Channel, Issue No. 11

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APRIL 1992

Issue No. 11

Internet Services Available at HKUST

Platform telnet ~13270 archie xarchie USEWET PC Mac Unix VMS Y Y Y Y N N Y' N yb v Y Y N N Y" N N N Yd N N N y' N

I

Mathematical Soflware

JMSL MATH/STAT Exponent GRAPHICS Mathematics Maple V MatLab MathCAD SAS s+

VAXWMS

System Reconfiguration

Cmcld NCtWOrlr Sava Academic computing md software Developmult

Inside :

Internet Services Available at HKUST ... 3

Access to San Diego Supercomputer Center.. ... .5

VAX/WE

System Reconfiguration ... 6

...

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2 Channel

Issue No. 11

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5

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10 11 11 11

In this issue . . . . .

Internet Services

Internet Services Available at HKUST

Internet Seminar

New Services/Development

Access to San Diego Supercomputer Center

VAX/VMS System Reconfiguration

Academic Computing

Mathematical Software

UNIX News

FrameMaker Upgrade

VAX News

IMSL Upgrade

Macintosh

Macintosh System 7 is Here!

Documentation

Chinese User Guides Available

Staff News

Quiz

CCST Hot-line 6200

Mon - Fri :

9:00 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

Sat :

9:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

2:00 p.m. - 590 p.m.

Computer Barn (Rm 4382)

Opening hours :

Mon - Fri :

8:lS a.m. - lo:45 p.m.

Sat :

8:45 a.m. - 4:lS p.m.

Consultation hours f

Mon - Fri :

9:00 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

2:00 p.m. - 530 p.m.

Sat :

9:00 a.m. - 11:45 p.m.

Business Computing Laboratory (Rm 4334)

Opening hourslConsultation hours :

Mon - Fri :

9:00 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

2:00 p.m. - 5:OO p.m.

Sat :

9:00 a.m. - 11:45 p.m.

Editor’s Notes

Channel is

a bi-monthly publication of the

Centre of Computing

Services and

Telecommunications

(CCST) of HKUST.

Prepared by the

Computing Information

Centre (CIC), Channel

provides valuable

information about CCST

plans, developments

and services. Topics on

new trends in

computing technology or

interest are also

included. User

contributions to

Channel are welcome

and should be sent to

the Editor along with

the author’s name and

department.

Channel is distributed

to all University

members who are’

registered users of the

CCST s~ticep~, Other

parties who wotild like

to have their names

adde.d to our mailing list

for Channel may

complete and return the

form on the last page to

the Computing

Information Centre.

Esfher Chm, Editor of Channel CIC

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Internet Services

Following the announcement of the Internet connection in the last issue of Channel, we are pleased to report that many users are already making extensive use of this facility. The importance of Intemct to our University is obvious if WC understand the services it makes possible to our users. The following is a short description of the major ones.

Telnet

There are many reasons a user might need to access a remote machine. A user might need to use a database at another university, he might need the power of a supercomputer to assist in his research (see “Access to San Diego Super-computer Center” on Page S), or might want to browse a library catalogue at another institution. This is all possible on the Internet provided the user has the proper access right to that remote machine.

Telnet allows a user to logon to computers on the Intemct. It can emulate many terminal types, most often is VTlOO. If there is a need to access an IBM computer running the VM or MVS operating system, the user needs a special version of telnet called tn3270 which emulates an IBM full screen 3270 terminal.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

This is the primary method of moving files over the Internet. Authorized users may access files on any Intcmet machine that allows such access. There are voluminous useful electronic documents/public domain software on the network available to the public via the anonymous

F’TP

service. A site offering the anonymous FIP service essentially lets anyone on the net to have access to a certain area of disk space in a non-threatening way. There are over 800 anonymous FIP servers that make software and documents available to people on the Internet. Access to those sites is by logging into the server with the account name “anonymous”. Generally, the user is invited to enter his/her account code as password.

