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                        January to February, 2001 No. 89

For previous issues, please check Computer News Index Page. 

Hotlines
Operations Schedule

General News
Reminder: Computer Centre User Survey 2000
From the Help Desk... Common Questions related to Computer Accounts

Campus Network and Internet Service News
HKUPPP Dial-up Services for the Windows Me Environment
Internet Resources for WebCT Course Designers
High-speed Wireless Network Link for connecting the Yam Pak Building to the Campus Network

UNIX / Host Computer News
Progress of the SUN E10000 upgrade
Pilot Testing of Beowulf Cluster - a PC cluster for Supporting Parallel Computing

PC News
In-house PC Maintenance Service
Results of a New Tender for Desktop and Notebook PCs
 

Staff News

Training News

 
Click here to print a hard copy of the entire Computer News #89

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[Contents] [Next]

Hotlines, Dialup
 
 
 

General Enquiries	2859 2495
Fax	2559 7904
Computer Operations (Network and Operational problems)	2859 2496
Help Desk (Software and general problems)	2859 2480
Equipment Maintenance	2859 2774


 

HKU Computer Centre Dial-up Services
60-minute lines		30-minute lines
56Kbps PPP Lines (v.90 modem standard) (24-hour service and support modems of all speeds) Please click here to see how to configure the settings to use the lines.
408 lines for all users	29757000	144 lines for all users	29647000
		96 lines for all users	21057100
72lines for staff only	28595100	48 lines for staff only	29642300
48 lines for HKU Graduate Account users (no connection time limitation)	22497100

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[Contents] [Next] [Previous]


Operations Schedule

Computer Room Opening Hours - 24 hours

 
Opening Hours for Microcomputer / Workstation Rooms
 

Location:	Opening hours:
Run Run Shaw Building  Room 101, and 103, Room 113 (ACEnet)	24 hours  Monday (00:00 a.m.) - Sunday (12:00 p.m.)
Run Run Shaw Building (Room 201)	Monday – Friday (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Saturday (9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) Sunday - Closed
Run Run Shaw Building Room 210 (Workstation) Knowles Building (Room 218),  K.K. Leung Building Room LG-108 (ACEnet)	Monday - Friday  (9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.)  Saturday (9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.)  Sunday - Closed
Old Library Building (Room 134)	Summer schedule: July 3 - Sep10, 2000 Monday – Friday (9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) Saturday (9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.) Sunday – Closed Term schedule: from Sep 11, 2000 Monday – Friday (9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.) Saturday (9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.) Sunday – Closed
Old Library Building (Room 135)	Monday – Friday (9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) Saturday (9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.) Sunday – Closed

 
[Contents] [Next] [Previous]

Holiday Schedule for Computer Laboratories from February to April, 2001

(Other than Rooms RR101, RR103 and RR113 (ACEnet) which are open all the time, all other microcomputer/workstation/ACEnet laboratories will be closed on Sundays, University holidays and public holidays)

Reminder for User Survey 2000 
 

If you have not yet responded to the Computer Centre user survey, you are urged to do so as soon as possible at website

Do not miss this chance to let us know how you feel about our services as the survey will be closed on January 31, 2001.

How many users have responded so far?

Up to January 22, 2001, the date of writing this reminder, the web survey was responded by 30 teaching staff, 67 non-teaching staff, 52 post-graduate students and 192 undergraduate students.  The overall responses are very low so far compared to our user population of 18,000 user accounts and we would like to collect more feedback from the HKU staff and students to have a meaningful survey.

If you are a HKU member and a computer service user, and you have not responded to this year's survey, please do so to give us a more representative sample of all categories of users.

What is the Survey about and how will it benefit me?

In this survey, you are asked to rate the importance and your satisfaction level of the overall computer services we provide on a scale of 1 to 5 with
    Importance (1= not at all important, 5= most important, 0= not applicable)
    Satisfaction (1= not at all satisfied, 5= most satisfied, 0= not applicable)
Be sure to put down your responses in this section of the survey to give us your feedback.

