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SunLab : Policy Guidelines

Some specific (but not all) policies concerning the SunLab (PA122) and associated resources are reviewed here. Questions about details should be addressed to the CSE Systems Manager. Questions or comments concerning policies or their application can be addressed to the department's Facilities Committee or the CSE department chair.

This document discusses:

Resources

There are two reservable resources in the lab: class time and the in-room LAN configuration. Scheduling requests should be made with the CSE Academic Coordinator. Other resources can be reserved by contacting the CSE Systems Manager.

All requests for specific resources (software, scheduling, LAN configurations) must be made at least four weeks prior to the start of classes for each term, and six weeks prior to the start of the fall term. Requests received after that date will be addressed when all existing commitments for deliverables (including those NOT involving instructional labs) have been satisfied, and are subject to the availability of personnel. This means that late requests might not be satisfied for one or more weeks after your class has started.

General Guidelines

The lab and its equipment are intended specifically and primarily for the support of classroom instruction in the CSE department. This use of the lab and its resources is provided priority over all other competing uses. Any scheduled instructional use is given priority over other competing uses.

TAs may schedule review and support hours in either of the labs through the department Academic Coordinator. Scheduled TA hours are not exclusive nor a guaranteed reservation. Other TAs or students may use the lab for academic activities during schedule TA hours. CSE faculty or staff may use the labs exclusively or non-exclusively in support of departmental activities (instructional or not) at any time (preferably with advance notice) during TA hours, including requiring that TA sessions relocate to a different venue.

The lab is available for use by other departments for instruction or research for LU students when appropriate and available. Appropriate uses are those which rely on features of the lab not present in standard LTS instructional labs. Commitments outside of the CSE department are not made until CSE faculty have had opportunity to make reservations for each term. The lab is not available for use by external (non-LU) organizations.

The lab is not designed or configured for use as a standard-model Lehigh instructional classroom / laboratory facility. Machines in the lab are not and cannot be part of the LTS Active Directory domain; instructional activities requiring AD logins or the use of LU-licensed software which is restricted to LTS labs should use LTS facilities.

SunLab equipment is available for use by LU students, undergraduate and graduate, and at the request of CSE department faculty for any academic support use. CSE faculty may request the use of SunLab resources for research or other activities which are not directly related to instructional or degree work, or for support of the work of students who are not seeking a degree within the CSE department. Such uses have a lower priority than any competing use.

Requests for non-instructional use of this lab or other resources may be declined as needed to maintain an adequate inventory to support planned or potential uses by the CSE department or other departments.

When all else is equal, resources are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

User Accounts

User accounts are required for access to the SunLab both locally and from remote. Accounts are provided to those who have a legitimate reason for access to SunLab resources and are terminated when there is no longer a legitimate reason for access.

Account Creation

User accounts are created upon registration for CSE classes involving SunLab resources. An e-mail is sent to registered Lehigh addresses with information for accessing SunLab prior to the beginning of their first class.

Students who are currently enrolled in the CSE program will maintain the same user account for the duration of their involvement with the CSE program.

Account access is also extended for certain other instructional, research, degree, student, undergraduate, and graduate work and is addressed on a case- by-case basis. Requests of this nature should be forwarded to help -at- cse.lehigh.edu

Passwords and Assistance

Each user account has a unique password that is associated with it. These passwords are initially assigned as part of account creation.

The 'passwd' command can be run once logged into any of the machines in SunLab or when connecting from remote to change your password.

You are responsible for your password, please do not share it with anyone. It is also imperitive to ensure you are utilizing a secure password of sufficient complexity.

In case of a need for assistance with your password, please contact help -at- cse.lehigh.edu from your Lehigh e-mail address.

Local LAN

Alterations to the room-level RFC-1918 LAN configuration require prior approval of the CSE Systems Manager, without exception.

This policy is intended to avoid collisions between different LAN configurations. It is annoying to set up a LAN layout for your lab session, only to discover at show-time that someone has re-arranged everything.

Supported Operating Systems and Applications

SunLab is currently running CentOS with a 64-bit Kernel.

When connecting locally, users will have access to the Gnome windowing system/UI.

Machines are outfitted with basic (read: slow) nVidia graphics cards allowing utilization of and programming for CUDA and related GPU activities.

Requests for additional software are handled on a case-by-case basis.

Reservations

Schedule reservations are made by contacting the CSE Academic Coordinator.

Lab Hours

The lab is open on weekdays and weekday evenings and Sunday afternoons during the spring and fall terms. Students may work in the lab when it is open and not in use for a scheduled class session. The lab can generally be opened at other times upon request.

If Lehigh University is closed, the labs are closed.

Information concerning the configuration and availability of VMs in the lab will be posted later.