Archie

Archie is a query system developed at the McGill University in Canada to track the contents of anonymous FTP sites

Internet Services Available at

HKUST

containing over a million files stored across the Intemct. There are a number of archie servers on the net. The archie servers automatically update the listing information from each anonymous FI’P site about once a month. There are two main-stream archic clients, one called ‘archie’ and the other ‘xarchie’f( or use with X-window). The client takes a user’s search pattern, query the archie database, and yield a list of systems that have the rcquestcd file(s) available for anonymous FTP.

USENET

USENET is a co-operative bulletin Board that run on a large number of machines on Internet. The transmission of USENET news is entirely co-operative. Feeds are generally provided out of good will and the desire to distribute news everywhere.

Most bulletin article carries one or more universally- rccognizcd labels, called newsgroups. Individual site can have its own local newsgroups which arc generally not available to users of other USENET sites. USENET newsgroups arc organized according to their specific areas of concentration. Currently, there arc over 2000 newsgroups covering topics in computing, different academic disciplines, campus administration, politics, social and cultural issues, hobbies and recreational activities, and many more. A user can post a new topic for discussion or a follow-up to a topic being discussed. The creation of new newsgroup involves a “vote”t o determine popular support for (and opposition to) a proposed newsgroup.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat)

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a multi-user, multi-channel teleconferencing system. It allows people all over the Internet to talk to one another in real time. IRC is based on the client-server model. There are many IRC servers in the Internet. Conference attendees are referred to as clients communicating with each other via channels. You can compare conversation on a channel to a conversation among a group of people. You can see and reply everything that was said. What you type is received by everybody who’s on the channel and willing to listen.

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4 Channel

Issue No. 11

Internet Services Available at HKUST

The following table summarizes the Internet services available at HKUST now or in the near future.

Platform

Service

telnet

tn3270

FTP

archie

xarchie

USENET

PC

Mac

Unix

VMS

Y

N

Y”

N

Yb

Y

N

Y”

N

Yd

N

Y”

N

hlote:

a) tn3270 terminal emulation is supported on two SUN servers, uststu and uststf. b) Direct FTP from PC/Mac will be available in the future.

c) The archie client runs on Unix. PC/Mac users should login uststu or uststf to access the program, or tclnct one of the remote archie server interactively (e.g., quichc.cs.mcgill.ca at McGill University).

d) xarchie client currently runs on SUN Unix workstation. e) USENET service will be available soon.

f) IRC service will be available in the near future.

Support Services

Be a responsible Internet user

Internet was made accessible to our users as soon as the connecton was established. CCST is still developing the support services. Recently, the following reference documents were made available to each department:

- “Zen and the Art of the Internet” - a very well written and comprehensive beginner’s guide to the Intcmct.

The Internet is an international infrastructure for information and knowledge sharing. The reliable operation of the Intcmet and the responsible use of its resources are of common interest and concern of its users, operators, and sponsors. It is considered as unethical and unacceptable any activity which purposely:

- “Internet Resource Guide” - compiled by NSF Network Service Center. It is an index to the vast amount of resources accessible through Intcmet.

l seeks to gain unauthorized access to the resources of Internet,

l disrupts the intended use of Internet, - An anonymous FTP servers list - it lists the popular

anonymous FTP servers and the types of public domain software/electronic documents kept in them.

l wastes resources (people, capacity, computer) through such actions,

The documents were obtained from Internet via FTP. While informative, they do not cover the mechanics of using the various Internet services. Such information will be covered in the Internet User’s Guide being prepared by CCST. It is expected that the user guide will bc available in May. Training courses will also be organized.

l destroys the integrity of computer-based information,

and/or

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Besides, please note that the 64 KB lint which connects us to the Intcmet is an expcnsivc facility shared among UPGC instititions. As a responsible user, you should make proper

USC of this resource and avoid wastage. In particular, don’t cxccssively copy documents/software from FTP servers. As the documcnts/softwarc would bc updated from time to time, knowing where to get what and only get those when necdcd , is far better than keep on retrieving and filing something

which might be needed somctimc in the future.

“Access to and use of Internet is a privilege and

should be treated as such by all users of it.”

cl

Internet Seminar

An Internet seminar is scheduled at the end of April. In this seminar, Mr. Edward Spodick of Library will describe how a user can access a large number of library catalogs through Intcmct. All users are welcome.