How do I fill out the web form?

The web survey is made of radio buttons, checkboxes, text boxes and pull-down selection lists.  To select a radio button  or a checkbox  ,  click the little round circle or tick the little square. To select from the drop down list ,  click the little downward arrow to drop down the list, then select an option by clicking on it.  To fill in the text boxes , click in the text box and type in the characters or numbers.   Lastly, you must click the   button to submit the completed web form.

Now, if you have not already done so, please give us 5-10 minutes of your time and click on the link below to enter the survey.

http://intranet.hku.hk:8030/ccform/app/computing.survey

The Computer Centre operates numerous computer systems for supporting the University's IT facilities and services. Each of these systems has its own set of authorised users.  To use any of these systems and services, one must apply for the appropriate computer account for that system.

What types of accounts are there?

The most common computer accounts are the email account and the PPP account for dialup networking from home.  Every HKU member (with a valid HKU staff- or student-number) is entitled to an email account. A unique computer account name (i.e. username) is assigned to each HKU member and the same username will be used for all subsequent computer accounts administered by the Computer Centre (including the email account and the PPP account).  Staff email accounts are normally created on the HKUCC server while student email accounts are mainly created on the HKUSUA server.

The HKUSUA account has the advantage that it allows the user to use the PC systems and facilities in the PC laboratories operated by the Computer Centre and personal homepages can also be put up on the HKUSUA server. If staff members would like to use these facilities, they can apply for an additional HKUSUA account.

Staff members should also apply for a UIS account which gives them access to the Intranet Systems for Staff, which provides various useful information and services.  The numerous services provided by the Computer Centre under the HKU Intranet for staff include PC tender prices (for hardware and software),  computer course registration,  request a technician's visit for your PC or network problem, changing your email or PPP passwords, registering your network card for using the ACEnet, Hallnet or the wireless LAN,  submitting a request for bulk-email, and the latest option is the application for the HKU digital signature.  There are also other information relating to Finance, Personnel, Students and Estates in the Intranet for staff.

For students, the HKUSUA account is needed for gaining access to the Intranet Systems for Students and the Student Connect system. The Student Connect system manages student affairs including registration, course selection, exam results etc.  The password for the Student Connect system is often confused with the password for the HKUSUA system.  These two passwords are set to be the same by the Computer Centre at initial registration time for undergraduates while for postgraduate students, their passwords may be different. However, these two passwords would be different when either the HKUSUA password or the Student Connect password is changed by the students themselves.

How can I obtain a computer account?

New undergraduates will have their email account and PPP account created for them. When they receive their registration material from the Registry, they should find their computer account name and password included on a piece of paper together with the rest of the registration material.

Other HKU members (transfer or post graduate students, teaching or non-teaching staff etc.) will have to create their own computer accounts after arriving in the University.  A computer account can be created on the web at

                         http://www.itservices.hku.hk/services/forms.htm

This web form can only be accessed from the HKU internal network for security reasons.  That means, if you are using an external network service, you cannot access this web form to create your first account.

Maintaining or changing your passwords

Every account has its own password.  When you have a few computer accounts, it is easy to mix them up or forget your passwords.  It is quite a hassle to change your passwords as you have to go to the "system owner" to change your password.

For example, for the Student Connect system, students have to go the Registry's office to change their passwords.  For systems maintained by the Computer Centre, you have to go to the general office of the Computer Centre to change your password (e.g. passwords for HKUSUA, HKUAP3, HKUOA, UIS systems etc.)

To allow for more flexibility for users to change their passwords, the "change password" service for the email and PPP accounts is also made available in the HKU Intranet Systems. To enter the staff intranet, the UIS account is needed, while for the student intranet, the HKUSUA account is needed.
 

When will my account expire?

Our computer accounts are updated automatically (without human intervention) by the computer system based on staff/student records passed on to us from the Registry.  When the Registry record indicates an individual is leaving the University (graduating student, contract expiry etc.), all his computer accounts will be marked for deletion.

