Use this page to search through our documentation for questions asked of the various ITS/AM&T subunits.
General questions
1. Where can visitors check email?
- Answer:
Long-term visitors (with Yale NetID)
Visitors that stay for durations of a semester or more are often provided with Yale IDs and other institution-level services, such as NetIDs and email accounts. In some cases, visiting faculty and scholars are provided with office space and computers.
All visitors on campus with Yale NetIDs have access to the public computing clusters on campus. These clusters offer a variety of computer platforms, software suites, and printing solutions that can be used for basic productivity chores (i.e., word processing), numerical data analysis, desktop publishing, and multimedia authoring. In addition, many of the public computing clusters are staffed by computing assistants that can answer common questions. All Yale computing clusters require that users have a valid NetID in order to log on to the machines.
If you plan on visiting Yale for an extended period of time (such as a full semester) and will be hosted by an academic or administrative department, please contact your host department to determine your IT needs and availability.
Visitors bringing their own computers to campus
Many visitors bring their own laptops to campus for demonstrations, conferences, colloquia, and research. However, access to the campus network is restricted and all machines requiring Internet access must be properly registered. If you will be on campus for an extended period and require network access for your personal computer, please contact your host-department to make arrangements prior to your arrival.
Guest Registration Tool
Temporary access to the Yale Network (for periods from 1 to 14 days) may be granted by members of the Yale community to Yale guests (guest speakers, conference attendees, collaborators, etc.) by using the Guest Registration Tool. |
2. Are there classrooms on central campus with enough computers in them for conducting a class?
- Answer:
- Computer classrooms are available to the University research and teaching community on central campus. With over 60 workstations, including 20 software packages, the classrooms serve interdisciplinary needs for statistical and engineering computing.
Demand for these facilities can be quite high during the semester so instructors are asked to coordinate scheduling as soon as possible.
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3. Which classrooms on central campus are enhanced with multimedia capabilities (LCD projectors, DVD players, etc.)?
- Answer:
- Media & Technology Services is constantly increasing the number of technology enhanced classrooms on campus. Attention is given both to traditional media types (e.g., VHS playback and slide projectors) as well as new media capabilities (e.g., DVD, LCD projectors). For a complete listing of centrally supported and managed classrooms on central campus please visit the Media & Technology Services website.
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4. How do I purchase software online using the ePortal?
5. Where can I find information on the services Linux Systems Design & Support offers?
6. What are the options for backing up my data?
7. What are the recommendations for faculty-purchased computers?
8. Where can faculty get help with a software question?
- Answer:
- Common computer problems on campus fall into one of three categories: 1) hardware, 2) software, and/or 3) networking. Regardless of the type of problem you are experiencing, the best place to start is with your local Departmental Technology Consultant (DTC). Your local DTC is experienced with a variety of discipline and language-specific applications. DTCs can also assist you in evaluating and/or installing new software applications on your computer.
If you are looking for new software, please take a look at the ITS Software Library site. This site provides a list of applications which have been licensed and/or evaluated for faculty use for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux/UNIX platforms.
If the software you are looking for is not at the Software Library site, please refer to our guide to purchasing software.
If you have discipline- or other specific software needs and need to check the availability or licensing for a particular application on campus, please send email to software.admin@yale.edu.
Please note: Yale University does not have an institutional site license for Microsoft Office. If you need assistance purchasing licenses or installation media for Microsoft Office please refer to our online guide to purchasing licenses via the ePortal.
Service and support standards
The FAS IT Support Program staff are available and committed to helping you with any software-related question or problem. However, our experience with some discipline- or language-specific applications is limited. When faced with these challenges, we will try to do our best to assist you.
Please note that FASIT staff are prohibited from installing or supporting unlicensed software applications. Please be sure that all software installed on University-owned equipment is properly licensed.
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9. How do I purchase licenses and/or media for Microsoft Office?
10. What is the pilot project with Cflix (Cdigix)?
11. How can I create an auto-reply email message?
12. Are faculty computers covered by University insurance?
13. How long after I leave Yale can I keep my email account?
- Answer:
- Accounts for individuals who are no longer eligible will be notified and then deactivated automatically. Notification of a pending deactivation will be emailed at least 14 days before the account is deactivated. Information and instructions on what the individual should do to prepare for the deactivation are included in this notification.
Exactly how long your account is retained depends on your status (student, staff or faculty) and is discussed here.
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14. Why shouldn't I share my NetId and password with other people I know or trust?
- Answer:
- The simplest reason is that it is squarely at odds with Yale's Information Technology Appropriate Use Policy which specifically prohibits this behavior.
More satisfying however, might be the answer that since your Netid and password are used across so many different applications on campus and in so many ways that effect your privacy and security that it would be very inappropriate to share your Netid password with anyone else. There are almost invariably better more secure ways of collaborating and sharing with others.
For more complete details and some practical tips for choosing a good password please see the Guide to Selecting Good Passwords.
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15. How can I read and send email when I am off campus?
