U n i v e r s i t y o f O r e g o n C O M P U T I N G N E W S WINTER 1999

IN THIS ISSUE… Student Account Information 2 Dreamweaver Review 10 Modem Updates 3 IP/TV Broadcast Opportunity 12 Trojan Horse on Campus 3 Web Proxy Server Update 13 Computing Center Who's Who 4 SP4 for Windows NT 4.0 13

Acrobat 3 on DARKWING, GLADSTONE 4 ‘Required by Law’ (new Law School computing column) 14 Winter Workshop Schedule 6 Web Virtual Hosting 14 Web Search Tips 8 What to Do When Your System’s UO’s PVM Cluster 8 Hacked/Cracked 16 ccMail’s Life Expectancy 9 UO Connects to Internet 2 18 Financial Research Data Service 9 NSRC, Computing Center in Angola 23 The Ins and Outs of Student Accounts: Answers to Some Common Questions

By Rick Milhollin cess your account information. You may Telnet to AUTHORIZE and type “au- [email protected] do this in one of two ways: thorize” at the “Username:” prompt. Then follow the instructions as they 1. Via DuckWeb. Using Netscape or appear on your screen. (If you don’t At the beginning of each term, new Internet Explorer, access the DuckWeb know how to telnet, get a copy of the students frequently have questions site at http://duckweb.uoregon.edu handout “How to Telnet” from the about their usernames and pass- You must know your student ID Computing Center Documents Room words. To help answer some of these number and your personal access upstairs in Room 205.) questions before they arise, we’re code (PAC). publishing a brief refresher course Note: If you’re not registered for the on UO account policies, along with Log in to DuckWeb and at the main current term but are registered for the some updated information. menu, select the option “View UO Computing Accounts Information” next term, you may create your account 45 days after the current term began. How Do I Get an Account? or… If you’re currently enrolled as a UO 2. Come to the Computing Center How Long Will My student, you should already have one. Help Desk. Bring your photo ID to Account Stay Active? Incoming students are assigned “pre- the Help Desk in the Computing Your UO computing account remains generated” usernames and passwords. Center’s south entry lobby, and a active as long as you’re registered, and Before you can use your account for the Help Desk consultant will give you during the term immediately first time, however, you’ll need to ac- your personalized Student Account following your last active registration. Information sheet. For example, if you were registered in UNIVERSITY OF OREGON spring term, your account would What if I Don’t Have a remain active through the summer. COMPUTING CENTER Pregenerated Account? If for some reason you don’t have a After the last day to add classes in pregenerated account, you can still each term, accounts are disabled for use the AUTHORIZE program to get students who didn’t register for either COMPUTING NEWS VOL. 14 #2 one. Here’s how: the current term or the previous term. Computing News is published quarterly by the Academic User Services staff of the Office of University Computing, 1212 Please Be a Considerate Modem User University of Oregon, Eugene, OR By Lucy Lynch 97403-1212. You may reprint articles [email protected] We recognize that occasionally a press- from Computing News, provided you ing project or other special circum- credit the source. stance may require you to exceed the To help maintain modem accessibility 14 hours-a-week target, and that is Newsletter Editor: Joyce Winslow to UOnet, modem activity at the UO is ([email protected]) something we can accommodate—on automatically monitored. the rare occasions when special cir- Telephone: (541) 346-1724 Because we don't have enough mo- cumstances develop. What concerns dems to let everyone have a dedicated us is a consistent and unsustainable Assistant Director, Academic User personal modem connection, we ask pattern far in excess of the target us- Services: Joe St Sauver for your cooperation in limiting your age threshold. ([email protected]) connect time to no more than an aver- Remember, too, that sharing your age of two hours a day (or 14 hours per Web site: modem account with others is strictly week). Those who exceed 14 hours of http://cc.uoregon.edu/cnews prohibited (see "Acceptable Use of connect time per week will be con- Computing Resources," http:// Subscription requests: tacted by a Computing Center staff cc.uoregon.edu/acceptableuse.html) [email protected] member and encouraged to subscribe to a commercial network service pro- Please cooperate in helping us make Cover photo: Jack Liu vider. A list of local providers is avail- the most of the limited resources we able at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/ have available! ~llynch/eug-access.html 2 computing news winter 1999 Trojan Horse Making the Rounds on Campus ■ Protect Your Windows you, applications which contain or in- for␣ their own activity. Any or all of 95/98 Machines! stall Back Orifice may still␣ work or ap- these actions have potentially pear to work correctly, meanwhile in- serious␣ security and privacy implica- By Joel Jaeggli stalling the trojan program invisibly in tions which make it in the interest of [email protected] the␣ background. users to␣ ensure their machine is clean. Applications that have contained How to Detect Back Orifice:␣ The best A new trojan horse called “Back Ori- Back␣ Orifice in the past have included, way to check for Back Orifice␣ is to in- fice” appears to be making the rounds among others, an application stall the latest version of Norton of␣ Windows 95/98-based machines on that␣ purports to detectBack Orifice and Antivirus for Windows, either by ftp campus. Unlike a␣ computer virus, a a pornographic tetris game.␣ Realis- from public.uoregon.edu or from trojan horse cannot be transmitted tically, the treacherous program could the␣ Duckware CD. The Norton utility without human intervention. be part of any application coming from will␣ automatically detect and remove a␣ questionable source.␣ ␣ Like the␣ original steed of Greek fame, Back Orifice as well as several Back Orifice is most often cleverly dis- If installed, Back Orifice can allow hundred␣ other viruses and trojans. Or, guised. It frequently appears as␣ some- hackers on the Internet to view you could use a single-purpose␣ utility thing you’d be least likely to suspect, the␣ contents of your machine, edit like “BoDetect” to detect its presence. including applications found on␣ the files, capture keystrokes, and carry You'll find “BoDetect” at Internet or received as attachments to out␣ attacks against other Internet http://www.spiritone.com/~cbenson/ email messages. To further confuse hosts using your machine as a proxy current_projects/backorifice/backorifice.htm Getting “All circuits busy” Modem Message? By José Domínguez and John Kemp community.The new configuration [email protected] the PBX serving the UO, as well as the way the modem pool was configured. (shown in the table below) differs from [email protected] the old one in two important ways: To correct the problem, Network Ser- vices and Telecomm Services plan to 1. The 346-3565 number will convert At the beginning of fall term, users dial- reengineer the modem pool configura- to a V.90-capable modem pool, and ing the UO modem pool via 346-6520 tion. Corrective procedures should be- expand to include an additional 64 didn't get a normal busy signal when all gin during the winter break and could high-speed modems. These additional lines were in use. Instead, they heard a extend into the first weeks of the winter and faster modems should consider- prerecorded “all circuits busy” message. quarter. We apologize in advance for ably ease the burden that has been any inconvenience this may cause. seen on the 346-6520 number. After extensive testing and debug- 2. The 346-1586 number goes away. ging, staff from Network Services, Forthcoming Changes These older, slower modems have be- Telecomm Services and US West deter- come less useful over time. Users previ- mined that this unusual response was The addition of newer faster modems ously operating at 14,400 and using the the result of several factors, including and the change in configuration of the 346-1586 number might want to con- recent upgrades to both the telephone dialin lines should greatly improve sider upgrading to the V.90 standard. switch serving the City of Eugene and the quality of service to the UO dialin

New Modem Pool Configuration Modem Pool Number of Modems Modem Protocols Maximum Speed Services

346-6520 192 V.90, X2 57600 bps PPP w/ PAP, IP, IPX, AppleTalk V.34+, V.34, V.32bis ARA2, ARA3 V.42, V.42bis, MNP SLIP Terminal Emulation 346-3565 96 V.90, 56KFlex 57600 bps PPP w/ PAP, IP, IPX, AppleTalk V.34+, V.34, V.32bis ARA2, ARA3 V.42, V.42bis, MNP SLIP Terminal Emulation 346-5975 64 V.34+, V.34, V.32bis 33100 bps PPP w/ PAP, IP, IPX, AppleTalk V.42, V.42bis, MNP ARA2, ARA3 SLIP Terminal Emulation computing news winter 1999 3 Who's Who at the

■ college education at Johnson State Meet four more College in Vermont, Lara followed the Computing Center staff American tradition of moving west by members transferring to the University of Oregon. Upon receiving her degree in Sociology at the UO, she decided to By Vickie Nelson stay in Eugene. [email protected] Lara first heard of the Computing This is the second in a continuing se- Center from a colleague at Women- ries of profiles on Computing Center space, where she was working as a employees, introducing you to some volunteer. Shortly thereafter, she of the people who work behind the applied for, and got, a job at the Center's scenes to facilitate your computing ex- downstairs reception desk. Now she perience on campus. handles general reception duties for the Computing Center: answering Lara Miyahira Our winter issue focuses on some faces phones, directing people to the you may find familiar, as well as one Receptionist resources they need, and checking in tapes and equipment for repair. She that’s relatively new. You’ll probably Business Services recognize Lara Miyahira as the friendly also orders supplies, handles shipping face at the downstairs reception desk, and receiving, and creates BANNER A familiar face with a new name, Lara and you may also have glimpsed both account passwords. started working at the Computing Dale Smith and Steve VanDevender, Center in 1995 as Lara Moore, and as they have been working here in Jewelry-making, sewing, singing, became Lara Miyahira last summer various capacities since their student hiking, and biking are among Lara’s when she married her husband, Ryan. days. Noreen Hogan is a more recent major interests. She also continues to addition to our staff, having joined the After growing up in Westford, work at Womenspace, providing child Center just a little over a year ago. Massachusetts, and beginning her care one evening a week.