For the email and PPP accounts, there is a one-month grace period before expiring accounts are actually closed.  This grace period is provided for you to prepare for a new email address and copy all your wanted files and email addresses to bring to your new computer account elsewhere.

Sometimes, you may have a need to extend your computer account while your application for re-appointment or study is being processed by the University. Then you need to send in a letter of request addressed to our Accounts Manager at the Computer Centre requesting that your account be extended for a specified period of time. This request needs to be endorsed by your department head or supervisor.

I cannot login my account. What is wrong?

If you find that you cannot login your computer account, it is most probably due to one of the following reasons:

• Your username or password is wrong.
• The server you are connecting to is down due to system failure or maintenance work.
• Your account has been disabled because of mis-conduct or computer abuse.
• Your account has been inactivated due termination of employment at HKU or graduation from studies.
• You have the wrong login files ( .cshrc or .login)
• On servers for supporting the University's administration, if you tried 3 times with the wrong password, your account will be disabled for system security reasons. You must then apply for a change of your password by filling a form at the Computer Centre.

Mabel Chau
Tel: 2859 8934
Email: chaumabc@hku.hk

HKUPPP is the dial-up service provided by the Computer Centre which allows you to connect to the HKU campus  network and the Internet from your home PC using a telephone modem.  To use this service, you must have a PPP account and configure the PC settings appropriately. While the procedures for setting up PCs running the Windows 95 and Windows 98 environments are known to most users, we have recently received quite a few user enquiries on the procedure for configuring a PC running the Windows Me operating system to use the HKUPPP service.  The following is a description of the procedure for configuring for PCs running the Windows Me Environment.

First of all, you have to ensure that  your modem is properly installed and configured in your computer. After that, you can proceed to take the following two steps to complete the installation:

Step 1:  Creating Dial-up Icons Manually

Step 2:  Configuring Dial-up Icons Manually
 
 

Creating Dial-Up Icons Manually

For each of the modem pools as characterised in the table shown below, carry out the following steps:
 

For "Name of Computer"	Telephone  No.	Modem Pool Characteristics
HKUPPP56K All Users 1	29757000	x2/V.90 56Kbps modem pool for HKU staff and students, 1-hour connection time limit imposed at high utilization
HKUPPP56K All Users 2	29647000	x2/V.90 56Kbps modem pool for HKU staff and students, 30-minute connection time limit imposed at high utilization
HKUPPP56K All Users 3	21057100	x2/V.90 56Kbps modem pool for HKU staff and students, 30-minute connection time limit imposed at high utilization
HKUPPP56K Staff Only 1	29642300	x2/V.90 56Kbps modem pool for HKU staff only, 30-minute connection time imposed at high utilization
HKUPPP56K Staff Only 2	28595100	x2/V.90 56Kbps modem pool for HKU staff only, 1-hour connection time imposed at high utilization
HKUPPP56K Alumni	22497100	x2/V.90 56Kbps modem pool for Graduate PPP Subscribers only

1. Double-click the My Computer icon, Control Panel icon, Dial-Up Networking icon and then the Make New connection icon. (You will then see the following "Make New Connection" window.)


2. Within the above screen window, type in the name of the computer (e.g. HKUPPP56K All Users 1) corresponding to the  modem pool chosen from the table above, and then select the appropriate modem if you have installed more than one modem.
3. Click the Configure button and set the Maximum Speed to 115200.
4. Click the OK button and then the Next button. (The following screen will appear in the window.)


5. Enter the telephone number corresponding to the modem pool chosen from the table above and select 'Hong Kong (852)' as the country code. You can leave the area code field blank. Click the Next button.
6. Click the Finish button and a new connection icon will be created in the Dial-Up Networking folder.


7. Repeat the above procedure to create as many dial-up icons as you need for the modem pools you use.

1. Double-click the My Computer icon, Control Panel icon, and then Dial-Up Networking icon.
2. Select a dial-up icon that you have created. Click the right mouse button and then select Properties. (A screen window similar to the one shown below will appear.)


