Every faculty, staff, post-doc, and graduate student is entitled to an
account on the departmental computing system. Undergraduate students
may receive an account after approval from their adviser. Accounts
may also be issued for collaborative work at the discretion of the
system staff. All individuals applying for an account must fill out
the new
user account request form and deliver it to the system staff
located in SSRB 221. External collaborators will need to fax a signed
copy of the form to (352) 392-5089.
In addition to the rules located within this document, all
users of Astronomy computing facilities are bound by the the terms of
the University of
Florida Acceptable Use Policy. An account may be suspended or
terminated for violating these policies.
Services Offered
An Astronomy account provides access to the departmental unix
machines, electronic mail, web publishing space, printing, and disk
storage for *nix and Windows users.
Disk Storage
All users are initially given one gigabyte of storage in their home
directory which is backed up in accordance with our backup
policy. The amount of storage a user is given in their home
directory may be increased at the discretion of the system staff if
valid academic need has been demonstrated. Users have no restrictions
on the amount of data stored on various local /scratch disks
and the /astro/data hierarchy, however they should be aware
that these drives are not backed up.
Because network backed up disk storage is an expensive and limited
resource, we ask that users be prudent with their disk usage.
Although the system staff are committed to providing the resources to
allow faculty, staff, and students to perform their work, requests for
storage allocation increases from users may be denied if it is
determined that many of the files stored are unrelated to the users
work.
As a general rule of thumb, users should store files that are critical
to their work in their home directory. File types that should not be
stored on the network home space include music files, movie files, and
application programs.
Email
The department provides secured email through our IMAP server. Users
may also choose to use the POP protocol, however it is impossible for
system staff to make backups of email which was accessed through
POP.
The Astronomy email system provides Spam and Anti-Virus filtering
through SpamAssassin and Amavis. However, the war against Spam is a
constant battle with the Spammers repeatedly adapting to the latest
Anti-Spam countermeasures. Users should understand that although our
Anti-Spam system is fairly good, no system will be 100% effective, and
as a result some Spam may slip through. On the modern
internet, the only way to ensure you will not receive SPAM is to not
have an email account.
Web Publishing
All users within the department have the ability to create and publish
their own web pages. The URL, or address, for your web-page is
http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~userid. Users interested in creating
their own web-pages may wish to review the University of
Florida Acceptable Use Policy as it relates to personal
web-pages.
Computing Access
An Astronomy account provides users with access to a computer on their
assigned desk. Students who lack assigned office space may use the
computers in SSRB 221.
An Astronomy account provides access to the various printers in the
department. Because paper, toner, and other printer supplies cost
money, users should restrict their printing to work related items.
Users should NEVER run their own acetates through the
color printer as this could damage the printer making it inoperable
for others. If the color printer is out of transparency film, please
send an email to admin at astro.ufl.edu.
Gatorlink Accounts
The University of Florida provides a Gatorlink account to every
faculty, staff, and student at the university. Gatorlink accounts
provide limited e-mail, internet dialup access, and access to the
CIRCA computer labs. Additionally, there are some services at the
university, such as the ISIS course registration system, which can
only be used with a gatorlink account. You must have a
gatorlink account to use my.ufl.edu
Gatorlink and Astronomy accounts are two separate accounts. If a user
is having problems with their gatorlink account, they will need to
contact the UF Computing Help Desk either on the phone at 392-HELP
(392-4357) or by visiting their offices in 520 CSE.
Rules & Restrictions
In addition to the University of
Florida Acceptable Use Policy, the Department of Astronomy has
various rules regarding the legitimate use of system accounts.
Accounts may be suspended, or terminated, at the system manager's
discretion for violation of these rules.
Forging Email - Users of the Astronomy email system must
never falsify email or newsgroup posts. All email messages must
correctly identify the sender. Any attempt to mislead the recipient
into believing that the email originates from another identity will be
considered identity theft and the reported to campus authorities,
including the Student Honor Court.
Disruption of other users - Users should not do anything to
deliberately disrupt other users from doing their work. The system
staff, or an agent designated by the system manager, may disconnect
any user or device, which is causing a disruption in service to other
users.
Identity Theft - Any attempt to gain access to another users
account, either through the use of tools such as crack, through
social engineering, or any other means, will result in immediate
termination of your account. Additionally, these actions may be
reported to the campus authorities, including the Student Honor
Court.
One User, One Account - Do not share your account, or your
password, with another user. If an individual that does not have an
Astronomy account needs temporary guest access to the department
network, they should fill out the new user
account request form and request a temporary guest account.
Piracy - Do not engage in the sharing of copyrighted material
without the consent of the copyright holder. This includes software,
music (i.e. mp3s), and movies.
Attempts to circumvent login restrictions - Attempts to avoid
login procedures and restrictions, or elevate privileges to gain a
higher security level, will be treated as an attempt to "crack" the
departmental computer network. All cracking attempts against the
departmental computer network are reported to the campus authorities,
including the University Police.
The system staff take these issues very seriously. Violations of
these rules may result in an account being suspended or terminated.
Account Termination
Users that are no longer directly associated with the department, but
continue to collaborate with faculty and staff, may continue to use
their Astronomy account. An example would be a student that has
completed their terminal degree, but continues to work with faculty
within the department.
Users that are no longer associated with the university, or
collaborating with researchers in the department, have no rights to
access to Astronomy computing resources. In the event that the system
staff deem an account should be removed, the system manager will
attempt to provide at least thirty days notification that the account
is scheduled to be terminated. The notification will come through
email; it is the users responsibility to check their UF Astronomy
account email, or maintain a valid email forward that they check
regularly. Accounts that have gone "in limbo," that is accounts that
lack valid forwarding email addresses, may be terminated without
notice.
When an account is terminated, all data stored within the users
network home directory will be archived on external media. Users that
wish to receive a copy of this data may send an email request to
admin at astro.ufl.edu. There may be a charge to recoup the
cost of materials, shipping, and labor, associated with this
service.