16. How do I connect to Yale using my DSL connection or cable modem?
17. What is the policy on faking or spoofing an email address when sending electronic mail to someone else?
- Answer:
- Sending a forged message under someone else's NetID -- e.g., sending hoax messages, even if intended as a joke -- is a violation of Yale's Information Technology Appropriate Use Policy. Altering electronic communications to hide your identity or impersonate another person is considered forgery. Forgery includes using another person's identity or using an identity that's fake, such as spiderman@dailybugle.com. Remember: All electronic mail, network news postings, and other forms of electronic communication should contain your name and/or NetID.
For further information or specific questions please contact the ITS Information Security Office.
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18. How does the email attachment renaming strategy work?
19. What sort of bandwidth shaping does Yale do on its network?
- Answer:
- Bandwidth management is the process of shaping, managing or controlling what portions of Yale's total network connection to the outside world can be consumed by what types of activities. Managing or shaping bandwidth allows DNO to ensure that the most important services and connections for Yale's academic mission are most available and most responsive. Other protocols or services are not blocked per se but simply given a lower priority.
Currently (since August 2001) we have been shaping the specific programs: Audiogalaxy, Gnutella, iMesh, KaZaa, Napster. They are shaped differently based upon whether the traffic is inbound to Yale (Yale students loading files to their machines) or outbound from Yale (outsiders loading files from Yale machines to theirs).
For inbound traffic, each session or "flow" is limited to 50K (50,000) bits per second. There is no limit to the number of sessions an individual may run at once, or the total number of sessions across the University.
Outbound traffic is limited to a maximum of 1M (1,000,000) bits per second total for each application. Since this traffic is comprised of outsiders downloading files from Yale machines, the limit does not affect the performance of these applications for Yale students. In fact, it can prevent individual machines from becoming overly busy (and slow) while downloading files to others.
Programs of this type have the potential of consuming huge amounts of bandwidth, especially outbound, displacing and impacting the performance of other programs. While we continue to increase Internet bandwidth, we feel that we need some measures to ensure reasonable performance for all applications. Our current approach to shaping helps ensure good performance for Web access, email, FTP (file transfer), and other protocols. There is still access to mp3-sharing programs, they just take a little longer.
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20. What kinds of IT support and services are available for faculty?
21. Does AM&T have any programs to grant money for instructional innovation or initiatives with technology?
- Answer:
- AM&T is always interested in partnering with faculty to use technology in instructional settings. Even if no specific funding is available we'd like to see what we can do to help and bring value to the equation. Please feel free to contact the Instructional Technology Group any time to see if there are additional ways we can be of service or information we can provide.
There are also at least two specific activities within AM&T that may be able to partner with you for funding technology initiatives and innovation. Instructors at Yale can apply for a wide variety of grants through the Instructional Innovation Grants program. Additionally the Yale Center for Media Initiatives funds and develops substantial faculty-based media projects toward the goal of enhancing teaching and learning at Yale University.
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22. How do I connect to Yale-restricted resources?
Linux/UNIX
1. Who supports Linux/UNIX?
2. Where can I find standard SuSE Linux information?
3. Where can I find software for Linux and UNIX?
4. Where can I find standard RedHat Linux, Fedora Core information?
5. Where can I find the ITS backup (TSM) installation for UNIX?
6. How do I configure XWin32?
7. Where can I find local documentation for Linux and UNIX?
8. What types of support are available for Linux/UNIX platforms?
9. Notes on Linux distributions at Yale
10. Notes on Red Hat distributions at Yale
11. Maintaining RPMs using apt-rpm
Mathematica
1. Where can I find information on Mathematica, Matlab, MSDN-AA, and other licensed software?
Matlab
1. Where an I find information on Matlab Licensed Software?
Viruses, spam and spyware
1. How can I get help with a computer virus or vulnerability?
2. How do I update my antivirus software?
- Answer:
- The code base used by the authors of computer trojans and viruses changes constantly. As antivirus software improves efforts to deliver, malicious code becomes more and more sophisticated. Beyond the initial installation of software like Norton Antivirus, it is important to make sure that your virus definitions, which are used to detect and quarantine the viruses, remain up to date.
What is LiveUpdate?
LiveUpdate is a feature of Norton Antivirus that ensures your computer always has the most up-to-date virus protection installed. Once a month (or as scheduled), Norton Antivirus will download new virus definition files from Symantec (the publisher of Norton software). Norton Antivirus software provided by the Faculty Support Program prior to January 2001 are eligible for one year of LiveUpdate virus updates.
Yale now has a site license for Norton Antivirus. All Yale affiliates are eligible to download the Corporate Edition of Norton Antivirus from Yale. The LiveUpdate feature of the Corporate Edition does not require a subscription and does not expire. Be sure to uninstall your existing copy of Norton Antivirus or other antivirus software before you attempt to install a new copy!
If you need assistance installing or updating your antivirus software, please contact faculty.support@yale.edu.
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3. How does Yale filter email for spam and viruses?