3. Click on the Networking tab.
4. Select only Enable software compression and TCP/IP.
5. Click on the button TCP/IP settings.
6. Select Server assigned IP address, Server assigned name server addresses, Use IP header compression, and Use default gateway on remote network as illustrated below:


7. Click the OK buttons in the dialog boxes to confirm the settings until all pop-up windows are closed.
8. Repeat the above configuration procedure for all the created dial-up icons.

To connect to any of the HKUPPP dial-up modem pools, double-click the corresponding connection icons which are found in the Network and Dial-up Connections folder. The login box will appear and prompt you for your HKUPPP account name and the password.  After these are correctly entered, click the Dial button to proceed with the connection.

You will hear the modem making a jarring sound and a dialing box will appear saying the system is verifying your PPP account name and password.  If your account information is entered correctly, and your PPP account budget has not exceeded the limit, you should connect to the network successfully.  If you hear a busy dial-tone, wait a few minutes and re-dial again. If you have difficulties connecting to the HKUPPP network, please contact our help desk.
 

Vitus Lam
Tel: 2859-2484
E-mail: lsw@cc.hku.hk

The WebCT web-based courseware development tool was first introduced in the University in 1997 and has now collected over 400 electronic courses in development or being used in HKU.  The WebCT software is a very popular tool for e-courses that is used by many educational institutions in the world as well as most universities in Hong Kong.  There is continuing software development and recently several useful web-site resources have emerged on the Internet for facilitating WebCT course developers to share their practices and experiences, to gain access to certain special resources and to build web-based e-courses collaboratively via the Internet.

The followings are some selected web-site resources which could be of interest to our WebCT course developers:

(I) e-Learning Communities

At present, there are about 15 "e-Learning communities" at the website http://www.webct.com/communities. Another 40 or more "e-Learning communities" will soon be available. These "e-Learning communities" offer help on the homework and research resources for the specific subject areas which range from Astronomy to Zoology.

In each learning community, visitors will find:

• Course materials
• Resource libraries
• Ask-an-expert services
• Problem of the Week
• E-Colloquia - lectures and symposia featuring distinguished scholars
• Peer mentoring projects
• Topical discussions
• Original content
• Professional mentoring programs

"Ask Dr. C" is an online community service to let users ask any questions related to WebCT. "Ask Dr. C" is moderated by an international group of experts whose real-world WebCT experiences encompass campus implementation, server administration, course design, tool usage, student experience, and integration of third party applications in WebCT. In this community, visitors can find FAQ's, searchable knowledge base, and even post a question to a WebCT expert. Although "Ask Dr. C" operates in a bulletin board mode, a user will receive an email reply to the question he posted so that he does not have to visit the web site regularly to check for responses to his question. The URL for "Ask Dr. C" is http://www.webct.com/ask_drc.

(III) e-Learning Resource Packs (e-Packs)

An e-Learning Resource Pack, or e-Pack, is a set of fully customizable online course material developed by WebCT's Content Provider Partners for instructors to use in their WebCT courses. If a teacher is interested in any item listed in the e-Pack list, he can 'adopt' the corresponding e-Pack into his own WebCT course. This e-Pack contains information such as text, multimedia contents, quizzes, etc. in a WebCT-ready format. Once the e-Pack is adopted, the teacher can use his WebCT designer account to modify the course in anyway he likes. Although designers can make use of the e-Packs free of charge, the students do need to purchase an 'access code' in order to view the course contents. Some publishers bundle the access codes with their text books while others require students to purchase access codes separately online. Therefore, teachers are advised to check for the details attached to e-Packs that they wish to use. For a showcase and demo of the e-Packs, please visit http://cshowcase.webct.com/search/. For more information on e-Packs, please visit WebCT's FAQs for e-Packs.

If you have further questions, please contact the undersigned.

