Service Providers
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Computing services and support within Engineering are provided in three ways. Information Systems and Technology -- IST provides campus-wide support in matters of common interest and need; Engineering Computing provides administrative and general-purpose support throughout the Faculty; and each department within the Faculty provides its own specialized support. Consulting services are provided by the Engineering Computer User Support Centre -- jointly operated by IST and Engineering Computing -- and by the staff members in the Departmental Computing Units. |
User Accounts
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Once registered, students can create their own user accounts in Engineering, using our automated account generation system, available on the log-in browser on all Waterloo Nexus workstations. In order to create an account, students must know their Quest/UWdir user ID and password to authenticate themselves. User Accounts remain active and available until one year after their last registration period, effectively giving them access to their electronic mail and webspace for the entire duration of their undergraduate career, during their co-op terms, and the year following graduation. The Waterloo Nexus web portal provides easy access to UW accounts from off campus and abroad. Using a variety of methods, Engineering Computing provides a central authentication service, so that students have to remember (and guard, and change) only one password. Changing this password is a simple process from the Waterloo Nexus log-in browser, or from the Waterloo Nexus web portal. |
Hardware
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In additional to providing some computer support in administrative offices, Engineering Computing and the departmental computing units create and maintain computing facilities for the undergraduate student population. These take the form of general access, or public labs, for the use of all undergraduates; departmental labs, for the primary use of students within a department; and teaching labs for the provision of specialized, or course-related, software. A list of labs administered by Engineering Computing and by the faculty departments is available online. Our primary delivery platforms are Windows-based, but we also make use of Unix and Linux operating systems. Our general-access Unix machine, Engage, provides undergraduates with the opportunity to gain experience on a FreeBSD Unix platform, and use software that may not otherwise be available in a Windows environment. Similarly, the Linxus Linux network allows students to gain experience with Linux and its applications. The Waterloo Nexus user ID and password is used to access Unix and Linux accounts. There are about 2000 readily-accessible workstations connected to the Nexus network within Engineering, and about 3500 across campus. The majority of them are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Approximately 700 workstations are being added per year. |
SoftwareSetup
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In reflection of our hardware base, our primary operating system is Windows XP (Nexus). The Nexus "branding" enable us to clearly differentiate different labs, software, and the "value-added" features that we use in their delivery. Our centralized machinery for electronic mail, general Unix computing and web-hosting use the FreeBSD Unix OS, and we maintain a fleet of smaller special-purpose machines that use FreeBSD. In addition to general-purpose "productivity suites" (such as Microsoft Office, Corel Office), a variety of special-purpose, course-specific and engineering-intensive software (I-DEAS, AutoCAD, MathCAD, Matlab, etc.) is available in our general-access and teaching labs. Once again, online you'll find a list of software available on our various systems. |
Feedback
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Display units throughout the Engineering buildings show users an Events Calendar, Current Lab Usage, and Lab Usage over the past day. This helps students more effectively plan their schedules around peak times. A summary of the past day's Nexus usage is available online, as are more flexible and extensive statistics. These statistics help us determine usage patterns, and plan for upgrades or maintenance. |
System Features
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UW Engineering has a central fileserver that provides file storage for users of our systems. Wherever users log on, they have access to the same file system, and all of their files. As well, we maintain "roaming profiles" for the users, so their computing desktop always looks the same, independent of where they log in. Registered users may connect to the file server from off-campus using the MyFiles(FTP) utility on the Waterloo Nexus portal. Undergraduate users are allotted 50 Mb space, but that amount can be increased on a by-course basis. We have a central mail server, engmail, which provides a single point of contact for users. It is accessible indirectly through a secure shell session (ssh) to engage.uwaterloo.ca, with a mail client -- such as Netscape Communicator, Internet Explorer, Eudora, or Outlook -- or through a web-based mail service. In order to discourage spam (Unsolicited Commercial Email), we operate a server-side spam filtering service, spamassassin. To configure it, log on to the Waterloo Nexus portal and use the SpamAssassin and Sort, Forward and Vacation. In order to maintain the many workstations on the Nexus networks (on the order of 1000 in Engineering alone), we have developed methods of mass-updating software on individual workstations. Available online are the stats for overnight auto-updates of Nexus stations. There is a printer associated with each lab in Engineering, which is set as the default printed output device when a user logs in. Users have control over this choice, however, so they can route their print output elsewhere, should they wish. They may choose to do this if the local printer is out-of-paper, or jammed. To recover costs, and discourage waste, we charge for printed output. Black and white output is automatically routed to the printer, but colour output -- more expensive and slower-to-produce -- is held in a queue until a user requests its release. Web publishing is made available through a dedicated web server for course, class, personal, and project home pages. |
| Wireless | We operate a corner-to-corner wireless network. Before granting network access to the wireless network, users must verify their identity to a firewall, and perform a network authentication. This allows us to selectively grant access to those users with valid userids and passwords and secure laptops. |
Abuse and Discipline
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Before we grant accounts to registered students we ask them to familiarize themselves with the Statement on Use of UW Computing and Network Resources, and ask them to agree to abide by its guidelines. Occasionally there are those students who unwittingly or willfully use our resources inappropriately, and we must take action to discourage and discontinue the abuse. As part of their professional training, we encourage our users to be good citizens of the electronic community. |
Additional Services
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Engineering Computing maintains and operates the Engineering Remote Classroom network (ERCnet), which is often used for small class teleconferencing, collaborative R&D meetings, Masters and PhD defences and co-op job interviews.
Engineering Computing provides help on establishing your Podcasting links to iTunes and UW-ACE.
Our graphic services include:
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Engineering Computing
University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1
(519) 888-4567
contact us | web feedback | Faculty of Engineering | © 2013 University of Waterloo