Adobe Acrobat 3.0 Available on DARKWING, GLADSTONE available free from Adobe’s web site use the new features available in at http://www.adobe.com/ Acrobat 3.0. Your answer is saved in a preference file so you won’t have to ■ Acrobat’s main components are Acrobat Create PDF Files for answer this question every time you Distiller (distill) and Exchange your Web Page use Distiller. However, if you wish, (acroexch). Distiller converts Postscript you can always override this setting files to PDF, while Exchange allows by using command line options. By Hans Kuhn you to add hypertext links, rearrange [email protected] pages, and perform other editorial To see a summary of individual com- changes to PDF documents. mand options, type the command fol- Now that Adobe Acrobat 3.0 has been lowed by the phrase “-help-all,” e.g., installed on DARKWING and GLADSTONE, How to Use Acrobat 3.0 % distill -help all you’ll be able to easily translate your Converting a Postscript file to PDF documents into Portable Document format is simple. For example, to con- Need More Information? Format (PDF) for web publication. vert a Postscript file named Complete documentation on PDF file “inputfile.ps” to PDF, you’d type PDF is useful for distributing conversion is available on the web in documents and forms with heavy % distill inputfile.ps PDF format at formatting and graphics because the at the % prompt. Acrobat then automati- http://www.uoregon.edu/acrobat/ document will look the same on all cally performs the conversion for you. computer platforms, provided the If you have questions about Acrobat, feel free to contact Hans Kuhn viewer has installed the Acrobat The first time you distill a document, ([email protected], 346-1714). Reader client. Acrobat Reader is you’ll be asked whether you want to

4 computing news winter 1999 Computing Center Noreen Hogan Systems Analyst Auxiliary Services

Steve VanDevender Dale Smith Academic UNIX Systems Manager Assistant Director for Computing Facilities Network Services Born on the outskirts of London, Steve grew up in Junction City, Oregon, Dale Smith's career at the Computing Noreen arrived in the U.S. with her and earned a degree in Computer and Center stretches all the way back to family when she was three. Information Science from the UO. He December 1977 and his days as a began working at the Computing She received a degree in General student system programmer on the Center in 1985 as a student assistant PDP 10. and was one of the first employees of Science from the UO, worked for several years for Alpha Health Care, a the old Microcomputer Purchase By the␣ time Dale graduated in 1980, Program, which sold computer medical and dental software company, and then took a year off to complete her he was taking care of the entire campus hardware and software at academic timesharing␣ system. It was “either hire discount. Computer Programming degree at Lane Community College. me or turn it off,” he says with a laugh. The␣ Center hired him as a full-time After graduating from the UO, Steve Since coming to the Computing systems programmer, a position he worked as a programmer for Dynamix Center in July 1997, Noreen has been held for several years. In the late 80s and as a system administrator for heavily involved with the BANNER Dale␣ moved into Network Services, Eugene Free Net (EFN) and others. Graphical User Interface (GUI). She where he’s been ever since. provides NT administration and Steve started his current position at the support for people who currently use Today, as head of Network Services, Computing Center in June 1996. As an BANNER GUI, and has created a web Dale says his prime responsibility is Academic UNIX Systems Manager, his page providing the program and to␣ make it possible for his staff to keep primary responsibility is helping to keep instructions for installing it. (The old the campus network up␣ and running. DARKWING and GLADSTONE running, character-mode access to BANNER particularly in the areas of mail system will be phased out by September 1999.) Dale also does high-level facilities management, security, and software design and works on␣ special projects, installation. Steve says he enjoys the Noreen also provides programming such as the UO's impressive new variety and challenge of working on and support for the Financial scoreboard in Autzen stadium. such large systems. Information System (FIS) and Human Resources Information System (HRIS) Dale grew up in Seneca, a town of 200 Swimming and skiing are among data warehouses. in Eastern Oregon, so it's no␣ surprise Steve’s favorite athletic pursuits. He to hear he enjoys outdoor activities— continues to volunteer for EFN, When she's not working here or on including fishing, hiking,␣ and teaches sit-skiing for Eugene’s her home network, Noreen can often camping—with his wife Leah and kids Alpine Adventures adapted ski be found hiking or out on the river McKenzie, Samantha,␣ Connie, and program, and serves on the City of flyfishing with her husband in their Chris. Eugene’s Accessibility Committee. driftboat. computing news winter 1999 5 WINTER WORKSHOPS What is The IT Curriculum? “IT” stands for Information Technology, and the Library and Computing Center are committed to making sure you have opportunities to build your technology skills. Want to learn how to publish a web page? How about find what you need on the ‘net? Or just how to use that darned computer? We provide a full range of computer and Internet training, from novice to advanced skill levels. These workshops are free and open to currently enrolled students, as well as staff and faculty. No advance registration is necessary; just show up a few minutes before the scheduled start. All seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. We do ask, however, that you meet the workshop prerequisites as stated in the description; otherwise, you may be asked to relinquish your place. If fewer than five people are present ten minutes after the scheduled start, the workshop may be canceled or rescheduled at the discretion of the instructor. This publication will be made available in accessible formats upon request to the Office of Library Instruction, 346-1817. Requests for accommodations related to disability should be made to Jon Cawthorne (346-1897) at least one week in advance of the workshop.

Workshop Day/Date Time Location Presenter

This schedule is subject to change. See http://libweb.uoregon.edu/it/ for course outlines/materials and the most current information.

Computer Operating Systems

Basic UNIX (http://www.uoregon.edu/~hak/unix-ws.html) - ✔ Prerequisites 8 Mon Jan 18 11 - 11:50am EC Jaeggli Computer Software Applications

Endnote/Procite: What Are These, and Why Should I Use Them? Mon Feb 15 3:30 - 4:50pm RSR Brownmiller, Lenn Tues Feb 16 3:30 - 4:50pm RSR Brownmiller, Lenn Using the Internet

1: Introduction to the World Wide Web Tue Jan 12 1 - 2:20pm EC Stark Wed Jan 20 10 - 11:20am EC Bennett Mon Jan 25 3 - 4:20pm EC Felsing 2: Beyond Just Surfing - ✔ Prerequisites Thu Jan 21 1 - 2:20pm EC Darling, Frantz Wed Jan 27 3 - 4:20pm ITC Heinzkill Mon Feb 1 10 - 11:20am EC Ward 3: Power Web Searching - ✔ Prerequisites Thu Jan 28 1 - 2:20pm EC Jenkins Wed Feb 3 3 - 4:20pm ITC Paynter Mon Feb 8 10 - 11:20am EC Paynter Electronic Communication

Managing a Majordomo List (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~llynch/majordomo) Tue Jan 19 3 - 3:50pm EC Lynch Using MHonArc to Create a Web Archive for a Majordomo List (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~consult/deptcomp/) Tue Jan 26 3 - 3:50pm EC Lynch Procmail: Filtering Your Email - ✔ Prerequisites 8 Tue Jan 26 2 - 2:50pm EC Kuhn Mon Feb 1 2 - 2:50pm ITC Kuhn

* WORKSHOP LOCATION CODES * EC: Electronic Classroom (Windows) 144 Knight Library ITC: Macintosh Classroom 267B Knight Library RSR: Reed Seminar Room (Windows) 235 Knight Library 8 Requires an active account on DARKWING or GLADSTONE 6 computing news winter 1999 WINTER WORKSHOPS Workshop Day/Date Time Location Presenter Electronic Research Resources

Database Concepts: Search Like a Pro! Thu Jan 14 1 - 2:20pm EC Frantz Janus: Access to the World Online Fri Jan 29 10 - 11:20am EC Chadwell Thu Feb 4 1 - 2:20pm EC Klos Tue Feb 9 3 - 4:20pm EC Esau Net a Job: Use the Web (Call the Career Center at 346-3235 to register for this workshop) Tue Feb 2 3 - 4:20pm EC Songer Wed Mar 3 3 - 4:20pm EC Songer PsycINFO Mon Jan 25 7 - 7:50pm EC Benedicto Tue Feb 9 7 - 7:50pm EC Benedicto Thu Feb 25 7 - 7:50pm EC Benedicto Publishing on the Web Introduction to Web Publishing (http://libweb.uoregon.edu/govdocs/webpub/) - ✔ Prerequisites 8 Mon Jan 25 10 -11:50am EC Bell Thu Feb 11 1 - 2:50pm EC TD Smith, Sotak Intermediate Workshops in Web Publishing 1: More HTML (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/inter-pub/morehtml/) Wed Jan 27 2 - 3:50pm RSR Johnson 2: Images on Web Pages (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/inter-pub/images/) Wed Feb 3 2 - 3:50pm RSR Holman 3: Imagemaps & Access Counters (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/inter-pub/maps/) Wed Feb 10 2 - 3:50pm RSR Holman 4: Designing for the Web (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~cbell/design/) Wed Feb 17 2 - 3:50pm RSR Bell 5: HTML Tools and Tricks (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/inter-pub/debugging/) Wed Feb 24 2 - 3:50pm RSR Johnson 6: Organizing Your Web Site (http://libweb.uoregon.edu/govdocs/webpub/orgindex.html) Wed Mar 3 2 - 3:50pm RSR TD Smith Miscellaneous Workshops in Web Publishing Designing Web Access for Users w/Disabilities Mon Mar 1 3 - 4:50pm EC Bailey

Workshops Available on Video Looking for an alternative to the workshop format? The Computing Center Documents Room and Media Services in Knight Library have a growing collection of videos on using computers and computer software. You can use your UO picture ID to check out these videos, or schedule a viewing room in Media Services. For a list of available titles and descriptions, visit http://micro.uoregon.edu/workshops/ Call 346-4406 or 346-3091 for more information.

