1. 23 April 2002HEP SYSMAN meeting1 Cambridge HEP Group - site report April 2002 John Hill

2. 23 April 2002HEP SYSMAN meeting2 Hardware Three file servers: –2 ALPHAservers (DIGITAL UNIX 4.0F) –1 DELL (Intel) server (Linux Redhat 7.1) –total of ~1.3TB disk space served –DLT8000 Autoloader –all UPS-protected 59 desktop PCs (give-or-take...) –34 Linux RedHat 7.1 –20 Windows NT –5 Windows 95 –wide range of performance (100MHz Pentium up to 2.0GHz Pentium 4) 20 PC laptops registered (but certainly not all are real machines...)

3. 23 April 2002HEP SYSMAN meeting3 Hardware 20-CPU analysis farm (MIMCluster from Workstations UK) –1.13 GHz Pentium III CPUs –Linux Redhat 7.1 –intended for both GRID-related and general experimental work SUN workstation (Solaris 2.5.1) for CAD work 5 MACs - 2 desktop, 3 laptops Printers –2 HP LaserJet (20ppm+) –HP Color LaserJet 4550 (for paper) –HP Business DeskJet 2250 (for transparencies) –Epson A2 colour inkjet (specialised printing: CAD, posters,...)

4. 23 April 2002HEP SYSMAN meeting4 Hardware Network: –departmental network based on switches from Extreme Networks –Gigabit Ethernet fibre-optic backbone between switches –a minimum of Fast Ethernet to all desktops (with Gigabit available) –Gigabit connection to campus backbone –Gigabit Ethernet on campus backbone (probably aggregation in the future to give multi-Gigabit). –Campus network connects to EastNET via a 1Gbps link and hence to SuperJANET. –departmental network currently has a “flat” topology - but plan is to introduce VLANs.

5. 23 April 2002HEP SYSMAN meeting5

6. 23 April 2002HEP SYSMAN meeting6 Hardware Video conferencing: –“mid-range” system as recommended in Geoff Fayers’ note –Zydacron Z360 (H.323) and ZC206 (ISDN) cards –Sony EVI D31 Camera (pan, tilt, zoom) –hosted by 500MHz Pentium III PC –use (existing) data projector to display video on projection screen –OK for up to ~12 people (though best for 6 or fewer!) –in use for 9 months now and proving popular –need work on the hosting room to improve lighting quality

7. 23 April 2002HEP SYSMAN meeting7 Software Nothing special… –AFS client on Linux desktops currently ARLA, but planning to move to OpenAFS when time permits. –One big problem on Linux is compilers - at least 3 versions of gcc in use (that I know of!) needed by different experiments. –Exceed 7 providing X11 on Windows - allowed us to decommission our X-terminals, and hence VMS (two less platforms to support…) –CAD work being done on SUN is still significant - slow move to Windows, but not there yet.

8. 23 April 2002HEP SYSMAN meeting8 Future plans Tend to avoid “strategic planning” - the world changes too quickly! However, have some guiding principles: –consolidate on Linux for file serving and physics desktops –move to Windows 2000 or XP only when really necessary (manpower limitations), but certainly continue with Windows for office applications –continuous rolling process of replacing desktops –extend existing analysis farm to provide a significant central CPU resource –assume at least 10TB will be needed locally in the next year or so - we are keeping an open mind on how best to provide this