April 2011 - Physics-Departmental-Computing

Fwd: Re: Departmental computing meeting minutes
by David Colling 15 Apr '11

15 Apr '11

Minutes of the last meeting taken by Simon. All the best, david

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Can we do without Wolfram?,
by David Colling 15 Apr '11

15 Apr '11

Dear Computing Reps, The Wolfram lawyers are being wholly unreasonable and so Jo asked me if we could possibly do without any Wolfram products in the department. I replied that whilst this would be fine for me (I have access via CERN) I suspect that many would not be able to work effectively without it. I did however, say that I would ask this group in case I was wrong. So, was I wrong? All the best, david

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Summary of the Wolfram
by David Colling 14 Apr '11

14 Apr '11

Dear All, I think that we have probably done the Mathematica conversation to death. So I thought that I would summarise the situation as a way of rounding off the discussion this time around (although I do have a couple of questions to which I would like replies - so not quite over yet). I am sure that we will revisit the particular nugget again. - I have done a few google searches (as I know have a couple of other people have as well) and it appears that other things like Maple are good they are not as good as Mathematica for difficult problems. Also people are used to using it and like it. The science must come first and so we need to be able to use Mathematica. - College now traces all illegal use and stops it (and Carlo, there were certainly some illegal copies in theory). - We have a variety of licenses purchased in a variety of ways. Individual licenses, some as part of the 3 year plan etc. - At the end of the 3 year plan we had decided to move to a department wide license server so this is where the questions come in. o When exactly does the current 3 year agreement come to an end? o How many groups have license servers at the moment? I have a feeling it is 2 or 3 ... I have it in my notes but as I am asking other questions it is quicker to ask it again than trawl through my notes. o Am I correct in thinking that these are floating licenses in the sense that that matters is how concurrent users there are and that they are not locked to individual seats or users? o How many licenses do people currently have and how many would they like? o Would this arrangement also work for the DTC machines? If so how many licenses would be needed here (an extra 50?) o These licenses ate ~£145/license/year and you have to buy them year on year for 3 years - is this the arrangement? - Wolfram would like us to buy a site licenses at £30K. We don't want to send this. - I will keep you posted of any news I hear. Is there anything else that I have missed. All the best, david

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Fwd: FW: Disaster Recovery for Research Data - College Policy
by David Colling 01 Apr '11

01 Apr '11

Hi Linda, Having a quick read through this suggests to me that this should already be covered in the disaster recovery plans that we fill in and send to Harry. He asks for these from each group via the departmental computing meetings. I am forwarding these to the physics computing list so that the policy is distributed to the right people in the department. All the best, david -------- Original Message -------- Subject: FW: Disaster Recovery for Research Data - College Policy Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:34:47 +0100 From: Jones, Linda D <l.jones(a)imperial.ac.uk> To: Colling, David J <d.colling(a)imperial.ac.uk> CC: Jones, Linda D <l.jones(a)imperial.ac.uk> Dave – any thoughts on this? It is a large (and of course important) part of our broad disaster recovery plan. Many thanks! Linda *From:*Nadal, Rebecca C *Sent:* 17 March 2011 12:01 *To:* ph.hod; Owens, Ian; Welton, Tom; McCoy, Emma J; Mumford, John D *Cc:* Bradley, Donal D C; Cummins, Bob D; Dallman, Maggie J; Boyce, Eileen S; Jones, Linda D; Jones, Richard L; Lyle, Karen R; Evans, Pat M; Hirjee, Nazia *Subject:* Disaster Recovery for Research Data - College Policy Dear HoDs, Please see below and attached for information regarding the recently approved College policy on *Disaster Recovery for Research Data* in response to an internal audit. Best wishes, Becky. Dear Faculty Principals The College Research Committee has recently approved a College policy on Disaster Recovery for Research Data in response to an internal audit that looked at disaster recovery arrangements in individual Departments. This is an important issue, which the College takes seriously. Please could you bring this policy to the attention of your PIs and ensure they comply with it. A copy will be placed on the Research Strategy web page http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/researchstrategy for ease of reference. /Please cascade the above note to your Heads of Department./ Best wishes David Begg Acting Pro Rector Research

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