* WORKSHOP LOCATION CODES * EC: Electronic Classroom (Windows) 144 Knight Library RSR: Reed Seminar Room (Windows) 235 Knight Library 8 Requires an active account on DARKWING or GLADSTONE computing news winter 1999 7 Tips for More Effective Web Searches Even when using a highly refined • The Awesome Library ■ How to find what query, the major search engines will http://www.awesomelibrary.org/ you're looking for often return far more information than This site is a particularly good example the average user is willing to sort of a growing trend: search engines quicker and more through. This is when you may want that have been configured for use by efficiently to turn to the niche market services. children. Most searches will return a short list of links, but you can be con- How to Find a Special Search Service: fident that the content will be “kid- If you're looking for niche market ser- By Lucy Lynch safe.” The site also includes an index of vice, a good starting point might be the [email protected] other kid-safe search engines: All-in-One Search Page (http:// http://www.awesomelibrary.org/ As the amount of material stored on www.albany.net/allinone/), which pro- searchek.html web servers grows, the ability to per- vides a sort of index of indexes. form efficient and timely searches be- • Deja News comes increasingly important. Most You'll also want to try Martindale’s http://www.dejanews.com/ “The Reference Desk” (http://www- users are already familiar with the If you’ve ever needed to use USENET sci.lib.uci.edu/~martindale/Ref.html), major web search engines like Alta news for a quick answer to a subject- which includes links to special tools Vista, Excite, and HotBot and general specific question, you’ll love Deja like calculators and dictionaries. indexes like Yahoo. Some have even News. A simple query here will search learned to use the arcane boolean syn- A few examples of niche services: through several years' worth of mes- tax that most search engines employ. sages and you may find that someone • FindLaw But few people have explored some of else has already asked your question. the more specialized features of stan- http://www.findlaw.com/ dard services like Alta Vista or the This site combines both a topical index • Google more exotic “niche” services. and a range of targeted search services http://www.google.com/ which allow the user to narrow a search This service, originally developed at Almost every service recognizes basic to legal sites, mailing lists, or govern- Stanford, tries to take the work out of boolean search criteria like AND, OR, ment documents. formatting queries by making some as- and NOT and many allow the use of • Northern Light sumptions about your key words. " " (for a specific phrase), + (must http://www.northernlight.com/ Google will give preference to a series of include), and - (exclude). Each service This service is a hybrid, combining a words found as a phrase, and assumes has its own special features, so be sure classic web search with a for-pay search that every word is required. Note that to read the online help or explore the of over 4500 periodicals. One of the Google orders hits hierarchically by the advanced search options. more interesting features is the use of number of sites that link to each hit. Alta Vista users (http://www.altavista.com) ‘custom folders,’ which presort all of • The MetaCrawler can significantly improve the quality of the links found into rough categories. http://www.metacrawler.com/ their web queries by spending a little time • Fast FTP Search One of several meta search services, all reading through the online help (http:// http://ftpsearch.lycos.com/ of which query several popular ser- www.altavista.com/av/content/help.htm) One of the under-utilized capabilities vices on your behalf and return a list and by learning to use special keywords of the web is the ability to transfer extracted from the top 10 links from to limit searches by host, URL, or even program files from remote locations. each service. This one is quick and content type (applets, images, etc.). For This service helps you locate files and dirty—you’ll get a short list of good explicit examples of limited searches, provides the links to download files to matches, but you’ll miss the depth of see the table on the facing page. your desktop. material available. Solve Complex Computations with UO's Beowulf Cluster By Hans Kuhn pass instructions to a group of slave parallel. Fortunately, advances in soft- [email protected] PCs. Currently, the Beowulf cluster ware (such as Paralogic's Bert77 pack- has 18 Pentium Pro PCs, making it age) make this process much easier. If you have a large, complex computa- more powerful than DARKWING, tional problem to solve, you might be GLADSTONE, and OREGON combined. To learn more about the UO's Beowulf interested in the University of computer, contact Hans Kuhn Oregon's Beowulf cluster. The main difficulty in using a parallel ([email protected]) or visit This parallel virtual supercomputer supercomputer is the need to port http://limestone.uoregon.edu/beowulf/ uses the network protocol PVM to source code to solve computations in 8 computing news winter 1999 Examples of Limited Searches in AltaVista Keyword Function

anchor:text Finds pages that contain the specified word or phrase in the text of a hyperlink. anchor:"Click here to visit AltaVista" would find pages with “Click here to visit AltaVista” as a link.

domain:domainname Finds pages within the specified domain. Use domain:de to find pages from Ger- many, or use domain:org to find pages from organizations.

host:name Finds pages on a specific computer. The search host:altavista.digital.com would find pages on the AltaVista computer, and host:dilbert.unitedmedia.com would find pages on the computer called dilbert at unitedmedia.com.

image:filename Finds pages with images having a specific filename. Use image:elvis to find pages with images called elvis.

link:URLtext Finds pages with a link to a page with the specified URL text. Use link:altavista.digital.com to find all pages linking to AltaVista.

text:text Finds pages that contain the specified text in any part of the page other than an image tag, link, or URL. The search text:cow9 would find all pages with the term cow9 in them.

title:text Finds pages that contain the specified word or phrase in the page title (which appears in the title bar of most browsers). The search title:Elvis would find pages with Elvis in the title.

url:text Finds pages with a specific word or phrase in the URL. Use url:altavista to find all pages on all servers that have the word altavista in the host name, path, or filename— the complete URL, in other words.

What's ccMail's Life Expectancy? Financial Research Data By Don Gathers [email protected] system will not be operational but Service Available will continue to forward mail for those The Lundquist College of Business re- Recently, many campus administrators users who have had an alias created cently purchased access to the Wharton have been asking how much longer the on the hub post office. Research Data Service, which supplies ccMail system will continue to run. The After December 31, 1999, mail sent to access to such vital tools for financial and plan is as follows: As of July 1, 1999, the [email protected] will bounce. economic research as the Compustat and ccMail routers will be shut down perma- Many departments have already fin- CRSP datasets. nently. By that time, all UO departments ished their email migration and oth- UO faculty, Ph.D. candidates, and in- should have a new system in place for ers are near completion. This announce- structors can request access to the WRDS sending and receiving electronic mail. ment should give those of you who system for research and/or student use are still working on a solution a time- via a web page at No mail will be delivered to the indivi- http://wrdsx.wharton.upenn.edu/ dual post offices starting July 1. The main line so that you can better plan and post office running on Zeus and the ccMail implement a migration strategy. If you have problems accessing WRDS, gateway will continue to run until they send email to Mick Westrick: die a slow death on January 1, 2000. If you have questions regarding the [email protected] final days of ccMail, contact network Address questions about database con- This means that for the period from engineer Don Gathers (346-4316; tent to John Chalmers: July 1 to December 31, 1999, the ccMail [email protected]) [email protected]

computing news winter 1999 9 Looking for a Great Stand-

By Hervey Allen Try Macromedia's Microcomputer Support (Dreamweaver 1.2 doesn't crash on the code generated by Dreamweaver is quite Specialist, Computing Center PC, but it definitely had a memory clean and only rarely includes errors. [email protected] leak. We have not determined if this If it does have errors, they're not com- has been resolved in version 2.0.) The mon code sequences and you can After having tested and used several of program slowed down with very large readily correct them via quick access the current popular WYSIWYG (What documents. Still, for almost all our to the HTML code. You See Is What You Get) HTML editors, documents this is not a problem. Microcomputer Services' staff chose FTP. The FTP client included with Some Dreamweaver Hints Macromedia's Dreamweaver to create its Dreamweaver is great. The one included Dreamweaver will close all “

” (para- web site at micro.uoregon.edu. on the Mac version is the only FTP graph) HTML statements with a “

