Glasgow status A.Flavell For HEPSYSMAN July 2004

Glasgow status

A.Flavell

For HEPSYSMAN July 2004

Overview• This does not cover SCOTGRID, although

this is now a major part of our effort• Group/Department/Faculty/Campus...• Windows• Linux• Network• Mail• Web

Group/Dept/Faculty/Campus• There's a long history behind this, in which, way-

back, Particle Physics was basically the supplier of computing, email, local networking, and nobody trusted anyone else to provide...

• Much of what we do now is just ordinary, and we know we ought to stop micro-managing, and get the benefits of scale

• But it's easier said than done!• This thread runs and runs...

Group/Dept/Faculty/Campus• Some activities migrated up to Department level• Some activities migrated from the centre down to

us... (but not very much, TBH)• Recently we've been steered towards joint efforts

within the Physical Sciences Faculty• This is in effect an extra layer, that previously

didn't get involved in computing matters. We find some useful common interests, but also some substantive differences.

Windows• Campus is traditionally Novell-based• Group and dept use MS Networking• Faculty is partly the one, partly the other• Campus standardised on Windows/2000

desktops, with XP deferred until later. Campus suppliers must deliver Win/2000

• Research groups spend their money differently: some now buy machines with XP installed and no /2000 support

Windows (2)• Campus offers support for a "Standard Staff

Desktop", but the dept has its own ideas...• Lack of specific training means we have to

support Windows systems with multiple fractions of an FTE, but don't know how to use Windows management effectively, so we seem to get all the disadvantages of a complex Windows setup, but few of the benefits of scale.

Windows in practice• Existing "NT4" domains being dismantled

• Couldn't wait for campus to do Active Directory, so the dept "went it alone"

• Research groups migrated from their flat NT4 domains to OrgUnits of AD domain

• The move being completed right now

• Alongside that, NT4 machines being upgraded to Win2K or given a decent burial

Linux• Most particle physics desktops are RH9

• Some CDF are Fermi Linux (7.3)

• Servers use various

• Strong interest in Scientific Linux, but only trial installations so far, no "real" users

• Campus said no to a RedHat campus license

• Worrying about complexities of license management

Linux - various points• CUPS printing does some odd things

• Hoping to get GnomeMeeting organised on more than just experimental basis

• Is there a neat way to install ALSA?

Dual-booting?• We tried dual-boot desktops in the past• Not a success. A given system tends to stay

in one OS, and the other one decays• But laptop users insist on both• Department is treating laptops as hostile• PPE hasn't gone that far yet• Most PPE desktops are managed Linux• Minority are Windows (2K, still few NT4)• Some people have one of each

Cross-access• Windows systems have eXceed, or more recently

trying Cygwin/X. Well-used.• We didn't mess with Linux access to Windows till

recently• Some users want rdesktop to access remote

Windows systems• We still don't offer Windows service locally in

that way• Windows users access Linux filesystems via

Samba

Network• Network: no major problems to report!• Excellent network on campus, good connectivity

to Internet• Equipment being upgraded to meet Scotgrid and

eScience needs• Campus web cache can be a problem...• Future: campus thinking of "default deny" policy;

for now it's ad-hoc deny, including deny port 25 in and out except registered mail servers

Email• The dept set up email (exim) with spamassassin

etc. some years back• Various research groups joined: now covers

essentially the whole dept. Excellent results, but quite a lot of ongoing effort

• Campus central mailer then introduced spamassassin etc, with lots of useful discussions both ways

• Central service is now pretty good in that sense, but mailbox limit is far too low for some of our users

Email• One proposal was to join the central service

while funding our own mailbox storage...

• ...but no! We've been told to provide a Faculty-wide mail service instead. With of course the usual multiples of fractional FTEs to support it.

• Details are still to be worked out.

Web• Central policy is to consolidate web servers

centrally for security, and also to impose their idea of accessibility to meet DDA etc.

• But many detailed reasons why people justifiably need to run their own web servers as a tool rather than as a publicity vehicle

• Some academics insist on providing their own web materials while refusing to meet DDA requirements ("too busy")

• Some content is frankly impossible to meet DDA requirements anyway

Web (2)• So the web is in tension, pulled in several

directions. Hard to predict how this will develop.