Fanny Chau
Tel: 2964 5737
Email: hcxccyh@hku.hk

High-speed Wireless Network Link for connecting the Yam Pak Building to the Campus Network

The upgraded link is supported by the CB-Access broadband wireless access system.  It consists of an Access Point (AP) and a Subscriber Unit (SU), mounted on the rooftop of the Chow Yei Ching Building and the Yam Pak Building respectively.  The AP and SU communicate with each other through a wireless channel with a speed going up to 25Mbps.  Both the AP and SU are connected to the building's network via a 10-BaseT Ethernet connection.

Our benchmark tests have shown that the upgraded link yields a sustained average throughput of 3.5Megabits/s, which represents more than six-fold increase from the performance before the upgrade.

Network users in the Yam Pak Building should be able to notice a significant increase in network transmission speed in accessing the facilities and resources on the Campus Network and Internet.
 

T. Y. Shen
Tel: 2241 5229
E-mail: sty@cc.hku.hk

Last summer, the Computer Centre has placed an order to upgrade its SUN Enterprise 10000 (Sun E10000) system from 15 CPUs (UltraSPARC III processors) to 41 CPUs. Other than the additional CPUs, 20GB of memory and 396GB (22 x 18GB) of disk storage have also been ordered. The hardware for the upgrade was delivered and installed in December, 2000, and our upgraded Sun E10000 system is now the largest among all Sun E10000 installations in Hong Kong.

At present, the Computer Centre is in the process of configuring the system hardware and software for expansion and improvement of our existing host computer facilities. We report below the progress that has been made to keep our users abreast with the upgrade:

The upgrade of 26 additional CPUs to our Sun E10000 system is for the purposes of replacing the functions previously supported by the decommissioned HKURSC (an IBM RS/6000 390) system and at the same time enhancing the performance and services of the our general-purpose HKUSUA and HKUSUB systems. These two systems are in fact two CPU domains (hardware sub-divisions) of our Sun E10000 server. After the upgrade, these two systems will better support computation-intensive research projects in addition to the general academic and network communication needs of the University members.

The HKUSUA system is now being re-configured from 6 CPUs and 3GB of memory to 10 CPUs and 4GB of memory.  For the HKUSUB system, it is being re-configured from 4 CPUs and 1 GB of memory to 16 CPUs and 8 GB memory. The re-configured HKUSUA and HKUSUB systems will have more processing power and memory to complete users' submitted jobs in shorter time. The two systems will also be able to cope with more and larger computation intensive jobs. The re-configuration of these two systems will be completed by early February, 2001.

Meanwhile, a new CPU domain of the Sun E10000 system has been created for hosting the new version of WebCT (version 3.1)  which is an upgrade from the previous WebCT 2.x,  a software for web-based courses. This new "CPU domain" consists of 4 CPUs, 2GB of memory and 44GB (4 x 18GB in RAID5) of disk storage space. The new CPU domain for WebCT 3.1 will enable WebCT users to have sufficient time to test the enhanced user interface and other features of the new version and plan for a smooth transition in the migration of the e-courses to the new platform. Since this CPU domain of the Sun E10000 system has faster CPUs and doubled memory in comparison with the IBM AIX computer currently supporting the ecourse.hku.hk system, performance of the new WebCT 3.1 platform should be considerably improved.

The other hardware added to the Sun E10000 system, which include 6 CPUs, 6 GB of memory and 324GB (18x18GB) disk storage, will be configured into two new "CPU domains". One of these domains will be set up as a new NFS (network file system) server for providing disk space to the HKUSUA, HKUSUB systems and the new WebCT 3.1 system. The other new CPU domain is to serve as a network backup system for quick recovery of any loss of services due to CPU failure in any of the other CPU domains in the Sun E10000 system.

We shall report more on this development in the coming issues of the Computer News as further progress is made.
 