” client we've seen that can download (end paragraph) statement. While this Here are some of the questions we asked large directory structures from UNIX is structurally correct, it can be annoy- ourselves when evaluating a WYSIWYG machines to the Mac. Anarchie (older ing because you'll always have an ex- HTML editor: versions) and Fetch (all versions) often tra line at the end of each paragraph • is it available on both the Mac and PC? fail if you attempt to download many and at the bottom of your files. (How- • is it stable on both platforms? directories and hundreds of files, which ever, most other WYSIWYG HTML • does it have robust upload and is what we needed to do with the editors do the same thing.) You can download features? micro.uoregon.edu site. Dreamweaver adjust this by editing the code directly. handles this with no problems. • can it display web pages and all Line endings on DARKWING and GLAD- images in WYSIWYG format without Another nice feature of Dreamweaver's STONE. If you're using Dreamweaver extra effort? FTP client is its interface. To upload or with DARKWING or GLADSTONE, note that • does it leave previously created download a file, you simply drag your these machines run UNIX for their HTML alone? file(s)—or an entire directory struc- operating system. By default, Dream- ture—between two windows. (A quick weaver 1.2 will upload your HTML Of all the products described in this aside: Dreamweaver, including version files using either Mac or PC end-of- article, Dreamweaver emerged the clear 2, will not connect with VMS machines line conventions. While your pages winner when measured against these (e.g., OREGON and DONALD) as it doesn't will still load correctly, the actual criteria. support FTP service with the VMS op- HTML code does not have the correct Below we review a few of the relative erating system.) line endings if you look at your files on merits and peculiarities of Dreamweaver Display. We particularly wanted an DARKWING or GLADSTONE. and some of the more popular products editor that would let us replicate the To get around this, tell Dreamweaver to available today— GoLive Cyberstudio 3.1, directory structure on the web server always use the UNIX "end-of-line" for- NetObjects Fusion 3.0, FrontPage Express, on our local hard drives, tell the editor mat. Open Dreamweaver's Edit menu, Claris Home Page 3.0, and Netscape Com- the location of the “root” directory of choose Preferences, and then select poser. Keep in mind that all these prod- our site, and then display files and all Source Format. In the pop-up menu, ucts undergo constant revision, so by associated graphics without any com- set the “end-of-line” option to “UNIX the time you read this, newer versions plicated code changes. Dreamweaver (LF).” Do this before you upload any may already be available does this by default and it does it very files to a UNIX-based Web server. well. This makes Dreamweaver incred- Macromedia Dreamweaver 2.0 ibly useful if you already have a web GoLive CyberStudio 3.1 Availability. Dreamweaver 2.0 is avail- site that you want to update quickly. This product ran a close second to able for both the Mac and PC. Only Dreamweaver does “fix” your code if it Netscape and NetObjects Fusion can say Dreamweaver, but it had a few limita- finds errors, but it appears to do a very tions that kept us from using it: the same of equivalent versions of their good job of this. Dreamweaver will only products. adjust improperly nested, closed, or • It's only available for the Mac. For extra tags, and you have the option of our group this was a critical short- If you'd like to try Dreamweaver, a demo displaying each change it's going to coming. But if you use a Mac, this of version 1.2 is available on the 1998 make. You also have the option of may be an excellent choice for you. Duckware CD-ROM. turning off code "fixing," if you prefer. If you'd like to try out the product, a 20-day demo is available on the 1998 Stability. Dreamweaver is more stable While all HTML editors generate er- CD-ROM. than GoLive CyberStudio on the Mac. roneous code from time to time, the 10 computing news winter 1999 alone HTML Editor? Dreamweaver • The included FTP client is good, sional, it may not be as original as istrators to run FrontPage extensions but not as stable as Dreamweaver's you'd like. This can, of course, be on their operating systems (i.e., addi- • It adjusts your HTML code a little changed by adding your own im- tions to large systems like DARKWING and too much for our taste. While this ages, icons, and layouts. GLADSTONE) to allow the FrontPage prod- doesn't cause too many problems, if uct to work to its full ability. Unfortu- you've already written a web page, FrontPage Express nately, Microsoft doesn't publish the GoLive will update your code as it sees Actually, FrontPage comes in three fla- source code for these extensions. This fit. This includes indenting text, adding vors: FrontPage 98, FrontPage 1.0 for the means that if they cause problems or META tags, and making “corrections” Macintosh (both commercial prod- compromise security there's no way for to some code. ucts), and FrontPage Express, which is a system administrator to update them. included free with Internet Explorer • The interface to this product was In addition to these issues, there were a version 4 for Windows 95/98 and Win- somewhat confusing. It's not easy few more that kept us from choosing dows NT 4.0. (Note that FrontPage Ex- to set up a mirror of a web site on FrontPage for the micro.uoregon.edu press is not available for the Mac, Win- your hard drive and then open a web site. Still, if you use the product dows 3.1, or Windows NT 3.51.) FrontPage page and see that page, including and are aware of its limitations, it can 2000 is currently in development. all downloaded, associated images. work well for you. (This is what Dreamweaver excels at.) This product has some excellent fea- To summarize, we didn't choose tures—not the least of which is that it's • GoLive crashed more often than FrontPage for the following reasons: free—but it also has some serious flaws. Dreamweaver, our number one One thing to watch out for: if you use • Default settings can cause pos- choice. the product to update a web site from sible data loss. With a large site like two places (say, work and home) you micro.uoregon.edu this was not ac- NetObjects Fusion 3.0 can lose data if you allow FrontPage to ceptable. • The product is not uniformly NetObjects is a product aimed at the “update site” instead of updating the available on both the Mac and PC business user who wants to create a individual file you're working on. For (i.e., versions differ). web site from the ground up. If you've example, suppose you updated one already created a web site, we don't file at work and later updated a differ- • FrontPage edits your code in ways recommend using this product. ent version of the same file at home. If we did not like. you then opted to have FrontPage up- • To utilize the full features of (Note that NetObjects version 3.0 is date your entire web site, the editor FrontPage you must run proprietary available for both Mac and Windows.) would replace your updated file from Microsoft FrontPage extensions on Some of the specifics that kept us work with an older version of the file at your web server. For large systems home. from using this product included: like GLADSTONE and DARKWING this is Confusing? Yes, and that's why this not an option, as Microsoft doesn't • If you download your preexist- make the source code available for ing site for use with NetObjects, should never be a default feature in a product like FrontPage. Unfortunately, these extensions. (To give you an ex- the entire site is saved in a propri- ample of why this is so important: etary database format that you Microcomputer Services has seen a GLADSTONE has over 15,000 user ac- can't edit directly. number of Microsoft Products that have excellent feature sets but include counts. If a single product, such as • When we downloaded our preex- default settings that cause no end of FrontPage, were to bring down a ma- isting micro.uoregon.edu site and problems for the user. This is true of chine serving this large a community, opened it using NetObjects Fusion the Microsoft Outlook Express products it could create havoc.) we saw extensive changes to our as well. We sincerely hope that code. Still, if you're starting from Microsoft will listen to user feedback Claris Home Page 3.0 scratch and want a site created “out and update these products accordingly. There is a group of HTML WYSIWYG of the box,” this product may work If you use FrontPage at the UO you'll editors that are less expensive and in- well for you. need to upload and download files clude free-trial versions that you can • Some users have complained using the FTP protocol. If you use use. One of the most popular of these is that sites created with NetObjects DARKWING or GLADSTONE, FrontPage Claris Home Page 3.0, which is available Fusion have a certain “look” to should correctly detect this when you for both the Mac and PC. (You can get them that's particular to the prod- start to upload your first file. By de- Claris Home Page from the 1998 uct. While this look is quite profes- fault, Microsoft wants system admin- Duckware CD-ROM.) computing news winter 1999 11 HTML Editors, continued… This product can work if you're a be- Netscape Composer logged back in, used "pwd" again, ginning web publisher and you haven't This is the web editor included with and updated your directory path in already created web pages. In fact, this Netscape Communicator. We tested the Composer. These are all details that product is probably the most intuitive version of Composer included with should be hidden from the end user— and easiest to use of all those cited Netscape Communicator 4.06. Communi- and can be if the product works cor- here. This is directly attributable to the cator 4.5 is currently available for Power rectly. fact that Claris Home Page 3.0 has less Macintosh, Windows 95/98, and Win- In short, Composer works well for ba- features than the other products, mak- dows NT 4.0. Version 4.07 of Commun- sic files, but isn't sufficiently robust to ing it less confusing to use. icator is available for 68K Macintosh use with larger web sites. Composer and Windows 3.1 users. also makes it very difficult to publish One caveat: if you've already created a your web pages once they're com- page and are planning to open it using Overall, Netscape Composer works rea- pleted. Home Page, be absolutely certain that sonably well for basic web pages. The you have a backup copy of your file. In code it generates has improved greatly some cases we have seen Claris Home and is generally acceptable. But for Conclusion Page actually remove large sections of advanced web publishing or editing As noted, most of the WYSIWYG HTML code from previously created existing web pages, we don't recom- HTML products listed here may work files. This is equivalent to losing a big mend this product. well for your particular situation. Still, chunk of your work if you save the One of the major problems we encoun- after having used and tested these changed file. tered with Composer is publishing pages products, we prefer Dreamweaver over the others for its rich feature set, ease Remember, for new web publishers, on the web. Once you've finished cre- of use, and good behavior when open- this product can work well. For ad- ating your page you must publish it on ing previously created files and pub- vanced users or for those who already the server where it will reside. Most lishing HTML files. have a site, like micro.uoregon.edu, products will allow you do this using it's not recommended for the follow- either FTP or HTTP Push (the latter is For the beginner, Dreamweaver may ing reasons: not supported at the UO for security reasons). seem a bit confusing at first. Still, once the basic concepts are understood this • Pages that include nested tables While Composer allows this, its inter- product is very powerful and can in- don't open correctly. In numerous face is very counter-intuitive. In fact, crease productivity dramatically. We cases, Claris Home Page removed version 4.0x required that you enter have found that we can implement much of the file's original HTML the absolute directory path to your files new web pages much faster than we code. on DARKWING or GLADSTONE to publish a did previously when we used prod- • Claris Home Page will “update” page. In nontechnical terms, this meant ucts such as straight FTP, BBEdit on your code while you open a file. Of- that you had to log in on DARKWING or the Mac (still this author's favorite ten the code it generates is usable but GLADSTONE, type the command “pwd” text editor), emacs with UNIX, etc. very messy. to see where your files resided on these machines, and then type this exact di- Dreamweaver's newest version, 2.0, has • Some web browsers had problems rectory path in Composer's “Publish” a considerable list of improvements, reading Claris-generated code (espe- dialogue to upload your files. including some new site management cially nested or precisely formatted features that appear very promising. tables). Because user accounts move to differ- ent locations from time to time, To learn more, see • Home Page lacked features that we Composer's publishing requirement http://www.macromedia.com/software/ found useful. could paralyze your uploads until you dreamweaver/productinfo/newfeatures/ IP/TV Broadcast Opportunity for UO Faculty Do you have video content you'd like If so, the Computing Center would be (Note that we cannot rebroadcast to share with the campus community? glad to broadcast those videos for you copywritten tapes without written on UOnet via IP/TV. Just leave your permission from the copyright holder, Perhaps you have student-produced VHS cassette with Vickie Nelson in the and we reserve the right to schedule, videos, tape from an overseas sabbati- Computing Center Documents Room limit, or decline any submission.) cal, or videotaped lectures you'd like (Room 205), and we’ll do the rest. to be able to rebroadcast for class mem- bers to watch. 12 computing news winter 1999 Web Proxy Before you Buy Your Next Server Update Toner Cartridge, Take a Look ■ A new disk gives yet at the Benefits of Ours another performance boost to the campus web proxy server By Joel Jaeggli [email protected]