Date : Time : Venue : Topic : April 30, 1992 (Thursday) 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. LT-200 (200 seats)

Library Catalogs & Electronic Journals access through the Internet Speaker : Mr. Edward Spodick

Assistant Librarian I Library

Abstract of the seminar :

The resources available through the Internet are voluminous. Researchers, instructors, students, and other academics will be especially interested in the hundreds of library catalogs which can be investigated; and in the many newsletters and journals which are available in electronic format. This seminar will provide a brief introduction to these resources, and show you how to explore them from your own desktop.

New Services/

Development

Access to San Diego

Supercomputer

Center

City Polytechnic of Hong Kong (CPHK) has made arrangement with the San Diego Supercomputer Center for using the Center’s CRAY Y-MP8/864 supercomputer (8 processors, 2.6 Gflops, 65 GB of disk storage, 1.3 TBytes of cartridge tape storage).

The facility is accessible to all UPGC institutions. Each project approved to run on the machine will be allocated some start-up CPU time at no cost. Once a project begins using the machine for production work, the user will be charged for the CPU time used.

Interested users please contact Mr. Danny Tang (Extn. 6241) for more information.

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6 Chan reel

Issue No. 11

VAXIVMS

System Reconfiguration

Background

The Central Network Server for HKUST, namely USTHK, was originally a dual-host DSSI cluster. It was first installed in 1989, and was meant to provide nearly all shared-use computing services such as email, common PC applications, printing, academic computing, the administrative information system, etc.

The number of staff has been increasing rapidly since then, with only a non-proportional expansion in the capacity of the Central Network Server. Thus, an extremely great deal of effort has been put on fine-tuning its available resources in order to cope with the ever-growing demand.

Also, some roles of the Central Network Server were moved out to spccializzd systems during the course. For example, ADMIS, another dual-host system, arrived in late 1990 and now accomodates nearly the whole administrative information system. In mid 1991, academic computing and various software development projects were also moved out to another dual-host called USTVC. Diagram 1 below shows the said configuration.

USTHK

USTVC

ADMIS

/

USTCC3

L-J

VAX 4300

8VUP

1 USTCC4 1 1 ADMISl/2 1

utmost limit, and adding a new user would simply cause a degradation of the overall system performance.

Also, as email is supported by the Central Network Server, users (mainly academics) who cxploitcd USTVC intcnsivcly found it more convenient if both academic computing and cmail could bc done on a single system.

Solution by Adopting Latest Technology

To achieve a bcttcr system performance and at the same time facilitate the easy access to cmail for academic users, we dccidcd that the latest VAXclustcr technology be used. The idea is to configure a three-node DSSI cIustcr** as the Central Network Scrvcr using the existing systems in USTHK and USTVC. One of the nodes in the cluster would bc used for academic computing such that academic users could access cmail and other computing rcsourccs directly from 1 the same cluster system.

Central Network Server

Acadcm ic For Software Administrative

Computing Server Development Projcc ts Information System

Problem

When it came to the end of last year, the system performance of the Central Network Scrvcr was finally pushed to the

Also, we decided to upgrade our VAX 4300 systems (those used in the original USTVC) to the latest VAX 4500 systems via a very attractive promotion package. According to the vendor, the upgrade would bring about a nearly three-times pcrformancc boost. Diagram 2 depicts the goal configuration:

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USTHK

Central Network Server Academic Computing and Software Developmcn t Diagram 2

To achieve this, a series of upgrades and re-configuration exercises was planned, and carried out on sleepless nights during the past two months. Hopefully, our effort should have brought only minimal and inevitable disruption to the users.

While the details of the re-configuration would be rather complicated to be explained here, there are a few notes worth mentioning:

1. As VAX 4500 only runs under VMS 5.5, our Central Network Server has been upgraded from VMS 5.4-2 to

VMS 5.5.

2.

As USTCCl, USTCC2 and USTCC3 are now in the same cluster, a single user profile would be used to access all. For example, the same password can be used to log on all three systems***, and access the same set of user files.

