What can the workstation do for you?

Here are some reasons why you might consider using the School computer:

• While it isn't the fastest computer on campus, it has amongst the largest range of software available, making it a user-friendly environment for developing programs. It also has more memory available than almost any other computer on campus--which is an advantage for some programs.
• Being locally controlled, it is usually quite easy to accommodate special requirements for software (as long as it is in the public domain), disk space, and so on.
• The computer will give you access to electronic mail (e-mail) and hypertext interfaces (xmosaic), both within Australia and overseas, without charge.
• You can use the computer as a gateway to login to any computer connected to AARNET or Internet. This includes thousands within Australia, and millions throughout the world including the US and Europe. There is no cost associated with this service.
• The computer gives you access to printers and other central peripherals within the School.
• You can electronically examine abstracts from over 120 Physics and Astronomy journals (see § on PINET, similar services are probably available free through xmosaic).
• Many useful software packages have been installed (e.g., IRAF--a powerful general purpose image analysis package, Mathematica--a package for manipulating mathematical expressions, Medici--a program for solving Laplace's equation with arbitrary boundary conditions, particularly suited to modelling semiconductor behaviour, Maple--an alternative to Mathematica, for which we have a site-license.). In the future, as funding permits, the School can obtain additional software which will then be available to everyone at a dramatically lower cost per-user than buying individual copies for PC's (and the speed of the software will greatly exceed that of any PC).
• It is possible to set up disk space on the computer so that it is directly accessible to PC's connected to the ethernet. In this way you can use the central disk space as an extension of your own. Several groups in the School are doing this.

Of course, there are some disadvantages to the School computer, and most of them stem from the manpower and budget that we have available to support it. The most important thing to remember is that you have to take responsibility for the safety of your own files and data. Backups are done at irregular intervals, but you should not rely on them. In general, if a disk crashes you will lose files, with no possibility of recovery. Another point is that due to funding contraints we have not purchased a service contract specifying 24-hour on-site response. If something breaks down the computer could be out of action for a week or longer.

The most viable alternative to newt is probably the cluster of HP735 workstations that has been set-up in the CANCES centre (see notice 582 (or possibly notice -a 582) for an account application form, and notice 584 (or notice -a 584) for hints on how to use it).