With the arrival of a new disk that brings the proxy cache up to 6GB, the UO␣ campus web proxy server, proxy.uoregon.edu, is better able than ever to serve an increased number of users. Proxy servers␣ speed up access to web-based resources by locally storing copies of␣ frequently- accessed web sites. After a web page is first viewed, users don’t have to QUALITY RELIABILITY wait for it to load from a very remote Have you tried a remanufactured car- Many people believe that buying a or slow web server. Instead, the tridge lately? Over the past few years, recycled toner cartridge is a gamble. In web page is served from the local the science of rebuilding cartridges for the past that may have been true be- laser printers, fax machines and small proxy cache to all users who request cause many components were not copiers has improved dramatically. In available to replace wearable parts, that page, resulting in much faster fact, independent studies now show making it difficult to produce a reli- page views.␣ ␣ that many remanufactured cartridges able cartridge. That's not the case any are higher quality than new ones. For more information on proxy longer. Office Imaging can replace every wearable part to make our pre- server enhancements, see At Office Imaging, we pride ourselves mium remanufactured products as http://proxy.uoregon.edu on having the best cartridges in the trouble-free as the originals. industry. Every component of every cartridge is tested, inspected, and re- When you put a cartridge in your ma- placed as needed with higher quality chine, you expect great results for the parts than the originals. The result is a life of the cartridge. With our toner cartridge that produces top quality text SP4 Released for cartridges, that's just what you'll get - and graphics that's as good, or better, cartridges that work the first time, ev- than originally-manufactured car- Windows NT 4.0 ery time, Guaranteed! Microsoft has released Service Pack 4 tridges! (SP4) for Windows NT 4.0, incorporat- ing all post-SP3 hotfixes plus patches Try one today! for numerous bugs, including fixes for a number of security vulnerabilities. Call today and Office Imaging will provide one of our premium toner car- You can obtain and install SP4 from tridges for a free 30-day trial! When http://www.microsoft.com/support/ you are satisfied, you pay only 1/2 winnt/default.htm As always, before price for the trial cartridge or return it 1900-A West 7th Avenue installing the new service pack, be sure and owe nothing. you have a clean backup in case you Eugene, OR 97402 run into unexpected difficulties. Limit 1 per customer Note also that an excellent summary 541-343-0303 of post-SP4 hotfixes is available at http://www.conitech.com/windows/ nt4sp4.html CALL FOR A NO-RISK 30-DAY TRIAL TODAY computing news winter 1999 13 Required by Law… Campus research. Our students have a wealth Departments By Matthew Latterell of technological skills. Assistant Dean, May Benefit The real challenge we now face at the Educational and School of Law is how to use current and Information Technology from Web emerging technologies to enhance the UO School of Law legal education of our students. We also need to identify the obstacles we Virtual Host ■ …a new column must overcome before we can offer a By Joel Jaeggli designed to share the substantive technology-rich education. [email protected] lessons learned from the Faculty and staff need access to tech- Many campus departments have web UO School of Law nology and need to be trained to ap- pages stored on␣ DARKWING. It’s now ply that technology to their courses. possible to add a virtual web host computer requirement Classrooms need adequate infrastruc- pointing at those pages, a tactic which and the use of technology ture, including power, networking, can make site addresses easier to and multimedia equipment. And com- remember. in enhancing an puter support staff need to be avail- academic curriculum able to make it all work. For example, if the URL for your de- partment’s web page is current- Ultimately, it must be the faculty and Law students are trained to argue, ly␣ something like staff who drive the computer require- debate and question assumptions. Since http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~german its inception, the notebook computer ment for the School of Law. Encour- you can request that Computing Center requirement at the School of Law has aging students to purchase notebook Systems staff create a virtual host for this generated an often very heated computers is just one aspect of the page with a less cumbersome address, conversation among our students. If computer requirement. An even more such as http://german.uoregon.edu there were suddenly no injustice in the important aspect is encouraging faculty world against which to fight, Law to enrich their teaching with technology. students would still be able to complain What does this mean? The answer de- Who May Create a about their computers. pends upon the faculty member, the material, and the students. Active dis- Virtual Host? And not without good reason. Strong- cussions over email, extensive web Keep in mind that this service␣ is ly encouraging incoming students to sites filled with lecture materials, sup- available only to colleges and purchase a notebook computer plemental information, online exer- departments and campus institutes package with the promise that a cises and assignments, the use of Power- and centers, not to␣ individuals. The notebook computer is vital to a legal Point and other presentation software virtual host would be pointed at your education at the UO is one thing— to deliver class materials, and collabo- current document␣ root (i.e., the living up to that promise is another. ration with other faculty using web- public_html directory in the home based tools are just a few possibilities. directory of your organization The UO School of Law aspires to account). provide students with both a Our next task is to build on the efforts technological education as well as an of the faculty and staff currently Virtual host names may not already education enhanced through the use utilizing technology as a learning tool be otherwise registered, and they must of technology. The former includes and develop a technologically en- be descriptive. Quota restrictions still providing training on current tools hanced academic curriculum for the apply. and technologies, such as learning entire school. This is the challenge of good word processing, database, web the School of Law computer require- Note: Web virtual hosts are not browsing and email skills. This ment: to go beyond the basics of using available on GLADSTONE at this time, requires a commitment of staff, equip- technology as simply an alternative to and virtual hosts may only be used for ment, repair services, and facilities. notepad and pen and foster an World Wide Web URLs, not for email environment where innovation in addresses or other purposes. Students at the Law School are already teaching and learning is a reality. incredibly active computer users. Email Need More Information? is a primary means of communication, Editor’s Note: Formerly a consultant For more information␣ on creating a computers are used regularly in class to with the Computing Center’s Micro- virtual host for a DARKWING account, take notes (and, recently, to take exams), computer Services, Matthew Latterell email [email protected] and online legal resources are used daily joined the staff of the Law School last for academic and post-graduate fall. 14 computing news winter 1999 computing news winter 1999 15 System Administrators: What to Do

■ In recent months, UNIX 2. Law Enforcement 4. Others Who May be Affected Computer crimes, like any other crime, The final reporting step is to contact system administrators should be reported to appropriate law other systems administrators and users at the university have enforcement authorities. However, who may be affected by the host seen an upsurge in you should be aware that once you do, compromise. you will become a de facto agent of law hacker/crackers enforcement and will be less free to For example, if you discover logs from gather information from users’ ac- network-monitoring software that targeting UO systems include usernames and passwords for for break-ins and counts because of legal privacy issues. It’s best to gather as much evidence as other hosts, the administrators of those abuse. If a system you possible before contacting law enforce- hosts need to be notified. Likewise, if ment agencies. your logs include an indication of where manage gets violated, an attack originated, you’ll need to here are some basic steps That said, the primary reason for con- contact the administrators of that host, you’ll want to take: tacting law enforcement early on is to as they may also have a security breach. determine what, if any, evidence they’d like to collect from your system, and Preserve the Evidence I. Report the Incident whether they’d be interested in using If authorities do want to gather evi- your system in an effort to catch an dence from your system, be prepared The first thing to do is report the for any one of the following scenarios: violation. There are several organiza- intruder in the act. tions you may need to contact, such as • they may ask you to remove one or Federal authorities: If the crime was more system disks for further • Network Services (Computing perpetrated from a system outside investigation or for use as evidence Center) Oregon, federal authorities will have (which means you’ll need to replace • law enforcement authorities jurisdiction over the incident, given them with new units) the definition of “Federal interest com- • Computer Emergency Response • they may ask you to do a complete Team (CERT) puters” appearing at 18 USC 1030 (e) (2). See http://www.law.cornell.edu/ backup of the system to tape • other system administrators and uscode/18/1030.shtml as well as other • they may ask you to save/print users who may have been affected applicable statutes. copies of relevant log files Suggestions for action and referrals to other information sources are Practically speaking, it is unlikely Fed- given below. eral law enforcement officials will be II. Take Steps to Recover interested in minor security incidents, After you’ve reported the break-in to 1. Network Services but all major computing incidents (es- the proper authorities, take the follow- Assuming the computer crime pecially all incidents involving a Fed- ing steps to recover: occurred on a system connected to eral interest computer and significant UOnet, report the incident to Network out-of-pocket financial losses) should 1. Remove the system from the net- Services at [email protected] or call be reported. work. If law enforcement is not in- 346-4395. Be careful NOT to send mail to terested in using your system in an the usual Network Services address Local authorities: If a computer effort to␣ catch an intruder in the act, ([email protected]), as that alias incident is not of interest to federal the next step is to remove the is widely distributed and is also the law enforcement authorities, it’s compromised␣ system from the net- gateway to USENET News. This means possible that the Oregon State Police, work so it cannot be used as a base hackers may routinely monitor that the Eugene Police Department, or from which to attack␣ other systems. traffic. UO Campus Security may want to pursue the matter. 2. Do a full backup for your own use. Do not report the incident using email With the system removed from the from the system you believe was 3. CERT network, do a full backup to local me- compromised, since email on that All computer crimes meeting at least dia␣ for your own use. system may be monitored or interfered the minimum definition of computer incidents should also be reported to 3. Reinstall the operating system from with by the intruder. If you forward original media.␣ You should install the mail to the compromised system from CERT, the Computer Emergency Re- sponse Team. For more information latest stable release of your operating another system (such as DARKWING), you on reporting to CERT, see system␣ from original media, i.e., from should also turn off forwarding until original CD-ROM. Until you do this, the compromised system has been fixed. http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/ incident_reporting.html you ␣ cannot be sure that the operating

