This is the September 2004 newsletter of the ITC Research Computing Support Group. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the information presented here, please contact the ITC Research Computing Support Group via e-mail to res-consult@virginia.edu, or at the Research Computing Support Center (RCSC), 244 Wilson Hall, 243-8800. The RCSC is open 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday.
ITC is planning the purchase of another 32 to 48 node Linux cluster late this year. As part of this purchase, we are inviting researchers who are considering their own purchase of a Linux cluster to contact us.
We are initiating a new program that would allow researchers to purchase nodes in a Linux Cluster that ITC would house and maintain for a three year period. Some of the benefits to researchers will include free system administration, timely security updates, 24x7 monitoring, and the ability to use more nodes than purchased during periods of non-peak demand.
The details of the program will be announced soon, but in the meantime if you're considering buying a Linux cluster within the next six months, we ask that you contact Tim Tolson, Manager of ITC Research Computing Support at 243-6592 or TTolson@Virginia.edu to discuss this exciting opportunity.
The following research computing software became available in all ITC Labs and Classrooms as of the beginning of the Fall 2004 semester:
|
IBM-compatible PC Software
Amos 5.0 IDL 6.0 SPSS 12.0 Minitab 14.0 S-PLUS 6.2 SAS 9.1 ESRI ArcInfo 9.0 ESRI ArcView 3.3 Maple 9.5 Stata 8.2 Lisrel 8.54 Mathematica 5.01 Matlab 7.0 LabVIEW 7.1 R 1.9.x MikTeX 2.4 Hummingbird Exceed 9.0 Adobe Acrobat 6.0 |
Macintosh Software
IDL 6.0 Maple 9.5 SPSS 12.0 SAS 6.12 Stata 8.0 Mathematica 5.01 Matlab 7.0 LabVIEW 7.1 Adobe Acrobat 6.0 |
For a complete listing of software available through ITC Labs and Classrooms, visit http://www.itc.virginia.edu/labs.
Please contact the ITC's Research Computing Support Group (res-consult@virginia.edu or 243-8800) if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for other upgrades.
On Wednesday, September 1, Star Office, started by the command "staroffice" on Linux and Solaris systems which mount software from jeeves.itc.virginia.edu, was upgraded to version 7. The first time version 7 is loaded, the user will see an installer to set up the environment for Star Office 7; if an older environment from either version 5 or 6 is found, it will be converted.
Please contact Research Computing if you have any questions; email us at res-consult@virginia.edu or phone 243-8800.
The CDs for version 9.1 of the statistical software, SAS, are now available for the Windows platform at the Research Computing Support Center. If you are faculty, staff, or a graduate student of the University, and you have an office in Charlottesville where you work at least twice a week, you may obtain the site-licensed copy of SAS 9.1 for Windows or Linux, or SAS 6.12 for Macintosh for home or office use.
Windows users will notice a much improved menu-driven help facility accessible from within SAS. Online documentation is also available at http://support.sas.com/91doc/docMainpage.jsp.
Within the online documentation visit the topic "What's New for SAS 9 and 9.1" for a comprehensive discussion of changes and additions to the new version. The changes include
Please contact Research Computing if you have any questions; email us at res-consult@virginia.edu or phone 243-8800.
In conjunction with the distribution of SAS 9.1, the SAS OnlineTutor 9.1 is now available on CD from Research Computing. The SAS OnlineTutor is an interactive self-guided learning tool which provides in-depth coverage of the essential skills required for successful use of SAS 9.1. In addition to serving as an excellent starting point for those new to SAS, the OnlineTutor is recommended for SAS users who either would like to refresh their knowledge of SAS or become familiar with aspects of the SAS 9.1 environment. The OnlineTutor contains over 30 in-depth lessons, building knowledge and experience in the following key areas:
Version 3.0 of the SAS Enterprise Guide is available on CD for users of Windows SAS 9.1 from the ITC Research Computing Support Center.
SAS Enterprise Guide is a project-oriented Windows application that is designed to enable quick access to much of the analytic power of the SAS System for statisticians, business analysts, and SAS programmers. SAS Enterprise Guide provides:
SAS 9.1 users on Windows platforms can now download a new experimental procedure from the SAS website. The GLIMMIX procedure fits generalized linear mixed models, which are appropriate for data with nonconstant variability and responses that are not necessarily normal. This procedure provides much of the functionality of the %GLIMMIX macro, available from SAS the last several years, plus provides a lot of additional features, including ODS Statistical Graphics. For an overview of the GLIMMIX procedure as well as system requirements, visit http://www.sas.com/software/distribution/readme/sasstatglimmix_EXP_/readme_win_108215.txt.