3. USTCCl and USTCC2 perform the role as the Central Network Server, providing PC applications, file and print services, etc. to every department.

. _{USTCCl, currently a VAX 4200, would be used} mainly for admininstrative users, together with normal interactive VMS users for email and bulletin board services.

. _{USTCC2 would serve all other staff and run most} time-critical networking software.

4. Academic users requiring intensive computing power may log on USTCC3, and also perform email there.

Future Plan

In a simple sense, the re-configuration mentioned above is simply merging two systems into one. Apart from the increase in CPU power, the total amount of disk storage is actaully reduced by 1.2 GB. This places a very significant pressure on us to allocate the available disk space.

On the other hand, the need for disk space is anticipated to grow continuously, together with the University. Therefore, we are planning to increase the storage capacity of the Central Network Server by installing a DSSI expansion box and high-capacity storage devices. Also, the expansion box can help to improve overall system reliability.

To cope with the dynamic computing demands in an advanced technology institute like HKUST, our system configuration and technology would certainly keep on evolving, and we should be very pleased to keep you posted on any update.

Remarks :

* _{VUP stands for VAX Unit/s of Performance, and} amounts nearly to the performance of a VAX-l l/780 ** This is a new cluster technology and HKUST is the first

in Hong Kong to have such a configuration installed. *** Interactive log-on to USTCC2 is currently disabled for

performance reasons.

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Channel

Issue No. 11

Academic

Computing

Mathematical

Software

This is the fist of a series of articles on academic computing. This first article summarizes what Mathematical software are available in our university. Future articles will cover other areas such as graphics and visualization, modelling and simulation, business computing, etc..

Introduction

Mathematics is no doubt the foundation of many areas of scientific and engineering researches and applications. Vcrtcran computing users will recall, with mixed pride and pain, those early years when “computing” meant doing mathematics and “automatic programming” meant using a FORTRAN compiler. In recent years, the software industry has come to offer many more powerful tools for scientific computation - interactive investigation of mathematical phenomena and productive application of mathematics in solving different scientific and engineering problems. In planning to support scientific computation, WC have observed the following:

Software

I IMSL MATH/STAT Exponent GRAPHICS Mathematics Maple V MatLab MathCAD SAS s+

Dcspitc the widespread acceptance of the C programming language, FORTRAN continues to bc one of the most widely used programming languages in scientific and cnginccring applications.

Thcrc is a new class of mathematical processors which has attracted a lot of attention. Thcsc software provide sophisticated mathematical functions to support numerical, symbolic, algebraic, and graphical processing. Bcsidcs number-crunching of numerical data, thcsc software allow exploration of symbolic relationships such as solving equations in terms of variables. As workstations (PC’s and Unix-based ulorkstations) bccomc more powerful, users want more immediate feedback in the problem sobring process. That feedback comes in the form of intcracti\rity and vpisualization. Interactivity allows a user to try diffcrcnt things very quickly. Visualization gives a user immcdiatc feedback by allowing the user to see the result.

What we have in HKUST . . .

In HKUST, the main computational platforms arc high-end PC’s and Unix-based workstations. Modem mathematical processors arc both CPU and graphics intcnsivc. A powerful machine is needed to give the rcsponsc time (interactivity) and high-quality graphics (visualization) dcmandcd by today’s computational users.

The following table shows the most dcmandcd mathematical software for teaching and rcscarch in the University.

Platjk-rn

Workstation HP/SUN HP/S UN HP HP HP HP VAX (ustcc3) d 4

d

-

available HP - available on HP platform SUN - available on SUN platform

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Mathematics, Maple, SAS, and S+ are all X-window applications and are accessible from any workstation running X.

Besides the software listed above, we are also working with the faculty on special purpose software to support simulation, Finite Element Analysis, etc..

Introduction to the software

The following is a short description of each software. Please consult CCST if you need more information about them.

