Tips for effective use of our network

Here are some tips to improve the performance of your computer on our network.

PRINTING

If you use Windows 2000 or an earlier version of Windows, it may be necessary to give it a password for the server before it will let you print. The easiest way to do this is to browse to engram:/temporary (using "My network places"). If it asks for a password and username, type "brni" for each. Note: this only works for local users on shared resources. Shared resources include "temporary" (for storage of temporary files) and the printers. You could also browse to your home directory and type in your real password.
For W2k users, this needs to be done whenever you first boot up. It is not necessary in Windows XP or Vista. Only some W2k users need to do this step.
Some versions of Windows can't login to two different accounts on the same computer. So if you're logged in as a guest (on /temporary), you may have to reboot or close the connection by typing
```
 net use /delete  * 
```
before you can login to your home directory.
Printer drivers for all our shared printers are stored on the server at engram:/temporary/drivers. Some people have also placed additional material there, such as printer help files or printer installation software. These printer drivers can be used by Windows users for setting up printers.

BACKUPS

Weekly backups are made of the following directories on the servers:
```
     engram:/temporary (general storage space available for all users)
     engram:/homes     (users home directories)
     protein:/homes    (users home directories)
     all user email, Web pages, and cron jobs
     
```
Please note that information in engram/temporary is not private and can be read by anyone. It's better to store your files in your home directory. If you use Windows, this means you need to login to Windows with the same name as your name on the server (which is usually the same as your email name).
Don't store files in the /tmp directory of the server. Not only is it not private and never backed up, but /tmp is routinely wiped when we upgrade the system. Store your files in your /home directory instead.
Also, don't store MP3 files, games, software, videos, backups of your CDs, or other large personal items onto the server. If excessive personal stuff is found on the server, we will eventually have to stop backing up personal files. MP3 files on the server will not be backed up. If space becomes tight, you may be asked to remove them.
Don't put quotation marks (") or (') in the file names of files stored on the server. This can prevent the file from being backed up.

NETWORK PERFORMANCE

Don't install software like Kazaa or Napster (music sharing programs) or ChainCast (a modified version of Windows Media Player used by some dishonest Internet Radio Stations). These programs are very harmful to the network. This software will turn your computer into a server and cause thousands of people to connect to your computer to download files that have been put there by other people. This will not only fill up your hard disk with junk, it will clog our T1 connection, making Internet access slow for everyone.
Give your computer a name that allows other people to figure out who it belongs to. Alternatively, set your Browser Comment String to indicate your name or the computer's location (please ask if you don't know how to do this). If your computer should get a virus or other problem that causes it to clog our T1 line, and we can't figure out where the computer is located, the only way to find your computer is to unplug you and wait for you to complain!
This brings us to Number 3. Please complain immediately when something stops working or becomes slow (most of you have been very good about this!).

SERVERS

Let us know if you want us to carry additional Usenet groups, if you have files that need to be on our Website or ftp site, if you need to set up a new server, or if you need computer security advice. We are also happy to discuss your computer security concerns.

EMAIL AND VIRUSES

Everyone is automatically given an email alias along with their username. This alias is the same as the person's first name. So if you forget someone's email address, sending it to "linda" (for example) should work.

We also have aliases for groups:

     brni  = everyone at the institute in Rockville, including
         administrators in W. Va. and former employees who still receive email.
     staff  = everyone currently working at BRRI in Rockville.
     announce = everyone at BRNI plus 
         several administrators in W. Va.
     isotope = all radioisotope users at BRNI

     postmaster = The person to whom reports of email
         problems should be directed 
     abuse  = The person to whom reports of abuse of
         the computers should be directed 
     webmaster = The person to whom reports of problems 
         with our engram Web site should be directed

Anyone, including persons outside the institute, can use these aliases. Let us know if you want to add a new group or change your alias.

All incoming email is scanned for viruses. If a potentially harmful attachment is found, the scanner renames the file to prevent it from executing. If you're sure the attachment is safe, save it to disk and rename it with the correct extension (e.g., .wpd for Word Perfect Document, .doc for MS-Word files).
Don't click on email attachments. An attachment can have a hidden extension of .PIF, .EXE, .VBS, etc. which could indicate a virus or worm. Files that appear to be JPEGs or .DOC files can also contain viruses. Even with our email virus scanner, some of these viruses can still slip through. Also, if you download a program from the Internet, scan it for viruses with an antivirus program. before running it.
Don't store incoming email messages in your Inbox. Also, remove large emails (images, MS Word documents, etc) from your Inbox on the server. These items will slow down your mail considerably. Move them to a different folder.
If your network connection or computer suddenly becomes slow, let us know immediately. You might have a virus or trojan that causes your computer to send out huge amounts of traffic (including your personal files) onto the Internet. This can get your computer (and you) in big trouble.
If you are running Windows, get the latest copy of an antivirus program and run it at least once a month to check your computer for viruses.
Don't send email as MS Word attachments. It will go unread by those of us who don't use Windows, and may get bounced by servers that check for viruses.
Don't send mail as HTML. Many people read their mail remotely and will simply delete HTML mail unread, because it is too inconvenient to read.
Also, don't send mail in RTF (rich text format). This will cause your attachments to be lost due to a bug in Outlook.
If you read your email from two or more computers, make sure they are set up the same way. For example, don't set one to use POP3 and the other to use IMAP. This will cause major problems with your email if you should accidentally use them both to read your email simultaneously. One person has already done this and received a flood of error messages, and later discovered that one of their emails had not been sent.

NETWORK SECURITY

Do not connect any wireless devices to our network. Wireless modems, switches, etc. pose a serious security risk. We can provide you with many faster alternatives to wireless connections.
We periodically check security on all Unix servers with Nessus for security vulnerabilities. Let us know if you want us to scan your computer too.

PRACTICES TO AVOID

Please avoid the following practices:

Please don't put Napster software on your computer. Napster is badly written and has inadequate controls on its bandwidth usage. One computer running Napster will saturate our T1, causing slow performance for everyone. Any computer found to be using Napster on our network will be disconnected. We are currently working on a QoS solution to allow Napster users to co-exist on our network.
There is a software product called "SpamCop" that is supposed to protect against receiving unwanted email. Unfortunately, this program sends spam to network administrators and also blocks many legitimate email messages. We block all packets to and from SpamCop's network.

TIPS FOR WINDOWS XP USERS

Windows XP users no longer need suffer an inferiority complex. Here are some tips that can make your OS almost as functional as the earlier versions of Windows.

If you reinstall Windows XP, you can avoid having to "reactivate" it if you backup the file "Windows\System32\Wpa.dbl" file before reinstalling and copy it back afterward.
To find out your networking parameters, type "ipconfig /all" at a command prompt. This works in all versions of Windows.
To test your network connection, goto Start|All Programs|Accessories| System Tools| System Information and choose Net Diagnostics from the Tools menu. This will test the connections to all the servers and print out a detailed report. Have this report handy when you ask for assistance.
To reset your IP configuration, you don't have to reinstall XP. Type
```
 netsh int ip reset logfile.txt
```
This will reset your IP configuration to its factory preset values and create a log file.

MORE INFORMATION

If the network seems slow, check the Web page for our router here to see if there is a problem.
The freezers are connected to an alarm system that sends email whenever the temperature increases beyond a specific point. Let us know if you want to be added to the freezer alarm list.
Go to the freezer alarm Web page at http://brni-jhu.org/temps.html any time to check the status of our -80° freezers.
You can check printer status at http://brni-jhu.org/printer.html any time to check the status of the printers in room 305, remove stuck print jobs, or restart the printer server in the event of a problem.