I2TL Lab
Integrated Information Technology Laboratory
The I2TL is a project of the ECE Department. The goal of the I2TL is to provide instructors and students with a state-of-the-art environment for instruction and research in modern computing challenges. For more information regarding the lab, refer to the links at the left side of the page.
Download the I2TL Introduction Presentation [ pdf ]
Sections
Contact Information
Hardware
Software
Policies
Remote Access
Exceed & SSH
Contact Information
If you have questions, concerns, or something you would like to see changed in the I2TL, please let us know. The I2TL is supported by the ECE Computer Systems Group. For all support-related issues, please contact help@ece.arizona.edu (Ph: 520-621-6207).
For general questions regarding the lab, contact Marti Martinez at marti@ece.arizona.edu (Ph: 520-465-6257).
Hardware
The I2TL is equipped with 49 student workstations, an instructor workstation, and a full suite of cutting-edge multimedia and presentation equipment. Instructors in the lab are able to perform demonstrations of complex computing tasks on their own desktop - and display it directly to each of the student workstations. The projection whiteboard allows instructors to "write" class notes directly on the presentation screen, and save them for later use at the click of a button. In addition, the lab is handicapped-accessible, with two fully adjustable student workstations.
Workstations
- 50 Gateway Workstations
- 3.0 GHz Intel Pentium-4 Processors
- 1 Gb RAM
- 80 Gb Hard Drives
- Windows XP Professional
- Intel 10/100/1000 Fast-Ethernet LAN
- Symantec Ghost management ensures consistency across all desktops
Multimedia Equipment
- Epson PowerLite 8150i Multimedia Projector
- SMART Technologies SmartBoard
- Epson Document Projector
- RCA VHS/DVD Player
- Logitec THX Surround Sound
Software
Below is a list of all software packages that are maintained on the student workstations in the I2TL. Additional software is available on the instructor workstation to support the A/V capabilities of the classroom. Many of the software packages in the lab are available to students, faculty, and staff at little or no cost; for inquiries about the software, please contact help@ece.arizona.edu . Instructors who need additional software packages installed on the student workstations should contact help@ece.arizona.edu as soon as possible to minimize delays in the availability of the software. Instructors are encouraged to have installation media and adequate licenses on hand when requesting software installation. A minimum of ten days should be expected for all new software installations.
Application Software
- Acrobat Reader
- AIM-Spice
- Altera Max+plus II
- Circuit Tutor
- GNU68HC11 Compiler
- Internet Explorer
- JBuilder
- MPICH
- Matlab
- Netscape Communicator
- Office Professional (No Outlook)
- OpNet
- OpenOffice
- Orcad PSpice
- QualNet
- Rational Rose
- Sun JDK
- TExaS
- Visio
- Visual Studio
- VisualWorks
- WinDLX
Utility Software
- .NET Framework
- ActiveState Perl
- Cygwin/XFree86
- GhostScript/GhostView
- Hummingbird Exceed
- MPICH
- MiKTeX
- NetOp School
- QuickTime Player
- RealONE Player
- SSH Secure Shell
- Sophos AntiVirus
- Symantec Ghost
- TextPad
- UltimateZip
- WinVNC
- Windows Media Player
Policies
The following policies define acceptable behavior for all users of the I2TL. Please review these rules carefully before making use of the lab. The I2TL policies should be considered supplemental to the various policies and guidlines established elsewhere by the University of Arizona. Many of those documents are referenced below. For specific questions regarding acceptable use, please contact help@ece.arizona.edu.
- Room scheduling requests for all semester-long commitments must be submitted prior to the beginning of the semester to the Associate Department Head. One-time use requests should be submitted to the ECE Front Office no less than twenty-four hours prior to the requested time. Instructors who will not be using a scheduled lab session must notify help@ece.arizona.edu no less than twenty-four hours prior to their scheduled lab times. Repeated failure to do so will be evaulated by the Associate Department Head for possible revocation of scheduled lab sessions.
- During normal working hours(8am-5pm), the lab will be open for student access when not otherwise committed. Students will not be given keycodes for after-hours access; however, faculty members wishing to use the lab will be issued keycodes upon request. Students will not be permitted in the lab after hours without an authorized staff or faculty member present.
- Computer problems in the lab should be reported to help@ece.arizona.edu.
- Training on operation of equipment in the lab will be provided to instructors prior to the beginning of a semester. Training must be scheduled in advance by emailing help@ece.arizona.edu.
- Assistance can be provided to instructors in presenting online resources in a uniform fashion. Such assistance must be scheduled in advance.
- Software will only be loaded on machines by the support staff. A minimum of ten days should be expected for all new software installations.
- Special access to lab resources (after-hours access, long-term access to machines, etc.) will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and are subject to department head approval.