"This is the first time we've provided new SAS/STAT software to a broad audience in between releases," reports Maura Stokes, R&D director of the statistical applications department. "We didn't want to wait until the next release to get feedback from our users. We were able to announce this new software at our booth at the Joint Statistical Meetings at Toronto in August, and we've already seen hundreds of downloads." Stokes says that this is a pilot project, and, if successful, other new procedures may be first made available via Web downloads.
The developer of the new procedure is Oliver Schabenberger, who also supports the MIXED and NLMIXED procedures. "I'm excited to get this to users," says Schabenberger. "With their feedback, I can continue to work on the software so that the initial production release will be even more useful."
While the download of the GLIMMIX procedure is free, registration is first required at http://www.sas.com/apps/demosdownloads/sasstatglimmix_EXP__sysdep.jsp?packageID=000319.
Please contact Research Computing if you have any questions; email us at res-consult@virginia.edu or phone 243-8800.
IDL will be upgraded to version 6.1 on ITC Unix systems on September 28, 2004. Until that date, it is available for those who mount /common from jeeves.itc with the commands idl.new and idlde.new. Please test it out.
Version 6.1 does not support 32-bit RS/6000 systems, so this version will not be usable from blue.unix. Users who prefer or need the AIX platform for IDL should use athena.itc.virginia.edu, which is the 64-bit frontend to the IBM SMP.
Users with local installations on Windows, Macintosh, or Linux may upgrade to the newer version immediately if desired. Macintosh users please note: we recommend OS X 10.3. As of version 6.1, IDL installs as a normal Mac application into the Applications folder, simply by double-clicking the INSTALL icon. If you have an older installation, it may be in /usr/local/rsi and thus there is probably a /usr/local/rsi/license.dat; if you wish to retain the older version, please be sure that this license file matches the new one you obtain from the licensing database at http://web.virginia.edu/rescomp/.
For information about what's new in IDL 6.1, please see
http://www.rsinc.com/idl/pdfs/IDL61_WhatsNew.pdf
Please contact Research Computing if you have any questions; email us at res-consult@virginia.edu or phone 243-8800.
The Windows version is now available for distribution at the Research Computing Support Center, Wilson 244. Users who wish to install Ansys on off-Grounds computers must have an account on blue.unix and a network connection to U.Va.; the software can be run either through the VPN using UVa Anywhere or through ssh tunnelling.
In order to use Ansys 8.0 on a Linux distribution using glibc 2.3 or higher (e.g. Red Hat 9 or any Fedora Core), before invoking the program type
export LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.4.0
for sh, bash, or ksh, orsetenv LD_ASSUME_KERNEL 2.4.0
for csh or tcsh
Please contact the ITC Research Computing Support Center by e-mailing res-consult@virginia.edu or telephoning 243-8800 if you have any questions or concerns about this upgrade. For more information on ANSYS 8.0 at U.Va., visit the Web page at http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/ansys/.
On August 25, 2004, the Maple mathematical software package was upgraded to version 9.5. This upgrade affected computer systems including blue.unix and all UNIX workstations and servers that mount /common from jeeves.
In addition to Solaris, Irix and AIX users, Linux users who mount /common from jeeves were able to use Maple 9.5 immediately, thereby avoiding any delay or disruption for a local installation process. To find out how to mount file systems on your Linux system, visit http://www.itc.virginia.edu/desktop/linux/mount.html.
To use Maple, version 9.5, use the command "maple" for the text interface and "xmaple" for the graphical user interface. Maple users in the environments mentioned may continue to access Maple 9 by invoking the command "maple.old" for the text interface and "xmaple.old" for the version 9 graphical user interface.
Maple 9.5 will also be available for use in labs and classrooms for the Fall semester. The newest version of the widely adopted Maple analytical computation software for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux is now being distributed on CD to faculty and staff through the ITC Research Computing Support Center. Details are available from the ITC software licensing database.
Please contact the ITC Research Computing Support Center by e-mailing res-consult@virginia.edu or telephoning 243-8800 if you have any questions or concerns about this upgrade. For more information on Maple 9.5 at U.Va., visit the Web page at http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/maple/.
