Spring 2005 Newsletter
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Letter from the Editor
Welcome to the second issue of the Chemistry Computer Center ’s quarterly newsletter. In this newsletter, you will find information regarding:
- Network updates to the Chemistry Department Network
- Our e-mail spam-filtering tool Spam Assassin
- SMTP Authentication for e-mail
- Computer Center Cluster news
Got Questions? We Have Answers
Do you want to know more about the network upgrade? We will be having a question and answer session open to anyone in the Chemistry Department who would like to know more about the network upgrade. Details will be announced soon via e-mail.
New to the CCC Web site
A Network Update Schedule is now posted on the Web site to keep everyone up to date on when scheduled network outages will occur.
Suggestions?
Is there anything that you would like to see on the CCC Website or in future computing.chem.wisc.edu newsletters? If so, please let us know!
21st Century Network Update
The 21st Century Network (XXICN) upgrade in the Chemistry Building is well underway. The XXICN is part of an upgrade of the entire campus network by DoIT in cooperation with all UW schools and colleges. The upgrade will help to provide the required high-speed communications to keep the University of Wisconsin at the leading edge of research and teaching.
Planned Network Outages
Network outages scheduled for the chemistry building will occur in Phase III. These outages will be announced at least one week in advance.
There will be an open meeting for anyone in the Chemistry Department who would like to ask questions about the upgrade. Details will be announced soon.
Please watch for e-mailed announcements.
Plan for the Chemistry Building
Phase I …Completed!
Phase I is completed. In this phase, network staff tested the basic configuration of the new equipment.
Phase II …Completed!
In Phase II is completed. In this phase, the proper length of the new cabling was tested. Network staff deployed the new equipment in the 8th floor and basement of the new building, and the 9th floor and sub-basement of the old building.
Phase III …In Progress
Phase III is in progress. In this phase, every floor of the building will be re-cabled and 1250 data ports will be patched down.
The upgrade is scheduled to be completed tentatively by the end of May.
If you have any questions about the network upgrade and scheduled outages please contact comphelp at chem.wisc.edu or call 262-0536.
Cluster News
After two months of testing, the Curie Cluster is now capable of running ab initio parallel G03 using multiple processors. The molecule TAXOL was tried (rhf/6-31g* opt) on 16 processors (i.e., 8 nodes), which is unprecedented. Thanks go to everyone who participated.
ChemDraw Std 9.0
Cambridgesoft recently announced that ChemDraw Std 9.0 is available for download. For UW-Madison, the URL for downloading ChemDraw Std 9.0 is available here.
We have an academic site license for ChemDraw Std 8.0. Detailed information is available.
General Assignment Classrooms
The general assignment classrooms in the basement and on the 1st and 2nd floors in the Chemistry Building will no longer be managed by the Chemistry Department Network staff. Instead, these classrooms will now be managed by facilities planning and management (FP&M). Chemistry Department shared network drives will no longer be directly accessible from the general assignment classrooms. If you have any questions, please contact us.
SMTP Authentication
We are now offering SMTP authentication, which can be used to set up your e-mail client to send e-mail from outside the Chemistry Building .
To use SMTP Authentication, make the following changes to your Outgoing Server (SMTP) settings:
- Select TLS, if available.
- Select Allow Authentication
- Select SSL-secured connection (SSL)
Detailed instructions on how to use SMTP authentication to be able to send e-mail from outside the Chemistry Network are now available for the following clients:
Windows
Macintosh
Spam Assassin
Spam Assassin is a program that assesses incoming mail messages and calculates the likelihood that particular messages are spam. We recommend everyone in the Chemistry Department use Spam Assassin to filter e-mail because it can significantly reduce the number of spam messages in your inbox.
Spam Assassin works by giving each e-mail message a “spam score,” which consists of asterisks (*). The greater the number of asterisks, the more likely the message is spam. The spam score is inserted into the e-mail message as a header that your mail reader can use to decide what action should be taken.
We recommend setting your filter actions to move marked e-mail messages to a Junk folder rather than deleting them until you are comfortable with Spam Assassin's scoring system. This will enable you to easily check for messages that may have been incorrectly classified.
When configuring spam filters, it is important to be aware of false positives (legitimate messages marked as spam). Given the wide range of people in the Chemistry department and the wide range of messages they receive, establishing an arbitrary filter for e-mail would be unreasonable. Spam Assassin enables individuals to decide the sensitivity of their own spam filters. This ensures that all messages will be delivered to your mailbox.
Configuring Your E-mail Client to Use Spam Assassin
Spam Assassin is available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems. Instructions for configuring your e-mail client to use Spam Assassin are available for the following clients:
Windows
- Eudora
- Mozilla Thunderbird
- Netscape
- Outlook
- Please Note: Spam Assassin is not currently supported in Outlook Express.
Macintosh
Linux
Network and Computer Help
Assistance with e-mail, computing, networking, or other related technical difficulties can be requested as follows:
- Checking out our FAQ’s page
- E-mailing comphelp at chem.wisc.edu .
- Calling the computer center at 26 2-0536.
- Stopping by room 9311 in person.