Computing Labs
The Computing and Information Sciences department has four public computing labs, the robotics lab, a lab for Ph.D. students, and multiple research groups with labs, and a server laboratory. All of these facilities are housed in Nichols Hall. In addition to these facilities, Computing and Network Services (CNS) also has a public computing lab.
Public Laboratories
Last update: January 20, 2006
Lab |
# of Machines |
Operating Systems |
Description |
N16 |
24 |
Windows XP |
This is a classroom laboratory and contains 24 Pentium IV 3 GHz PCs with 1 GB of RAM each. This is our newest lab and usually the one that is updated first due to the classes taught here. However, students are not permitted to use this lab if a class is currently in session. |
N21 |
N/A |
N/A |
This is the Computing and Network Sercives laboratory. The CIS department uses this lab for some of our courses. For more information about CNS labs, see the University Computing Labs site. |
N22 |
10 |
Windows XP |
This is our special projects lab. Machines in this lab may be reserved by faculty for special purposes. If a machine is listed as reserved for a particular class or project that you are not part of, you are not permitted to use that machine. These machines are Pentium IV 2.6 GHz PCs with 1 GB of RAM each. |
N126 |
23 |
Windows XP/Linux |
This is our mixed laboratory. The machines in the center have upgraded graphics cards for use with courses that require better graphics support (such as the games curriculum and computer graphics classes). The systems are Pentium IV 2.6 GHz PCs with 1 GB RAM each. |
N128 |
17 |
Linux |
This is our Linux laboratory. The machines are Pentium IV 2.6 GHz PCs running Gentoo Linux. |
Server Lab
The server lab houses a large number of administrative servers, student and faculty servers, BeoCat, and our quad-processor cluster.
Last update: January 20, 2006
| Hostnames | OS | Shell Access | Services | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F/S [1] | St [2] | ||||
| bradley firewall.user | Linux | No | No | Firewall | This bridges between the CIS network and the greater campus network. The firewall performs a minimum of address blocking and primarily meant to protect internal machines engaged in research, which requires the machines to be maintained in a less secure environment. |
| camaro linux unix cislinux cisunix ns-2 | Linux | Yes | Yes | Shell DNS | This is the main department shell server. Any faculty, staff, or student may use this machine to execute shell commands, check mail, etc. |
| catera | Linux | No | No | Oracle | This is the Oracle development server used for classes in the CIS department. The machine is protected from the rest of the network by a firewall on cougar. |
| corvette | Linux | No | No | MySQL | This machine is the MySQL server allowing TCP connections from any host on the CIS network |
| cougar oracle | Linux | Yes | Yes | Oracle SQL*Plus | This is the Oracle development client used for classes in the CIS department. This machine may be used to run SQL*Plus to access the Oracle server. |
| crossfire | Linux | Yes | Yes [3] | VMware | The purpose of this server is to provide VMware services required by some classes, such as Cybersecurity for testing and other experimentation. |
| delorean | Linux | No | No | CIFS NFS | This is the main department file server connected to a 4 Terabyte array of disks. |
| fdr.w2k | Windows 2003 | Yes | Yes [4] | RDP IIS | This is the department's ASP.NET development platform. Gaining access requires special permission. |
| ford.w2k | Windows 2003 | No | No | Authentication | This is the main authentication server for the department. |
| ike.w2k | Windows 2003 | No | No | CIFS Printing | All printing eventually funnels through this machine to keep track of print quotas. Only Windows or Samba printers should be routed directly to this machine. LPRng and Linux printing should go through montecarlo instead. |
| jefferson.w2k rational.w2k | Windows 2003 | No | No | Authentication FLEXlm | This is the secondary authentication server for the department. It is also our primary licensing server. |
| lincoln.w2k remote.w2k | Windows 2003 | Yes | Yes [5] | RDP | This is remote desktop server for remote access to applications and services for faculty, staff, and off-campus students. |
| montecarlo lpd | Linux | No | No | LPRng | This is the Linux print server. All Linux computers send print jobs to this system. |
| mustang | Linux | No | No | SMTP IMAP | This is the department's internal mail server. This mail server mail only for internal routing and long-term archival. |
| reagan.w2k | Windows 2003 | No | No | CIFS | This is the department's Windows file server, which is primarily for use by the office staff. This system is connected to a 2 Terabyte array of disks. |
| solstice | SPARC Linux | No | No | Nagios | This is our monitoring server, used to help us track when services and hosts are having problems. |
| stealth ns-1 | SPARC Linux | No | No | DHCP DNS | This is the DHCP server and primary DNS server for the department. |
| transam | Linux | No | No | Backups | This is the department's backup server. It is connected to a 2 Terabyte array of disks. |
| viper www support mysql | Linux | No | No | Apache RT MySQL PHP | This is the department's main web server. |
| [1] | F/S: General faculty and staff are permitted to access this machine directly. If neither faculty/staff nor students are permitted, the machine is only accessible by the systems staff. |
| [2] | St: Students are permitted to access this machine directly. |
| [3] | Only students currently enrolled in a course or active on a project requiring access to VMware will be granted access to this server. |
| [4] | Graduate or honor students creating projects requiring an ASP.NET server may request access to this system by making a help request. |
| [5] | Remote students are permitted access to the Remote Desktop server by making a help request. Other students may also be provided access if a project requires it or the student has another special need. |
Clusters
The CIS department currently runs two separate computing clusters. Eventually, these clusters will be, at least partially, merged into a single cluster.
BeoCat
BeoCat is the name of K-State's beowulf cluster. This cluster contains over 100 nodes contributed by Computing and Information Sciences, Physics, and other departments. Contact Dr. Daniel Andresen if you would like additional information concerning these systems.
Quads
The CIS department also has an additional cluster of over a dozen Opteron-based multi-processor systems, each with between 4 Gigabytes and 32 Gigabytes of RAM on board. These are generally referred to as the "Quads" because all but two of the systems contain four processors on the motherboard. Roughly half of these systems use dual-core CPUs, bringing the effective node count in each chassis to 8-processors.
The migration of these systems into the BeoCat and to insert additional 4- and even 8-processor systems into this cluster are planned.
Robotics Laboratory
The laboratory in Nichols 24 houses a number of robots, support workstations, and laptops. This lab is heavily used by the Software Engineering Project courses for presentations and other projects.
Ph.D. Laboratory
The Ph.D. laboratory on the 3rd floor in Nichols 316 houses many of our Doctoral students' offices and also provides some general use machines, limited to the Ph.D. students' use.