16 computing news winter 1999 if Your System is Hacked/Cracked ␣ system running on the com- you ␣ aren't actively using/encourag- 7. Request installation of a switched promised␣ system hasn't been modi- ing the use of finger, don't enable it by network port. Multiuser systems and fied to defeat system security features default (and give strong consideration network servers should also be run from or to ␣ provide the hackers/crackers to disabling Telnet in favor of ssh ␣ifa switched␣ network port, rather than with a “back door” to that host. possible…see below.) from a normal shared network port, to further ␣ reduce or eliminate packet sniff- 4. Apply all recommended operating 2. Install TCP Wrappers. Installation ing opportunities. In many buildings, system patches. ␣ You should also apply of TCP Wrappers will improve log- switched 100 Mbps (fast ethernet) ser- all vendor-recommended operating ging and your ability to block␣ attempts vice is available from Network system patches␣ applicable to the release to hack/crack your system. TCP Wrap- Services␣ for a one-time charge of $250/ you've just reinstalled. If you fail to do pers are available from port. This is a particularly good idea in this, the intruder may be able to exploit ftp://ftp.cert.org/pub/tools/tcp_wrappers/ labs, where public access (including the a known vulnerability␣ to recrack your ␣ ability to potentially install␣ a sniffer on system as soon as it comes back up on 3. Install sshd and disable telnetd, a lab machine) is a given. the network. pop, and ftpd. Because transmission of unencrypted passwords over the 5. Change the passwords on all network is such␣ a significant vulner- IV. Increase Your Awareness accounts. You need to assume that all ability, give strong consideration to Finally, take preventative measures to accounts on your system have also installing␣ sshd and disabling telnetd and assure you’ll be less vulnerable in future: ftpd so passwords won't be trans- been␣ compromised, and you must 1. CERT Mailing List mitted␣ in plain text when you log in or assign and securely distribute new If you are responsible for the adminis- transfer files. sshd is available passwords␣ for all those accounts. Yes, tration of a system, subscribe to the this is a pain. Yes, users will be un- from␣ http://www.ssh.org/ CERT Advisory Mailing List. See␣ happy,␣ at least until you explain why it http://www.cert.org/contact_cert/ is necessary. Be sure to check that no A free ssh client for PCs running Win- certmaillist.html␣ “extra”/unauthorized accounts have dows 95/NT is included on this year's Duckware CD-ROM;␣ pointers to com- been created, and that all accounts␣ which 2. Bugtraq mercial ssh clients for the PC and the may be created by default during the Another excellent mailing list for sys- Mac are available ␣ from thessh.org installation process are secured by tem administrators is Bugtraq. See site mentioned above. passwords or removed if unneeded. http://www.cert.org/other_sources/ ␣ 4. Install tripwire so that you will usenet.html␣ ␣ 6. Check for setuid files or other con- know if crucial files have been 3. Vendor Mailing Lists/Security Web figuration problems. You should also changed. Installation of tripwire will Sites. You should also investigate use the Cops program to check for let you know if crucial system files whether your operating system setuid files (files installed so␣ that they have been␣ modified without authori- vendor␣ offers a security mailing list or can be run with special permissions/ zation. Tripwire is available from␣ ␣ has a security web site, or if there is␣ a special access) and ␣ other system con- ftp://ftp.cert.org/pub/tools/tripwire/␣ figuration vulnerabilities. Cops is avail- USENET News group discussing se- able from 5. Install anti-relay/anti-spam sendmail curity or system administration ftp://ftp.cert.org/pub/tools/cops/ rulesets. To prevent your system from issues␣ for your operating system.␣ being abused by spammers, modify 4. Watch your system’s logs and The presence of executable files in your sendmail␣ installation to use anti- load.␣ The final and most important unexpected places should also relay and anti-spam sendmail rulesets. step is to check your system’s logs be␣ investigated and resolved. ␣ See:␣ ␣ regularly and monitor its load. http://www.sendmail.org/tips/relaying (Automating system log checks via a html␣ http://maps.vix.com/ semi-intelligent log parser would in- III. Harden the System ␣ crease chances of detecting unauth- Next, you’ll need to take some steps to 6. Reinstall all application software orized activities on the system.) “harden the system” against further from original media. Just as your op- break-ins: erating system was rendered untrust- Know what’s normal for your system worthy when your system␣ was com- and investigate unusual behavior, 1. Disable all unneeded services. Dis- promised, all of your applications also particularly␣ unusual behavior occur- able all unneeded Internet services immediately became suspect. You ring at odd times or from odd places. running on your system. For need to reinstall them from scratch Be proactive if you notice any unex- example,␣ if you aren't using NFS to unless you␣ are able to verify their in- pected jobs running. share files, don't run NFS by default. If tegrity (à la tripwire checksums).

computing news winter 1999 17 UO Connects to Internet 2 By Joe St Sauver the new connections will still be im- [email protected] portant to you. Over 135 schools are currently I2 participants, including The University of Oregon is in the Even if you aren't virtually all major Carnegie Research I process of connecting to Abilene/ doing cutting-edge institutions. As soon as I2 connectiv- Internet 2 via two new packet over ity is established at each of these SONET (POS) OC3c (155Mbps) circuits, scientific or sites, traffic between any of those one going to Sacramento, California, sites and the UO will take place via and the other to Denver, Colorado. computational I2's fast and uncongested connections. These new high-performance connec- research, the new (A list of I2 institutions, by region, is tions were made possible by a $350,000 shown at the bottom of page 19): National Science Foundation award connections will made this October to Provost John How Can You Take Mosely, Computing Center Director still be important to Joanne Hugi, Professor Greg Bothun of Advantage of Internet 2? Physics, and Dave Meyer of the Com- you Routing of traffic between the UO and puting Center's Advanced Network other I2 sites will automatically occur as Technology Center, along with gener- collaboration with Arizona, Wash- I2 sites come up; you do not need to ex- ous financial support from the Oregon ington, Groningen, and Cardiff plicitly request that your traffic be University System and networking routed via I2—it will automatically hap- equipment vendor Cisco Systems, Inc. • Remote scientific instrument opera- pen wherever feasible. On the other tion, including remote observation at hand, if you want your application to The two new circuits , each running at the Pine Mountain Observatory take full advantage of the fast connec- a hundred times the speed of an ISP's • Tomographic imaging for ridge re- tions between I2 sites, there are some typical T1 connection (1.55 Mbps), will search and analysis with the Pacific things you may want to consider: enable UO scientists to collaborate with Northwest Geodetic Array and • Contact Your Colleagues at Other colleagues across the country on here- Woods Hole tofore-impossible high-performance I2 Schools: To take advantage of I2's • Numerical modeling for geological computing projects, while also en- capabilities, you’ll naturally need to and environmental sciences in col- abling general university-wide access be working with peers at other I2- laboration with UC Berkeley to Internet 2 (I2), the new high speed/ connected schools. If you’re not restricted-access research and edu- • Crystallization, vesiculation and talking with them and working to cation network backbone. eruption of magmas identify projects where high band- • Parallel computing tool develop- width connections can be exploited, High-Performance ment, parallel performance environ- you’ll only see incidental benefit from ments, and parallel performance eval- the University's I2 connections. Computing Projects uation and modeling (Para Ducks) • Learn About Optimizing Your Oper- Some of the specific high-perfor- • Electronic courseware develop- ating System: The default configuration mance computing projects enabled ment and Java-based experiments of your operating system will typically by I2 connections will include: • Scalable multicast routing, includ- not be tailored to take full advantage of high-performance networks such as I2. • Experimental high-energy physics ing work on GUM (Grand Unified Multicast) To obtain sustained high throughput, focusing on the electroweak interac- you may need to tweak various OS ker- • IPv6 multicast routing, including tion and the weak decays of heavy nel parameters. An excellent starting implementation and deployment of quarks and experiments aimed at point for understanding this process PIM-DM for IPv6 with prune refresh fully understanding the Z0 particle is the document “Enabling High Per- in conjunction with collaborators at • Scalable differentiated service, in- formance Data Transfers” (http:// SLAC, Yale, MIT, Washington, Co- cluding work on RSVP, wRED and www.psc.edu/networking/perf_tune.html ) lumbia, Fermilab, Rutherford Lab, ATM QoS CERN and others • Buy a switched hundred megabit • Quality of service dynamic valida- connection to UOnet: If you’re plan- • Gravitational radiation/laser inter- tion qualifiers (The DARPA-funded ning to use I2 extensively, it may be ferometer gravitational wave observa- Quorum ASSERT project) worthwhile to consider paying for tory (LIGO) in conjunction with the What Internet 2 Means for switched hundred megabit service for California Institute of Technology, the UO system(s) you'll be using. To MIT, Florida, Stanford and others. the Campus as a Whole understand why, consider that most • The formation and evolution of Even if you aren't doing cutting-edge campus connections are conventional low surface brightness galaxies in scientific or computational research, ten megabit shared ethernet connec-

18 computing news winter 1999 High-Performance Network tions, which will limit your through- • Review Hardware Bottlenecks: In • Learn More About High-Perfor- put (even under the best of possible many cases, the biggest inhibitor of mance Networking: Some excellent circumstances) to no more than a 6 or high-performance networking may be information is available on the fol- 7 Mbps. A switched hundred connec- your disk I/O subsystem. If you plan lowing web pages: tion, on the other hand, will let you to sustain high throughput transfers, Internet 2: http://www.internet2.edu use more than 10 Mbps (though net- multiple drives acting as a striped work traffic characteristics will prob- RAID-0 array (preferably serviced by Abilene: http://www.ucaid.edu/abilene/ ably not result in throughput at the a hardware RAID controller or mul- The vBNS: http://www.vbns.net/ full nominal capacity of that circuit to tiple wide or ultrawide SCSI control- NLANR: http://www.nlanr.net/ remote destinations). Fast ethernet con- lers) will probably be required. On STAR TAP: http://www.startap.net/ nections can be ordered from Network most UNIX operating systems, iostat and sar will help you begin to identify CANARIE: http://www.canarie.ca/frames/ Services, where available, for a one-time startnetworks_e.html charge of $250/each. I/O hardware bottlenecks.