- All computers in the lab are maintained using Symantec Ghost. As such, locally stored data may be erased at any time, without prior notice. Personal files of any type should not be stored on any lab system. Your home directory (Z:\) should be used for all file storage.
- Computers will not be moved or repositioned under any circumstances except by the lab support staff. Care should be taken not to disrupt or damage any of the equipment in the lab.
- The instructor workstation, multimedia projector, and audio/video equipment, are for use by class instructors only. Use by other individuals or groups must be arranged in advance.
- CD- and DVD-burners, as well as a VHS video tape recorder, are available for use by instructors. Other individuals or groups wishing to use these resources should contact the support staff at help@ece.arizona.edu. No recordable media will be supplied by the lab.
- Violations of these policies will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the support staff. Repeated violations should be expected to include expulsion from the lab and referral to the Department Administration and the Dean of Students' office for further review. In addition, all department, college, and university policies regarding conduct and computer use apply to this lab. Any violations of these policies, or any violations of local, state, or federal laws will result in expulsion from the lab and will be referred to the appropriate authorities. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the CCIT Computer and Network Usage Policy and the University of Arizona Student Code of Conduct
Remote Access
A number of professors have asked for remote access to resources in the I2TL. There are two basic categories of access that have been requested: access to the cluster capabilities of the lab, and access to the actual desktops of the machines in the lab. This document primarily focuses on remote access to the desktops. Such access is available, though the lab is intended to be used as an integrated whole in teaching and learning, and is not primarily intended to be a pool of remote resources. As such, there are certain caveats to this access:
- Remote access may not interfere with any other work being done in the lab. A corollary to this is that remote sessions may end up being disconnected unexpectedly for a variety of reasons. It is not the intent of the lab staff to attempt to mitigate legitimate reasons for these disconnections.
- Remote access passwords may not be given out to students under any circumstances.
- Lab resources are to be used in support of teaching activities only, and are not intended for research groups or other entities.
Accessing Lab Machines From Outside
In order to access machines in the lab from Microsoft operating systems or a Sun workstation, you will need to download and RealVNC.
This will bring up a window asking you for a computer name. If you are connecting from UNIX, I highly reccommend sticking with the instructor workstation: diamond.ece.arizona.edu. From Windows, you can connect to any of the computers by their first name only: xenotime, vauxite, trona, topaz, etc. Next you will be prompted for a password. All password requests must be routed through my email account. Type in the password you recieve from me, and you will be presented with the screen of the computer you are connecting to. If anyone is logged in on the computer, disconnect immediately before damaging any of their work.
There are many quirks and features in RealVNC and the VNC viewers which are outside the scope of this document. The official documentation for VNC is available.
Exceed & SSH
What is Exceed?
Exceed is an X server. X is a cross-platform graphical user interface. X servers are programs run on a user's computer to interface with X applications on other computers. When you log into any of the sun workstations, you are presented with a user interface built completely around X. On Windows, X is not built into the operating system as it is on most UNIX platforms, so we have to use a separate X server -- Exceed -- in order to interface with programs running on Sun computers.
How do I use it?
To run most programs available in the ECE department, simply click on the "Exceed 7.1" link on your desktop after logging in to one of the workstations in the lab. This will load the X server and bring up a window allowing you to connect to any of our servers -- ece3.ece.arizona.edu by defualt -- enter your information and the name of the server you wish to access and click on the Run! item on the menu. You should soon see a terminal window on your desktop. From here you can start programs just as you would from a Sun workstation.
Why use SSH?
The procedure described in the paragraph above uses telnet to communicate between the two computers. If for whatever reason you are connecting to a server that does not support telnet, or which is behind a firewall that blocks X applications, you may need to use SSH to communicate instead of telnet. SSH is a much more capable and secure system than telnet; while a complete discussion of SSH is beyond the scope of this document, more information can be found at www.openssh.org.
How do I use SSH?
In the I2TL, SSH Secure Shell is available on every user's desktop. First start up Exceed by using the following Start Menu item: Programs->Hummingbird Connectivity V7.1->Exceed->Exceed. Next, double-click on the SSH Secure Shell icon to start the program, then click on the Profiles button and choose Edit Profiles... This will bring up a windows with a list of various items in it. Click on Quick Connect at the top of the list, then choose X11 Tunneling from the tabbed menu at the right-hand side of the window, and check the box titled Tunnel X11 connections. Click OK, then click on the Quick Connect button. Enter the host name of your server and your username, and click Connect. After a moment you may get a screen titled Host Identification, asking you if you want to save the host key (this will only happen the first time you connect to a given server.) Click Yes; when prompted, enter your password. You will now be able to run X applications from the server you've connected to.