicator available. To use the Communicator, run the command "netscape". To use the Navigator, run the command "netscape3". ------------- Staff Changes ------------- We have had two recent staff resignations. Tingli Pan, our VMS Systems administrator, left in June for a UNIX Systems Administrator position in Chicago. Patricia Kovatch, our Network Engineer, left last week for a position at University of New Mexico. Scott Risberg, who has worked at SSCC for many years as both a student hourly and a Project Assistant, now has an Academic Staff position as Operations/Consulting Specialist. Some of you have probably noticed that he now consults Monday-Wednesday afternoons. He also is now overseeing the Computer Room and supervising the student operators. These two resignations are the first turn over we've experienced in several years and have left us a bit shorthanded. Please be patient if your support requests take a little longer than usual. We are hoping to fill our open positions as soon as possible. The VMS Systems Administrator position will not be refilled. Instead, we will hire a PC Applications Support person to give Andy Arnold some much needed assistance. Andy will then be able to spend more time on NT Systems Administration duties. ------------------ Viruses via E-mail ------------------ Earlier this week an SSCC user received a virus through an e-mail message which contained an attached and infected MS Word file. The virus was enbedded in macro programs within the Word document. (Word macros are application programs that get executed when a document is opened.) Please remember that although viruses cannot be propagated via normal mail messages, they can be sent through macro programs embedded in word processing documents. The good news for this user was that F-PROT, anti-virus software, detected the virus immediately and was able to clean it away. Anyone with a PC should have up-to-date antivirus software running. SSCC has a license for F-PROT that is available to any SSCC member. Even better, the version we have has a special auto-update feature to keep your software current and optimized to detect the ever increasing number of PC viruses. Once installed, this software keeps itself up-to-date. For details visit: http://www/ssc.wisc.edu/Sscnews/may98. ------------------------------------- Remaining SSCC Fall Training Schedule ------------------------------------- All SSCC training sessions require preregistration. To preregister for a class, either send mail to SSCCLASS indicating which class(es) you plan to attend or register through SSCC's web page form (www.ssc.wisc.edu/Sscc/Training/trainreg.htm). Date Time Topic Room Instruct. ---- ---- ----- ---- --------- 11/10,12 8-9:15 Intro to SAS's Statistical Procedures 4308 Winsboro 11/17,19 8-9:15 SAS Programming Efficiencies and Tips 4308 McDermott 11/24 8-9:15 Importing Data into SAS 4308 McDermott 12/1 8-9:15 Concatenating and Merging in SAS 4308 Winsboro 12/3,8 8-9:15 Intro to the SAS Query Language (SQL) 4308 Winsboro Note: Any session scheduled in 7413 or 3218 (SSML) is a "hands-on" session. Any session scheduled in 4308 meets concurrently with Soc. 365. Descriptions for each of the training sessions listed above may be found in SSCC's web page (https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/Sscc/Training/trainf98.htm). --------------------------------------------- Copying Data: Information about Output Media --------------------------------------------- Quite often we are asked for advice about what storage medium to use for data that a user wants to keep indefinitely. At the present time our choices in the SSCC are 8mm tape, 3480 tape, CD-ROM, and disk. Disk storage is an option even if you don't access the data very often. Here are some details: Disk: Here we are referring to disks that are hosted by SSCC UNIX servers. UNIX's built-in compression routines normally reduce the size of a file by as much as 90%. If the total storage requirements of your important data aren't terribly great you can simply compress your files, leave them in your private UNIX disk space, and rely on the SSCC's system backup routine to assure their security. Although this is a reliable stroage mechanism, you should nonetheless make some other form of back up periodically. In all likelihood your UNIX application software can read compressed files directly, by the way, so you may never need to uncompress them. 8mm tape: This is a widely accepted standard technology. However, like all tape technologies, it is not truly an archival medium. How long will an 8mm tape last in good condition? The National Media Laboratory rates the life expectancy of 8mm tape at 2-30 years! In other words, they don't know, but they believe that it isn't as stable over the long term as some other media. However, this is probably a better rating than 9-track tape would have gotten when it was the standard offline storage medium. The advantages of 8mm tapes are that they are small, inexpensive, and hold gigabytes of data. The drives are quite cheap. 3480 tape: This is a standard mainly in the IBM world, but it has made its way into other environments, including ours. The National Archives use 3480 tapes and have adopted the policy of re-copying each tape every ten years. The National Media Laboratory rates the life expectancy of 3480 tapes at 10-30 years. 3480 tapes do not hold very much data, maximally 200 mb. They are larger than 8mm tapes but smaller than 9-tracks. The tapes are inexpensive but the drives are extremely expensive. CD-ROM: CD's are a better choice for real archival storage than any kind of tape, although nobody really knows how long they last. The National Media Lab's rating is 5 - 100+ years. CD's hold just over 600 mb of data. The discs themselves are cheap and CD writers nowadays are also quite cheap. In fact you could probably afford one for your PC. The CDE Data Library has one for use by CDE members. The SSCC has one for public access in the user room on the 7th floor (7413 Social Science). We have another that we haven't decided yet how to deploy. The bottom line: By now the tape users in the SSCC are aware that data stored on tape for what is intended to be an indefinite period have to be copied at regular intervals to new tapes. Some public organizations may feel that 3480 tapes are better for archival storage than 8mm tapes, but we believe that no tape deserves a reputation as an archival medium. No matter what kind of tape you have your files on, you should "roll them over" every few years if you care about them. You can probably be more confident of long life in your CD-ROMs, but how much more confident no one knows. The CDE Data Library and the SSCC now cooperate to provide 3480 tapes to users at no cost. All WORM platters are being copied onto 8mm tapes prior to the retirement of the WORM drives. Since 8mm tape is not an archival medium, we recommend that the files on those tapes be transferred within the next couple years to CD-ROMs. The Data Library and SSCC will pay for any CDs that you use for that purpose and we will show you how to make the copies or, if necessary, make the copies for you.