Physics Computer Facility

John W. Heimaster

September 2005

• Operates the Ethernet networks within the Physics Research Building (PRB), the Van de Graaf Lab, the College Office in Stillman Hall, and Physics' portion of Smith Lab, a total of about one thousand networked devices. In PRB, switched gigabit/second service is provided throughout the building; the other locations operate at 100 Mb/second. All locations are connected to OSU's infrastructure and the Internet (1 and 2). Computer Facility staff install and debug the network, and provide traffic management and network security. Application services (web, mail, Usenet news, file service, printing, VPN connections from off-campus) and utility functions (DNS, DHCP, Windows Active Directory) are delivered to Department customers, whether they are currently in Columbus or elsewhere.
• Operates central servers for Unix/Linux, VMS, and Windows, with a wide range of software and several terabytes of carefully-maintained disk storage in each environment. Public printers, both color and monochrome, are provided at several sites and are accessible from each environment. Secure access to each environment is available world-wide.
• Assists customers in selecting, purchasing, installing, and using computer systems to meet individual needs. These systems range from desktop and laptop machines (Windows, Linux, or Macintosh) to group servers and computing clusters. Available services include needs assessment, purchasing guidance, and consultation on topics such as web content development, database design, system security, and numerical analysis.
• Evaluates new technologies and deploys those which meet its customers' needs. Current projects include:
  • Developing wireless networking in PRB and the College Office. Temporary 802.11b/g systems are running in both locations. The computer staff is working closely with the OSU Wireless project to integrate Physics' customers into a secure, homogeneous campus system; the first deployment of that system is being delivered this month in a few locations around campus, with a second-generation system to be introduced in Fall 2006.
  • Investigating, deploying, and tuning anti-virus, anti-Spam, and network security tools to address ever-changing threats.
  • Investigating document management devices (integrated copying, scanning, printing, and faxing, with network support). The first unit is available for public use in 1199 PRB.
  • Investigating techniques for managing and scheduling computers in cluster and Grid environments.
• Licenses and distributes commercial software of interest to the Physics community, such as LabVIEW, Mathematica, and Maple.
• Collects, organizes, and distributes public-domain software and security patches for all environments used in the Department.
• Maintains computers and educational software in Physics teaching labs and in dedicated labs for undergraduate Physics majors and for Physics graduate students, and assists the development of new educational content and equipment for them.
• Provides for the networking and computing needs of the College Office.
• Provides, in conjunction with the College's Ohio Center for Technology and Science, an advanced videoconferencing system based upon the Access Grid software from Argonne. This software and associated network services provide multi-point scientific conferences in a virtual-room environment, with full audience participation.
• Maintains liaison with other computing providers that complement the Facility's services. This gives "one-stop" access to these services for Department customers, while allowing Physics' computing staff to advocate the Department's needs to the providers. Providers include:
  • OSU's Office of Information Technology, for Internet access and bulk licensing of software, including a discounted bundle of Microsoft products.
  • The Ohio Supercomputer Center, for access to large-scale parallel and vector computing, scientific visualization, and mass storage.
  • The Arts and Sciences' technology group, for the Web Media Collective and other joint projects spanning the Arts and Sciences Colleges.
  • Administrative support groups throughout OSU, for access to financial data, student records, and research project status.
  • OSU's Science and Engineering Library, for access to electronic information resources and for electronic publishing of theses and dissertations.
  • The College's instructional technology project, for the generation and delivery of instructional materials.
  • Computer support staff throughout the College and University, to supplement the knowledge and experience of Physics' computing staff.
• Represents the Department's and College's needs on a number of OSU and statewide policy committees.