COMPUTING FACILITIES

The Department of Computing Services supports research, academic, and administrative computing on the University of Arkansas campus. Computer operations are staffed to provide access to the computing facilities twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Computing Services houses a Hitachi Data System (HDS) GX6210 and two IBM-T92E mainframe computers, a Sun SparcCenter 2000 with ten CPUs, a Sun SPARCStation 20 WWW server, Novell File Servers, general-access computer laboratories, and computer network services.

Academic users have access to the mainframe systems under IBM's VM/System control program for instructional and research applications. Interactive users access with IBM's Conversational Monitor System (CMS). IBM batch users submit jobs to MVS/ESA and VM/ESA systems. The Sun SparcCenter has a Solaris 2.4 operating system and associated system and application products. Labs are equipped with state-of-the-art Apple Macintosh and IBM PC clones with appropriate peripherals. A wide variety of program products are available to address student and research needs. A comprehensive faculty-support multimedia facility is located in the Gibson Annex.

Computing Services is responsible for Administrative Information Systems (AIS) at the University. Comprehensive computer software systems are supported and information resources are maintained to address the management needs of the University. The HDS mainframe with IBM's MVS ESA operating system and Software AG database products is maintained to support AIS processing requirements. Peripherals include disk storage, tape systems, laser printing, and network facilities.

Computing users may access the academic and administrative mainframe systems, the Sun UNIX systems, and other computer systems through UARKnet, the campus computer network. Dialed access, network telecommunication processors, and terminals attached to computer systems on the network are used to access computer resources. Clusters of networked microcomputers are strategically located around campus for faculty and student use. Network connection of labs and offices allows distributed minicomputers and mainframes to be accessed. The University of Arkansas computer network is based upon Proteon's FDDI routers. Ethernet, token ring, and Apple Talk local area networks (LANs) attached to the high-speed Proteon backbone network are the principal components of the UARKnet communication system.

The Computing Services office, located in the Administrative Services Building (ADSB), has staff expertise to support a complete array of services for administrative and academic users. Computing Services maintains a twenty-four-hour work area equipped with networked equipment including IBM-compatible PC micros, Apple Macintoshes, and Sun microcomputers. Other user facilities located at Computing Services are graphics workstations and scanners. Documentation for applications is available through the web server.