Internet 2 Institutions West Ohio University, Athens, OH Worcester Polytechnic Inst., Worcester, MA California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN Yale University, New Haven, CN California State University System Univ. of Akron, OH Oregon State University, Corvallis Univ. of Chicago, IL Mid-Atlantic Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA Univ. of Cincinnati, Ohio Duke Univ., Durham, NC Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks Univ. of Illinois, Chicago Gallaudet Univ., Washington, DC Univ. of California, Berkeley Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign George Mason University, Fairfax, VA Univ. of California, Davis Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor George Washington Univ., Washington, DC Univ. of California, Irvine Univ. of Minnesota, Twin Cities Georgetown Univ., Washington, DC Univ. of California, Los Angeles Univ. of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC Univ. of California Office of the President Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA Univ. of California, San Diego Univ. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Univ. of Delaware, Newark Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore County Univ. of Oregon, Eugene Great Plains Univ. of Maryland, College Park Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles Iowa State University, Ames Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Univ. of Washington, Seattle Kansas State University, Manhattan Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville VA Washington State University, Pullman North Dakota State University, Fargo Commonwealth University, Richmond Oklahoma State University, Stillwater Virginia Polytechnic Univ., Blacksburg Intermountain West Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City Wake Forest Univ., Winston-Salem, NC West Virginia University, Morgantown Brigham Young Univ., Salt Lake City, UT Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence Colorado State University, Fort Collins Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln Midsouth Montana State University, Bozeman Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks Univ. of Colorado, Boulder Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington Univ. of Colorado, Denver Univ. of Missouri, Columbia Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville Univ. of Idaho, Moscow Northeast Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN Boston University, MA Washington University, Saint Louis, MO Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie Brown University, Providence, RI Utah State University, Logan Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA Southeast Columbia University, NY Auburn University, Alabama Southwest Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Clemson University, Clemson, SC Arizona State University, Tempe Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH Emory University, Atlanta, GA New Mexico State University, Las Cruces Harvard University, Cambridge, MA Florida A & M University, Tallahassee Rice University, Houston, TX Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton Southern Methodist Univ., Dallas, TX Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA Florida International Univ., University Park Texas A & M Univ., College Station MIT, Cambridge, MA (Miami-Dade) Texas Tech University, Lubbock New York University, NY Florida State University, Tallahassee Univ. of Arizona, Tucson Northeastern University, Boston, MA Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta Univ. of Houston, TX Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park Georgia State University, Atlanta Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas Princeton University, Princeton, NJ Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge Univ. of Nevada, Reno RPI, Troy, NY Mississippi State Univ., Mississippi Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ Tulane University, New Orleans, LA Univ. of Texas, Austin State Univ. of New York, Buffalo Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa Great Lakes Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH Univ. of Maine, Orono Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando Indiana University, Bloomington Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst Univ. of Florida, Gainesville Kent State University, Kent, OH Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham Univ. of Georgia, Athens Michigan State University, East Lansing Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Univ. of Miami, Florida Northwestern University, Evanston, IL Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA Univ. of Puerto Rico Univ. of Rochester, Rochester, NY Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia Ohio State University, Columbus Univ. of Vermont, Burlington Univ. of South Florida, Tampa computing news winter 1999 19 INTERNET 2 LINKS To clarify the often cryptic acronyms and specialized terms associated with high-performance Networks/Organizations • Internet 2 (I2) (http://www.internet2.edu): • Qwest (http://www.qwest.com/): Tele- • NSF specialized networking A new high-speed academic and re- communication company that oper- support centers: search network connecting 135 lead- ates the Abilene network. See http:// - CAIDA (http://www.caida.org/): Coopera- ing higher education institutions di- www.wired.com/wired/archive/6.05/qwest.html? tive Association for Internet Data Analysis topic=connectivity&topic_set=newtechnology rectly or via a Gigapop. Gigapops - NLANR (http://www.nlanr.net/): Nat’l and directly-connected I2 schools in- • NGI (http://www.ngi.gov/): Next Gen- Laboratory for Applied Network Research. terconnect with each other via the eration Internet. Umbrella name for Charged with providing technical, engineer- vBNS or Abilene. all Federal high-speed networking ing, and traffic analysis support of NSF High initiatives. • vBNS (http://www.vbns.net): The Fed- Performance Connections sites and HPNSP eral Very High Speed Backbone Net- • NCO (http://www.ccic.gov/): Nat’l Co- (high-performance network service providers) work Service, operated by MCI for ordination Office for Computing, Infor- such as vBNS. NLANR projects include the the NSF/ANIR. A high-speed aca- mation and Communications. Coordi- development of Squid (http://squid.nlanr.net/), demic and research network that nates Federal high-performance com- the leading web cache software product. predates Abilene. Most connections puting and networking initiatives. - NSRC (http://www.nsrc.org/): Network to it were at DS3 or OC3 speeds. Startup Resource Center, based at the UO. For • DARPA ITO (http://www.darpa.mil/ito/ the past decade, the NSRC has been involved • Abilene (http://www.ucaid.edu/abilene): ResearchAreas.html): Defense Advanced in the deployment and integration of appro- Another very high-speed academic Research Projects Agency Information priate networking technology in various and research network backbone, op- Technology Office. Sponsors Supernet projects throughout the world. erated by Qwest in conjunction with and many other high-performance Cisco and Nortel for UCAID. Con- networking and computing projects. - StarTap (http://www.startap.net/): Science, Technology and Research Transit Access nections to Abilene will be at OC3 or • Federal Mission Networks: Special- Point, located in Chicago, where approved OC12 speeds. The UO will connect ized, limited-access, high-speed net- foreign high-performance research networks to it via two OC3 circuits. See works deployed by individual Federal connect to their American counterparts, such http://boardwatch.internet.com/mag/98/jun/ agencies in support of specific research as the vBNS. Participating foreign networks bwm61.html programs or as a testbed for advanced currently include Canarie (Canada), technologies. Examples include • NSF/ANIR (http://www.cise.nsf.gov/ SingAREN (Singapore), Transpac (APAN/Ja- - DREN (http://www.hpcm.dren.net/Htdocs/ ncri/index.html): The National Science pan), MirNET (Russia), and TANet (Taiwan). Foundation’s Advanced Networking DREN/): Defense Research & Engineering Infrastructure and Research Divi- Network • ISOC (http://www.isoc.org/): A profes- sion, which approves institutions for - ESNet (http://www.es.net/): Department of sional membership society with over connections to the vBNS and related Energy’s Energy Sciences Net 100 organizational and 6,000 indi- federally authorized high-perfor- - NI (http://nic.nasa.gov/ni/): NASA Internet vidual members in 100+ countries. A mance academic and research net- - NREN (http://www.nren.nasa.gov/): NASA leader in addressing issues confront- works like Abilene. Research & Engineering Network ing the future of the Internet and a - Supernet (http://ale.east.isi.edu/NGI-S/): home to the groups responsible for • UCAID (http://www.ucaid.edu/): Univer- DARPA’s Next Generation Internet Internet infrastructure standards, in- sity Corporation for Advanced Internet cluding the Internet Engineering Development, formed by I2 largely • Supercomputer Centers: Federally- Task Force (IETF) and the Internet to facilitate deployment of Abilene. funded centers that initially provided Architecture Board (IAB). impetus for deploying many high- • MCI (http://www.governmentmci.com/ speed networking initiatives: •IETF (http://www.ietf.org/: A large in- mcigm/98/index.cfm): MCI Worldcom is ternational community of network de- - NCAR (http://www.ncar.ucar.edu/): National a leading international telecommuni- Center for Atmospheric Research signers, operators, vendors, and re- cation provider, formed via the searchers concerned with the evolu- - NCSA (http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/): National merger of Worldcom and MCI in Computational Science Alliance tion and smooth operation of the September 1998. Cable and Wireless - PSC (http://www.psc.edu/): Pittsburgh Internet. Open to any individual. http://www.cw-usa.net/ (CWIX: ) pur- Supercomputer Center • NANOG (http://www.nanog.org): North chased most of MCI’s Internet busi- - SDSC (http://www.sdsc.edu/): San Diego American Network Operators Group. ness in July 1998, excluding its vBNS Supercomputer Center. See also the National An association of network service pro- and a few other governmental net- Partnership for Advanced Computational viders and others interested in opera- working programs. Infrastructure (http://www.npaci.edu/) tional details of national networks.

20 computing news winter 1999 AND GLOSSARY networking, here’s a brief glossary with some links to web resources…

