Physics Computer Facility

John W. Heimaster

September 2008

• Operates the Ethernet networks within the Physics Research Building (PRB), 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) 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 many 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 Physics and College Office 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, system management and support, 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:
  • Designing and implementing extensive network security services for both wired and wireless networking. This is an OSU mandate, which we are attempting to meet while retaining the convenient access and high network speeds that are essential to Physics' work.
  • Using server virtualization to consolidate a number of our College's servers onto a smaller number of high-reliability units.
  • Refining wireless networking in PRB, Smith Lab, and the College Office. Temporary 802.11b/g systems are running in PRB and the College Office, while small deployments of OSU's new "standard" wireless are active in PRB and Smith Lab. A secure, homogeneous system is our goal.
  • 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, Matlab, and Mathematica.
• 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 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 Purchasing Department, to provide a range of low-cost, industrial-strength desktop and laptop systems for OSU and Research Foundation purchases. Many of these systems, plus items of personal electronics, are available for personal purchase at discount prices through two on-campus stores (see wiredout.osu.edu and store.wexnercenterstore.com/apple.html).
  • OSU's Office of Information Technology, for Internet access and bulk licensing of software. Many useful software packages are available to the campus community at softwaretogo.osu.edu, with additional information at 8help.osu.edu.
  • The Ohio Supercomputer Center, for access to large-scale parallel 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.
  • Computer support staff throughout the College and University, for joint projects and shared expertise.
• Represents the Department's and College's needs on a number of OSU and statewide policy committees.