IMSL (International

Mathematical

and

Statistical Libraries)

IMSL is one of the most widely used mathematical and statistical library in scientific and engineering applications. It is a collection of about 1000 Fortran subroutines. Another IMSL product is exponent GRAPHICS which provides powerful, versatile graphics capabilities for use with FORTRAN programs. It contains over 70 FORTRAN subroutines providing extensive plotting capabilites from automatic three-dimensional contour rendering to control of low-level graphics primitives.

Mathematics

Mathematics is a calculational tool and a programming language. It performs three basic types of computations: numerical, symbolic, and graphical. In addition to having an enormous collection of numerical functions, Mathematics provides standard symbolic operations of algebra and calculus, including integration and differentiation. The software plots functions and data in two or three dimensions. It also incorporates a powerful programming language, in which models can quickly be constructed. The software allows the creation of documents called “notebooks,” which can combine text description with “live,” interactive equations.

Maple V

Maple V is a software package for symbolic and numeric computation, mathematical programming and visualization. It is considered as a symbolic powerhouse. The compact

kcrncl and loadable libraries provide Maple V with remarkable speed, compactness, and flexibility. The library contains more than 2000 mathematical functions. It provides output for 2-D and 3-D graphics processing, LaTcX typesetting and Fortran compilation.

MatLab

MatLab stands for MATrix LABoratory, is an interactive numerical package whose basic data element is a matrix that does not require dimensioning. MatLab integrates numerical analysis, matrix computation, signal processing, and graphics in an easy-to-use environment, where problems and solutions are expressed just as they are written mathematic‘ally, without traditional programming.

MathCAD

MathCAD is a mathematical scratch pad. The latest PC version of it is MSWindow-based and supports Muhiplc Document Interface (MDI) so that several documents can be kept open at the same time and allows easy cut and paste across documents. The software has licensed certain symbolic calculus and computer algebra features from Maple. MathCAD’s long-standing attraction has been its scratch- pad metaphor. A scratch pad can contain live formulas, plots, and text explanations, all in a single document. However, MathCAD does not have a full-featured programming language.

SAS (Statistical Analysis System)

SAS is a modular, yet integrated software for data management and analysis. Besides its statistical supports, SAS also has modules for data management, graphics processing, and numerical computations. The following modules are available on our HP720 workstation:

BASE data management and basic analysis

ASSIST task-oriented, menu-driven interface AF building applications and user front-ends CONNECT distributed processing and file transfers ETS econometric, time series, modelling FSP interactive data entry, data edit and query

GRAPH graphics processing

IML interactive matrix programming

INSIGHT data exploration and visualization OR operational research, decision support STAT simple to advanced statistical analysis

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Chann,el

Issue No. 11

S-PLUS

S-PLUS is an interactive computing environment for graphical data analysis, statistics, and computational programming, embodying both an object-oriented programming language with rich features for statistical and mathematical programming and a statistical analysis software package. The S-PLUS language supports object-oriented features like classes, inheritance and methods. It can also call routines written in C and FORTRAN.

S-PLUS has a rich and flexible environment for composing graphics for both exploratory data analysis and for final publication. It supports two dynamic graphic functions: brush and spin.

cl

CI

3 UNIX News

FrameMaker

Upgrade

FrameMaker has been upgraded from Version 2.1 to Version 3.1. The followings arc some of the new features: . _{A Table option is added to the FrameMaker 3.1 mcnu-} bar. Table operations such as Insert Table, Table Format, etc., are available under the Table submenu. Creation of tables no longer requires the use of tabs or anchored frames as in version 2.1.

. _{FrameMaker 3.1 allows a single document to keep} variations of text and graphics called conditional text. It gives the capability of saving different versions of a document in a single FrameMaker document file. . _{FrameMaker Postscript output now conforms with}

Adobe PostScript Document Structuring Conventions. This makes it possible for other applications to read FrameMaker PostScript files and rearrange the pages in any order.

VAX News

IMSL Upgrade

IMSL has been upgraded to Version 2.0 on ustcc3. In this new version, the Special Functions library (SFUN/ LIBRARY) is merged into the MATH/LIBRARY to form a single library. Performance cnhanccmcnts for Version 2.0 have been made in scvcral areas, most significantly in the areas of Linear Systems, Eigensystcms, FFT’s and Random Number Generation.

