Which server should I use?

CSE maintains a number of remotely accessible servers of different capabilities. Which one you use will depend upon what you wish to do and which operating system and/or software you require. As a general rule, the servers are intended to be used by people logging in from outside CSE, or whose assigned computers do not have the required capability. Do not login to a server to run tasks that can easily run on the computer in front of you (eg. email, web browsing, most assignments).

Note:You should always use SSH to login to our servers. SSH or OpenSSH is included in most *nix distributions. If you are using Windows, a free SSH client can be downloaded here.

General Purpose Usage
If you just want to read mail, edit files or run assignments then any of the general access servers can be used. We recommend connecting to login.cse.unsw.edu.au for a generic, reliable name. This hostname will connect you to one of several linux servers which have software similar to the laboratory computers. It is also possible to connect to a specific general-access host. These are wagner, williams and weill. If your assignment spec says to use a specific server, then do so. If SS find you running such assignments on a non-designated server they will kill the processes and may remove your server access altogether.

Long-running or Resource-intensive Programs

SS will kill your processes and send you a warning if they are deemed to be overloading the server and/or affecting other users. They will also kill processes that have been running for a long time and/or look like strays.

CSG recognises that some programs do need to be run over a long time or may temporarily create a high load. The Debian linux server williams is designated for such programs. SS allow a higher load on this server than the others, and will usually try to reduce the impact of overbearing programs (eg. by renicing) and alert the user rather than killing them outright. Nonetheless it's helpful to notify SS before starting your process if you know it will run for several days, especially if you are an undergraduate (who generally are not expected to run such processes.) If your program is a daemon, i.e. it is intended to run all the time, then grieg is probably more appropriate than williams.

This should not be considered permission to run as many processes/threads as you like on williams; SS will intervene if your program creates a very high load. It is highly recommended that you discuss your needs with CSG before running resource-intensive programs. For multi-threaded or concurrent programs it may be possible to arrange access to the restricted vina servers.