It grows as you ask. By the way, you can ask any HPCC related question, there is no such thing as a stupid question!


Questions:

Accessing the helix
- no questions at this moment.


Accessing the alpha nodes
- no questions at this moment.



UNIX

My UNIX window is "frozen". What can I do?

Help, I cannot change/delete/open a file on helix (or the Alpha nodes) because it probably has blank space or special characters in its name!


Miscellaneous

Can I access the computers from outside the museum to check on my runs?

Will my files on helix and the alpha nodes be backed-up?

Is there any restriction on the amount of data I can store on the hpcc computers?

Answers:

My UNIX window is "frozen". What can I do?
- First, try simply typing q. Some programs (e.g., the UNIX manual) use this as quit command. If this does not work, try the command sequence control-q (press both keys simultaneously) as you might have accidentally hit control-s (suspend output). If this does not work, try control-z (suspend or stop). This will suspend or stop any process that is running in the foreground. If the window is still "frozen" try the kill command, control-c. Be aware, that any program that is running at this moment in the foreground (e.g., paup) will be stopped and data might get lost (e.g., unsaved trees). Some programs can be quit with control-D (exit), but be cautious, as this is also a UNIX shortcut for a logout and you might lose data that way! If none of the above helps, then you have to close the connection (close the window with the normal Mac or PC clicks) and open another connection.


Help, I cannot change/delete/open a file on helix (or the Alpha nodes) because it probably has blank space or special characters in its name!
- Don't worry, try the "tab-automatism". On the UNIX command line, type the command (e.g., mv) and a space and then the first one or two letters of the file. Then hit tab. Now UNIX will show you a list of files that begin with these letters. Add more letters and hit tab until Unix shows your file. If this is not working then there might be a blank space at the beginning of the file name. Try this: After the command (e.g., mv) type a space, a quote " and then a space again (e.g., mv " ). Then hit tab. Now UNIX shows you all the files beginning with a space. There should not be too many of them ;-). Now type the first letters of your file and hit tab again until your file shows up.


Can I access the computers from outside the museum to check on my runs?
- Yes you can. But you must have an additional account on the hpcc server. Please contact hpcc@fieldmuseum.org for more info.



Will my files on helix and the alpha nodes be backed-up?
- No they won't. But the computers use a RAID 5 disk system which has a high degree of data protection due to redundancies. Therefore, the data will be very safe, safer than on your desktop machine. Nevertheless, I recommend that you download all important data to your computer and do your own backups. Please delete any files on the hpcc computers that you don't need anymore.

Is there any restriction on the amount of data I can store on the hpcc computers?
- There is no restriction on the amount of data you can leave on the hpcc disks a this moment. However, this could change if users are using it as storage space. Therefore, I recommend that you download all important data to your computer and delete any files on the hpcc computers that you don't need anymore.