This is a reminder that MaplePrimes subscribers can download electronic versions of the Maple 9.5 documentation set. The complete downloadable set includes the following guides:
The Birch cluster is restricted to parallel jobs. Jobs requesting one cpu have been permitted by the PBS scheduler under the current version of PBS running on the system, but the policy has not changed. We expect to upgrade to a newer version of PBS soon, and serial jobs will once again be rejected.
Please contact the ITC Research Computing Support Center by e-mailing res-consult@virginia.edu or telephoning 243-8800 if you have any questions or concerns about this policy. For more information on the Birch cluster, visit the Web page at http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/linux-cluster/birch/.
Effective Tuesday, September 7, the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) instituted a new feature that slightly changes your use of this resource. The new feature is called "MyData" and will require a login ID (your email address) and password in order to download data. You can read more about the change at http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/org/mydata.html.
Other than being one more password to remember, this should not affect your use of the archive, but please let Donna Tolson, Associate Director of the Geospatial and Statistical Data Center in Alderman Library, know if you or anyone else in the department has any difficulties.
Contact the Geospatial and Statistical Data Center, Alderman Library, for further information.
To start off our Fall semester colloquia series, the ITC Research Computing Support Group is presenting an overview of the computer resources available at U.Va. on Wednesday, October 6 at 3:30 PM at the ITC Research Computing Support Center (RCSC), 244 Wilson, and will last 60 to 75 minutes. Snacks and drinks will be provided.
An Overview of Research Hardware,Software, Support, and Data Storage at U.Va. This talk will provide researchers, as well as anyone at U.Va., with an overview and details about ITC computing resources that may help you to get a quicker start on your research and do your computing more efficiently, as well as assistance and software available to assist you. On Wednesday, October 6, at 3:30 in 244 Wilson Hall.
We will continue our ongoing Colloquia Series every other Wednesday at 3:30pm at the ITC Research Computing Support Center (RCSC), 244 Wilson. Generally they will last 60 to 75 minutes and snacks and drinks will be provided.
Some of topics this fall include Optimization, Scientific Computing Basics, and Regression Methods. Mark your calendar for upcoming talks on October 20th and November 3rd and watch for details about these in our next newsletter.
If you have a topic you'd like covered or have any questions about these talks, please contact us at res-consult@virginia.edu or 243-8800.
The ITC Help Desk moved from Wilson Hall to 2015 Ivy Road (formerly the Dynamics Building), near Cary's Camera Shop and the new U.Va. parking garage.
For more information and a map, check out the Help Desk's home page
If you're looking for us (the ITC Research Computing Support Center (RCSC)), we're still in Wilson Hall, Room 244!
If you are an instructor using an ITC-supported classroom this fall, you need to know that computer access in these rooms has changed.
All users of classroom computers are now required to login with their ESERVICES user ID and password. This is true for instructor stations in all ITC classrooms as well as for student stations in the hands-on classrooms.
ESERVICES accounts may be activated by changing your password at the following Web address:
https://www.web.virginia.edu/pswd/Authentication ensures that users are members of the University community and will significantly enhance system security University-wide. Everyone has an ESERVICES account, however some accounts may not be active. Encourage your students (in hands-on rooms) to verify their ability to logon and to go to the activation site if they cannot.
Remember to logout when finished using the classroom computer, since the account will stay logged on for 90 minutes after the last activity, leaving your account vulnerable.
As with last semester, using the printers in the "hands-on" (lab-type) classrooms requires the instructor (or TA) to enable the print queue with a special log-on and password to allow students to print. The password for enabling the print queue is changed each semester. One of our classroom-support technicians can provide you with this logon and password and demonstrate this procedure.
All of us in ITC welcome you back and want to remind you that we are here to help when you need us. Whether you need a special setup for your class, are experiencing a problem with the technology, or just have a question, please give us a call. We would also like to invite you to meet with a classroom support technician before classes begin to familiarize yourself with the equipment in your technology-enhanced classroom. Please email ITC's Classroom support team for an appointment.
