Revision: September 2, 2011

Welcome!

This document will introduce you to the Math Faculty Computing Facility (MFCF), and give you some information that we hope will be useful.

INTRODUCTION TO MFCF

MFCF is the primary computing support provider for the teaching, research and administrative missions in the Faculty of Mathematics (excluding Computer Science). MFCF is composed of eight Technicians (software and hardware expertise), four Client Support staff/technicians, two Instructional Support Coordinators, one Technical Manager, one Client Support Manager and a Director.

Please visit MFCF's web site at:

The MFCF Help Centre (MC 3017), extension 36323 (eMFCF), serves as the primary point of contact for computing requests within the Faculty. It includes the Client Support Supervisor and a number of consultants who will be able to help you with many issues.

Help Centre information, including links to the FAQ, other on-line help resources, and the on-line problem reporting form, is available at:

FACILITIES AND SERVICES

Operating Systems

MFCF supports several distinct computing platforms.

For a given platform, support is provided efficiently and adverse systems interactions are minimized if older operating system and application software is upgraded regularly.

We currently support the following operating systems on desktop and server computers:

• Solaris
• Linux
• Macintosh OS X
• Nexus
• Windows

For specific versions of the above platforms, see our current policy at:

Central Computing Environments

MFCF provides and operates two centralized computing environments, one for undergraduate teaching and one for research, administration and graduate students. These are called the "student region" and the "Math region" respectively. Each of these regions includes Linux and Sun Solaris servers acting as front-end login hosts and CPU servers, and some machines running Windows Terminal Server Edition. Faculty, students and staff have access to these servers using their own machines, or from thin-client terminals that are provided by the faculty or their departments. Home directories in the two regions are located on high-performance central file servers. The teaching environment also includes thin-client labs and Windows (Nexus) labs.

Use of these central computing environments is free. Descriptions of machines in each region are published at:

Departmental Computing Systems

Departments, workgroups, and individuals may also have their own computing systems. MFCF offers consultation for specifying and purchasing these systems, as well as housing and administering such systems. To ensure that all support issues and costs are fully assessed, it is much better to involve MFCF as early as possible when making hardware purchase decisions.

On- and Off-Campus Network Access

Our production network is all gigabit ethernet, with a gigabit backbone. The campus backbone and wireless networks are maintained centrally by IST.

Some traffic from off-campus, notably various Microsoft Windows ports that are the targets of frequent attacks, are blocked at the campus boundary.

For safer computing, you are strongly encouraged to use "ssh" to connect to machines both on and off campus, not the old clear-text methods such as "rlogin" and "telnet".

MFCF does not operate a dial-in modem pool for off-campus access.

Printing

Faculty and staff have unlimited black and white printing. Graduate students receive a one-time free allocation for research related printing. Additional printer quotas may be requested by a paying sponsor.

There are two graduate printers in MC; one is located on the 5th floor and the other is located on the 6th floor.

Printers for undergraduates are available in MC3016.

Students require a XAS account in order to print.

Backups

MFCF does not provide backup and restore service directly. Computers owned and operated by MFCF are backed up by IST using Legato Networker. For a fee charged by IST, owners may have their own machines backed up this way as well. Files on the NetApp central file server have "snapshots" for easy direct access to recent versions.

Email and World Wide Web

MFCF provides centralized secure email service and web service. While mail and web service can be run on departmental and individual machines, we encourage centralization for improved security and efficiency. A campus-wide project is underway to centralize most email service with IST. New undergraduate and graduate students automatically receive email service centrally. Web services are also moving to a centrally operated content management system.

COMMUNICATING WITH MFCF

MFCF uses a request-tracking system called RT. To initiate a request or report a computing problem, complete the form at:

Include as much detail as possible so that we can expedite service.

Once your request has been received, it is assigned a job number. Please keep track of the job number so that you can track progress. You may add additional comments at any time.

You are encouraged to contact the MFCF Help Centre, (MC 3017), extension 36323, for problem reporting and follow-up.

Announcements about changes to the computing environment, system outages, et cetera, are published on the "Important Bulletins" page of the MFCF website, and also in the uw.mfcf.system newsgroup and in /etc/motd on UNIX machines.

PURCHASING AND SUPPORT

As long as the purchase is being made with University of Waterloo funds/grants, MFCF technicians will assist with, and coordinate, any computer-related purchase. Please start this process by completing an RT form. MFCF also assists with NSERC and CFI proposals.

Computing equipment received will be inventoried, barcoded and assigned an IP address. Providing the requester wishes to subscribe to MFCF computing support, MFCF technicians will also set up the equipment. See the charging policy for platform support costs or send mail to admin_assist@math, extension 35075 with any questions you might have.

GETTING A COMPUTER FOR YOUR DESK

This is the responsibility of the home department. Graduate students are furnished with a Mac Mini or thin-client terminal. Administrative staff use the central computing environment and desktop systems (typically Apple Macintosh) all supported by MFCF.

Desktops

Faculty members receive a start-up grant when they arrive in the Faculty of Mathematics and purchase a computer system using those funds. MFCF would like to assist you in making the right desktop choice. Please submit a request using our RT system so that we can help you with planning, purchasing, set-up and support.

Laptops

The personal and portable nature of laptops makes them difficult to support thoroughly and consistently. Support is therefore very limited. MFCF will assist with purchasing and with installing some software.

Use of the wired network requires registering a machine for a name and IP address. Laptop users might therefore find the wireless network more convenient. All users of the wireless network must have a WatIAM entry in order to authenticate to the campus network.

Do not unplug an existing computer from a network port to plug in a laptop or any other equipment! Use of the wired network requires registering a machine for a hostname and IP address. Submit an online request to have a port activated or changed in your office.

SETTING UP YOUR ACCOUNT

In order to set up your account, if you don't already have a WatIAM entry, we require the following information:

• First Name
• Middle Name
• Last Name
• Affiliation
• Math department
• Sponsor of account
• Date of Birth

Sponsors or administrative staff should send requests with the above information to or complete our account request form.

Bring your identification to the MFCF Help Centre to obtain your password.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION/QUESTIONS

If you have questions that haven't been answered here, please send mail to extension 35075 or to , extension eMFCF (36323).

Math Faculty
University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
519 888 4567

contact us | | privacy statement