Macintosh

News

Macintosh

System 7.0 is Here!

“System 7” is nothing new to an Apple Macintosh fan, Apple has prcachcd it for a few years. It is hcrc. It comes with every new Macintosh. And now you can get support on System 7 from CCST.

Do you need System 7?

Apple says that you need it bccausc:

1. Apple will only support System 7 in the long run. 2. Thcrc arc so many goodies that you cannot miss. Things

like:

* Multi-tasking.

* Running gigantic programs and handling gigantic data in the order of tens of mcgabytcs.

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* Balloon help that pops up when you point, don’t even need to click.

* Great ease in finding files.

* File sharing and exchange directly among Macintoshes without going through a file server. * Automatic updating of composite document via

subscribe & publish.

* Chaining of applications via Apple Events. 3. New technology, like QuickTime for real time

multimedia, will be developed on top of System 7.

Our experience with it

:-(

While you can boot system 7 on a 1MB Mac and Apple says that you can run system 7 with a Mac with 2MB, you really need 4MB to start with system 7 with practical usefulness. System 7 is also evolving fast, in 9 months time, it gets to system 7.0.1 and now with a “system 7 addon”.

Current Macintosh application compatibility with system 7 comes with a catch - “32 bit clean”. We found that running an existing Macintosh application in system 7, with 32 bit addressing turned on, often crashed a Macintosh. What about advanced applications on system 7? We have only MS- Excel 3.0 here. But they are coming.

Finally there is networking. File sharing in system 7 is really great. But because of different versions of LaserPrep, a system 7 Macintosh cannot print to our network printer. You need an AppleTalk connected laser printer for system 7 at the moment. Mail, access to library & servers are also not available yet.

Our network vendor - DEC - has been working closely with Apple to get the networking software upgraded to system 7. They have officially released a new version in USA. CCST is working aggressively with DEC H.K. to get that here.

What v you really need to put a hand on it?

Please call the CCST Hot-line at Extn. 6200. We are more than happy to work with you to learn about the pragmatic reality of system 7 in due course.

Documentation

Chinese User Guides Available

CCST recently released two newly-prepared Chinese software manuals to staff members of the University . They are:

Staff News

Scott Cheung, Assistant Computer Officer of the Computing Information Centre, left CCST in mid April to join the Provisional Airport Authority as End User Computing Officer. We wish him every success in his future career. Saminda Lam, formerly Assistant Computer Officer of the Systems & Operations team, has been promoted to Computer Officer in February 1992.

QUIZ

Quiz for this issue is suspended due to limited space. Answer

to

the Quiz of Last Issue

Stagger the various work areas along an invisible diagonal running through the worksheet. This ensures that adding rows or columns in one area will not affect any of the other areas.

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Channel

_{Issue No. 11}

.

CCST Contact Points

ES,

c-rrubcL

c -,.‘f

User Consultation Coordinator -

1

Problem Reporting E-mail Account -

Mr. Tonv Chan - H 6243 cctonv I CCH&P a-

Telephone Services Coordinator -

Miss Esther Chan - 6242

,

ccesther

For users to send in their problems and di&ulties via

e-nail. A consultant will respond to messages sent to

this account as

soon

as possible.

Suaaestion E-mail Account -

Training Courses Registration - CHANNEL -

Ms. Anna Mak - 6189 ccanna

For users to send in their queries, ideas, suggestions

_{and comments concerning services we provide. A}

Requests for Computing Resources -

Mr. Danny Tang 0

4241

ccdanny

Phone E-mail

cl

tl

cl

0 cl

cl

Centre of Computing Services and

Telecommunications. . . .

E-mail

Phone

address

Director Dr. Wm. Max Ivey Assoc. Director & Mr. Lawrence Law

Mgr. Systems & Operaticns

6182 ccmax 6201 cclaw Mgr. Information

Systems

Mr. William Tung 6221 ccbtung

Mgr. CIC Mgr. Systems Engineering Mr. Danny Tang Mr. Michael Tang 6241 ccdanny 6261 ccwc!8ng Editor of Channel Miss Esther Chan 6242 ccesther