How to Contact ITC's Classroom Support:
email: itc-classrooms@virginia.eduThe ITC Classroom Support manager is Lela Marshall, 982-4711.
website: http://www.itc.virginia.edu/labs/
hours: 7:30 AM to 10:00 PM Monday through Friday; weekends as necessaryCentral Grounds:
(434) 982-4586 before 3:30 PM
(434) 982-4585 after 3:30 PM and on weekends
(Bryan, Cabell, Clark, Maury, Minor, Pavilion VIII, Rouss, or Wilson)Sciences and Engineering Areas:
(434) 982-4576 before 3:30 PM
(434) 924-6088 after 3:30 PM and on weekends
(Chemistry, Cauthen, Gilmer, Mechanical Eng., or Olsson)Other locations:
(434) 924-1030 Ruffner Hall
(434) 924-6800 Physics
(434) 924-3319 Campbell & Culbreth
Retirement of old host names such as poe, avery, faraday, and fermi, is in the works for late fall. Email volume to these addresses is around 25,000 messages per day with about a third of the messages being rejected because the account no longer exists, another third are forwarded, and the last third are delivered to accounts on unix.mail.virginia.edu, which users may or may not use for their primary mail reading. A plan will be developed on how to work with users to update mailing subscriptions and other listserv addresses. ITC will be able to identify people still using these host names and contact them individually with specific instructions. Again, watch for further updates on ITCWeb.
The RCSC invites you to attend this free seminar to see how LabVIEW delivers real-time technology to every engineer through one development environment that scales from desktop to real-time targets for maximum reliability and seamless integration of test and control. The seminar will be Thursday, September 30, from 1 to 4pm in Wilson Hall, Room 244, the ITC Research Computing Support Center.
See how new features in LabVIEW 7.1 expand the power of LabVIEW Real-Time while shortening development time. Observe the ease of use offered by configuration-based development for embedded measurement and control with DAQmx for LabVIEW Real-Time and the new LabVIEW Timed Loop. Learn about new development tools to validate precise deterministic performance with the Execution Trace Toolkit and the Real-Time System Manager.
Register for this seminar online at
http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/nievn.ni?action=display_offering&offering_id=399309&site=NIC®ion=dc&node=61110
Please contact Research Computing if you have any questions about LabVIEW or this seminar; email us at res-consult@virginia.edu or phone 243-8800.
The first GIS BrownBag lunch this year will be held on October 1, when we will hear from Kitty Hancock, Associate Director of the Center for Geospatial Information Technology at Virginia Tech. Ms. Hancock, who is also a professor of civil and environmental engineering, will be visiting U.Va. that day and has graciously agreed to share information about Virginia Tech's Center and their use of GIS in teaching and research.
All faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, or anyone else interest in GIS, are welcome to join us for these informal get-togethers. This GIS Brownbag lunches meet in the Geostat Center on the third floor of Alderman from 12-1:30pm on the first Friday of the month. It's BYOLunch, but drinks and dessert are provided.
For more information call the Geospatial and Statistical Data Center at 982-2630 or email geostat@virginia.edu.
Wolfram Research is offering the university community the opportunity to take online Mathematica training courses at a greatly reduced cost. While center-based Mathematica training courses typically retail for $1000, this promotion allows participants to take the exact same course from the comfort of their home or office for just $199. In addition to the cost savings, these online courses:
Promotion Details:
You can access and go through tutorial on your own at your convenience. Alternatively, you can come to the ITC Research Computing Support Center (Wilson 244) to work through the tutorial where someone is available to answer questions if you have difficulties. The Center is open from 9am to 5pm. If you choose to do a tutorial at the Center, you should send mail to res-consult@virginia.edu to insure someone familiar with the software will be available for consultation.
Wolfram Research Inc., the makers of Mathematica, will hold their annual technology conference on October 21-23. This intensive 3-day event features tutorials, hands-on workshops problem-solving clinics, contributed talks, poster sessions, as well as Mathematica-based training classes. Registration is required. For further information, see the website at http://www.wolfram.com/news/events/techconf2004/
The 2004 meeting of SESUG will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, from October 31, 2004 - November 2, 2004 (Sunday - Tuesday). This is an opportunity to hone your SAS skills with the best trainers and presenters in the industry, meet fellow SAS users, and network with other SAS professionals. For further information visit http://www.sesug.org.
The 8th Annual Insightful User Conference will take place in Boston, October 21 - 22. Insightful distributes the statistical software, S-PLUS. Details and registration information are available at http://www.insightful.com/news_events/2004uc/default.asp.
In conjunction with the Insightful User Conference, discounted one-day courses will be offered to improve skills and knowledge of Insightful products. Offered the two days prior to the conference, courses are on topics such as Quantitative Financial Risk Management: Concepts, Techniques and S-PLUS Tools and Bootstrapping Methods and Permutation Tests. For the complete listing, visit http://www.insightful.com/news_events/2004uc/shortcourses.asp.
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