Networking Technology • Wide area circuit speeds traffic sent to a particular host to traffic that is throughput than Asynchronous Transfer - DS0: 64 kilobits a second (about the speed of destined for, or coming from, that host. Mode (ATM)-based networks. By transporting a fast dialup modem) Switched ethernet is normally how high-per- frames directly into the SONET/SDH payload, formance systems will connect to UOnet. - T1: 1.544 megabits a second (typical speed of the overhead required in ATM cell header, IP a small/mid-sized ISP’s connection to the net) • Half duplex/full duplex: over ATM encapsulation, and segmentation - DS3: 45 megabits a second (the speed of - half duplex: on a half duplex connection, a and reassembly (SAR) functionality is OSU’s vBNS connection) connection talks or listens, but doesn’t do both eliminated.” For the complete dis- - OC3: 155 megabits a second (the UO will be at the same time. connected to Abilene via two OC3 circuits) cussion, see http://www.cisco.com/warp/ - full duplex: on a full duplex connection, a public/733/12000/gspos_an.htm - OC12: 622 megabits a second (the speed of workstation or server can simultaneously the highest speed national commodity net- transmit and receive data. A general SONET tutorial is avail- work backbones) able at http://www.webproforum.com/ - OC48: 2.4 gigabits a second (the Abilene • FDDI: an older 100 megabit-per- tektronix/index.html backbone speed at startup) second competitor to fast ethernet. - OC192: 9.6 gigabits a second (eventual speed See a comparison of FDDI and Fast • WDM/DWDM: Wave Division of the Abilene backbone) Ethernet at http://www.cisco.com/warp/ Multiplexing/Dense Wave Division public/729/c5000/swfet_wp.htm • Ethernet/fast/gigabit ethernet Multiplexing. The underlying technol- • ATM: Asynchronous Transfer Mode. - ethernet: 10 megabits/second (the speed of ogy allowing carriers with existing fi- most UOnet connections) Circuit-switched (rather than packet- ber to obtain huge amounts of incre- - fast ethernet: 100 megabits/second (the speed at switched) network technology that mental bandwidth without having to which many campus servers connect to UOnet. chops data into 53 byte cells. Often used pull additional fiber. Allows a single Where available, individual users can purchase for wide-area high-performance connec- strand of fiber to simultaneously carry fast ethernet connects for $250 each) tivity. For an excellent ATM tutorial, see multiple parallel transmissions on dif- - gigabit ethernet: 1000 megabits/second (current http://www.scan-technologies.com/tutorials/ ferent light wavelengths (“lambdas”). speed of UOnet backbone) ATM%20Tutorial.htm A good WDM tutorial is available at • Shared/switched ethernet: • SONET (and Packet Over SONET): http://www.webproforum.com/lucent3/ - shared ethernet: traditionally, ethernet has The alternative to ATM for wide-area, been a shared media, with all users on a high-performance connectivity via Abi- • GSR: Cisco’s 12000-series Gigabit subnet sharing the bandwidth available on lene, and the option the UO will be Switch Router, the special high-perfor- that circuit. Cost-effective, but a poor choice using. Quoting Cisco’s Packet Over mance router that many sites, including for high-performance connections. SONET whitepaper: “For expensive the UO, are using to connect to Abilene. - switched ethernet: Connections that dedi- See http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/733/ cate the full capacity of a connection to a par- WAN links, Packet over SONET can 12000/ ticular workstation or server, and limit the provide as much as 25- to 30-percent higher Network Architecture and Operations • Gigapop: Gigabit point-of-pres- • POP (Point-of-Presence): Location • Peering/Transit: When two net- ence. As originally envisioned, I2 at which an internet service provider works peer, they agree to coopera- sites would connect to the I2 back- connects to the Internet and offers lo- tively exchange their network custom- bone via a regional “Gigapop.” cal connections to customers, whether ers’ traffic—and only their customers’ Gigapops would combine the traffic via leased circuits or dialup connec- traffic—typically at no charge. These from directly connected I2 member tions. A small ISP might have only traffic exchanges take place at an ex- sites and exchange it with other one POP, while a national ISP might change point. Contrast peering with Gigapops via I2 backbone links. By have a POP in virtually every major buying transit bandwidth from a net- aggregating individual I2 sites be- metro area. work service provider: when you buy hind Gigapops, the size of the I2 transit bandwidth, the network ser- routing matrices can be kept small • Exchange point (also, “meet point”): vice provider agrees to accept and and efficient, and network problems A location where network service transfer traffic on your behalf to any could be resolved via contact be- providers can peer and exchange other destination on the Internet, tween Gigapop NOCs. The Oregon network traffic with each other. The whether it’s for another customer of Gigapop is located in Eugene and UO operates the Oregon Internet the NSP’s or for a customer of some operated by the UO. Exchange in Eugene (see http:// other network service provider. antc.uoregon.edu/OREGON-EXCHANGE/ ) - continued on page 22 computing news winter 1999 21 INTERNET 2 LINKS AND GLOSSARY Network Architecture and Operations, continued… • Meritorious/Commodity Traffic: really care where their servers are Provider’s POP. Local loops are typi- Meritorious traffic meets the Accept- physically located. For example, a cally purchased from the local phone able Use Policy (AUP) adopted by a company’s main web server might just company or from a competitive local particular network. For example, I2’s as easily live in a locked rack at an ex- exchange carrier. For example, the UO AUP limits use of I2 to traffic destined change point as in a company office. buys its local loops from USWest and for other I2 sites or comparable/ap- Servers located at network service pro- Electric Lightwave (ELI). Local loop proved research and education net- vider facilities rather than at corporate charges are in addition to a network works. Other traffic, such as a mail or campus locations are said to be service provider’s port charges. message to an AOL user or a web page “colocated” and are typically able to • Port Charge: The payment made from CNN’s web site, would be con- buy bandwidth for less than the cost of to a network service provider so they sidered “commodity traffic” and a traditional Internet connection due to will accept and transfer your transit would not be eligible to travel over I2. the elimination of local loop charges traffic. Port charges are normally • NOC: Network Operation Center. and reduced equipment requirements sized according to the maximum ca- A NOC is a facility, typically staffed for the network service provider. pacity of the circuit to the network 24 hours a day/7 days a week, by Colocation also typically offers the service provider. NOC technicians who can monitor, server owner access to conditioned/ • Backhaul: If a network service pro- detect and arrange for a response to uninterruptable power, improved vider doesn’t have sufficient capacity network problems. There’s usually physical security, geographical flex- (or required services) at a local POP, one NOC per network. ibility in siting servers, etc. they may need to “backhaul” a circuit • Colocation: While most networked • Local Loop: A synonym for “local you’ve ordered to another better- companies or schools want to have access circuits” or the physical wire equipped location, which adds to the machines in their facilities connected or fiber optic cable that connects a cost of obtaining that service (unless to the Internet, some companies don’t site to their Network Service backhaul charges are waived). Advanced Services source to their destination—or the “size • IPv4/IPv6: IP (also, “IPv4”) is the begin using IP multicast is to install of the pipe” between two sites. Latency Internet Protocol that underlies virtu- Cisco/Precept’s IP/TV from the UO is the delay a packet experiences while ally all Internet traffic today. A new Duckware CD-ROM, or see http:// darkwing.uoregon.edu/~joelja/project/ being transmitted from its origin to its version of the IP protocol, IPv6, is on mbone.html destination. This is a crucial issue in experimental use on the so-called high-performance networking because 6Bone (see http://www.6bone.net/). IPv6 • QoS (Quality of Service): There there is a close relationship between access is an example of the sort of ad- has been a lot of interest among I2 packet latency and the maximum effec- vanced services that Internet 2 will participants in Quality of Service-re- tive bandwidth which a connection can likely support. See the tutorial at http:// lated issues, or efforts to provide sustain. See www.6bone.net/case-for-ipv6.txt or see better than “best-efforts” access to http://engr.ans.net/slides.html#nanog-feb- http://playground.sun.com/pub/ipng/html/ Internet resources. For example, 1997-tcp-congested INET-IPng-Paper.html some Internet applications (such as • IP multicast video: With IP tele-surgery or remote management • Jitter: The variance in the time it multicast, a single network video of a scientific instrument) require takes for a packet to be transmitted stream services all viewers on a given bounds on latency and jitter, or a re- from its origin to its destination. Jit- network segment, rather than requir- served amount of bandwidth from ter is a problem in advanced applica- ing separate streams for each viewer. end-to-end. An excellent series of tions such as IP multicast video be- IP multicast scales well to virtually papers are available at http:// cause even small deviations in deliv- unlimited-sized global audiences. www.internet2.edu/qos/may98Workshop/ ery pacing can translate into notice- html/presentations.html Cisco’s excellent IP multicast training able interruptions in otherwise materials are available online at ftp:// • Bandwidth and Latency: Bandwidth smooth video delivery, unless buff- ftpeng.cisco.com/ipmulticast/ can be considered the effective rate at ering or other similar techniques are multicast_training.html An easy way to which bits are delivered from their employed. Students: Interested in Networking Opportunities? If you’re a UO student interested in the ment of the global Interent infrastruc- to assist with applied research, educa- computer networking field, here’s an ture: The Network Startup Resource tion, and service projects. For more opportunity to gain experience and Center (see article on page 23) is cur- information, contact Steve Huter skills while contributing to the enhance- rently seeking students with initiative ([email protected]) 22 computing news winter 1999 NSRC, Computing Center Staff Assist Network Support Services in Angola

By Steve Huter and Hervey Allen vices, to help EBONet staff design some staff via email. Everyone pitched in [email protected] systems and procedures. willingly to give EBONet support ser- [email protected] vices a boost. After extensive email and telephone communications to plan the work Before leaving Angola, Hervey drew How did the UO Computing Center agenda and make decisions about what up a final report with specific recom- become involved with network sup- software and hardware to bring along, mendations for improving EBONet's port services in Luanda? Hervey flew to Luanda on November 11. existing services and adding new re- sources as needed. The project began last July, when two Angolan students at a TCP/IP work- Barely two weeks after Hervey’s re- shop in Geneva, Switzerland, asked “The spirit of team- turn to the states, EBONet staff re- the Network Resource Center (NSRC) work and collabora- ported that a number of his recom- for ideas about how to improve their mendations had already been imple- user support services. The NSRC, tion between EBONet, mented. Haymee Perez Cogle wrote which helped organize the Geneva recently, “We thank the NSRC and workshop, has been dedicated to mak- the NSRC, and the Hervey a lot for the assistance and ing affordable networking technology hope that our collaboration will con- available around the globe for the past Computing Center was tinue. Your visit was very useful, decade, and is now based at the UO great to see and be a Hervey, and our staff is now very mo- Computing Center. tivated. We're working on the installer, part of.” reorganizing our schedules and pro- The NSRC had worked with the cedures, finishing the FAQ for our web Angolans in the early 1990s using site, and improving the technical as- FidoNet technology, and provided In keeping with the philosophy of the sistance services of our Help Desk.” some technical advice to them when NSRC, Hervey worked in cooperation As for Hervey, he discovered that many they transitioned to a TCP/IP network, with EBONet staff—suggesting some of the same issues confronting the UO dubbed EBOnet, at the end of 1996.The changes, answering questions, and are also faced by the EBONet staff in EBONet engineers explained that their demonstrating how to use various tools Angola: busy modem lines, modem network user base had expanded dra- and resources—but always stressing and password problems, and struggles matically since then, outpacing their that the real work must be done by the with connectivity. current ability to meet the demand for EBONet staff itself. support. Using Spanish and some English to Hervey also noted some interesting communicate with the primarily Por- differences, such as the total absence As EBONet is the primary resource in tuguese-speaking Angolans, Hervey of Macintosh computers, the over- Angola for full Internet access, its con- whelming number of Toshiba por- stituency had quickly grown from a • observed traffic flow at the Help tables in use (by those who had por- handful of former FidoNet users to Desk and suggested improvements tables), and the surprising fact that nearly a thousand users, including not almost no old machines (486 class) are • initiated a set of Help Desk web only Angolan individuals and compa- employed by EBONet's users—the pages disseminating user support in- nies, but also researchers and employ- hardware is quite modern. ees of the US Embassy, the US Informa- formation tion Agency (USIA), the United Na- • introduced the staff to other NSRC Hervey affirms that the Angolan train- tions, and various international non- resources for assistance in network man- ing sessions were mutually beneficial. governmental organizations. While agement and system administration “The chance to apply what I do every EBONet staff had already begun devel- day at the University of Oregon to oping a Help Desk service, they wanted • gave a public presentation on cus- help a group of people who are getting to learn more about how to support tomer service and the role of the Internet an entire country started with the their growing user population. Internet was a truly gratifying experi- Occasionally, questions arose that re- ence,” he says. “The spirit of teamwork The NSRC turned to Hervey Allen, of quired more help, and Hervey was and collaboration between EBONet, the Computing Center's Help Desk able to call freely on the expertise of the NSRC, and the Computing Center and microcomputer consulting ser- half a dozen other Computing Center was great to see and be a part of.”

computing news winter 1999 23