 

Kenneth Yip

Pilot Testing of Beowulf Cluster - a PC cluster for Supporting Parallel Computing

With the continuous reduction in cost and increase in processing power of PCs, there has been a notable development in many institutions in the world to set up large clusters of PCs running the Linux operating system to complement their installations of the traditional packaged supercomputers. These systems are generally called Beowulf Clusters because this design was originally conceived by the Beowulf project at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the U.S.

The Computer Centre is now working on a pilot implementation of Beowulf cluster of Linux systems to enable our users to test out the usefulness of this kind of computer system.  We would expect that Beowulf clusters could be an alternative solution to augment our existing high performance computing facility based on an IBM SP2 parallel computer. The cluster being built comprises of eight dual Pentium 800MHz CPU nodes (16 CPUs altogether), each of which is configured with 1GB of RAM and 30GB of local disk. These processor nodes will be interconnected by a dedicated high-speed Gigabit Ethernet switch for inter-processor communications. The system software used for setting up this cluster are the RedHat Linux 6.2 and Portland Group's Cluster Development Kit Software  (http://www.pgroup.com/prodcdk.htm).

We are now in the process of assembling the hardware and software that have been delivered.  The various software are being installed and integration testing is being made.  More progress of this development will be reported in the next issue of Computer News.

For readers interested in reviewing the basic concepts of parallel computing, we have attached below an article on Parallel Computing Concepts which is borrowed from the Paralogic Inc., Bethlehem, PA, USA.

If you require more information about the Beowulf cluster being implemented in the Computer Centre, please contact the undersigned.

Kwan Wing Keung
Tel: 2857-8631
E-mail: kwk@cc.hku.hk

Due to the use of multi-tasking Operating Systems, it is possible to do several things at once. This is a natural "parallelism" that is easily exploited by more than one low cost CPU.  Depending on the application, parallel computing can speed things up by any where from 2 to 500 times faster (in some cases even faster). Such performance is not available using a single processor. Let's look at an example of a "parallel computing problem" which we are familiar with while waiting in long lines at a store.

The Parallel Computing Store

Consider a big store with 8 cash registers grouped together in the front of the store.  Assume each cash register/cashier is a CPU and each customer is a computer program. The size of the computer program (amount of work) is the size of each customer's order. The following analogies can be used to illustrate parallel computing concepts.

1. Single-tasking Operating System:

One cash register open (is in use) and must process each customer one at a time. Example: MS DOS

2. Multi-tasking Operating System:

One cash register open, but now we process only a part of each order at a time, move to the next person and process some of their order. Everyone "seems" to be moving through the line together, but if no one else is in the line, you will get through the line faster.  Example: UNIX, NT using a single CPU

3. Multitasking Operating Systems with Multiple CPUs:

Now we open several cash registers in the store. Each order can be processed by a separate cash register and the line can move much faster. This is called SMP - Symmetric Multi-processing. Although there are extra cash registers open, you will still never get through the line any faster than just you and a single cash register.  Example: UNIX and NT with multiple CPUs

4. Threads on a Multitasking Operating Systems extra CPUs:

If you "break-up" the items in your order, you might be able to move through the line faster by using several cash registers at one time. First, we must assume you have a large amount of goods, because the time you invest "breaking up your order" must be regained by using multiple cash registers. In theory, you should be able to move through the line "n" times faster than before; where "n" is the number of cash registers. When the cashiers need to get sub- totals, they can exchange information quickly by looking and talking to all the other "local" cash registers. They can even snoop around the other cash registers to find information they need to work faster. There is a limit, however, as to how many cash registers the store can effectively locate in any one place.  Example: UNIX or NT with extra CPU on the same motherboard running multithreaded programs.

5. Sending Messages on Multitasking Operating Systems with extra CPUs:

In order to improve performance, the store adds 8 cash registers at the back of the store. Because the new cash registers are far away from the front cash registers, the cashiers must call on the phone to send their sub-totals to the front of the store. This distance adds extra overhead (time) to communication between cashiers, but if communication is minimized, it is not a problem. If you have a really big order, one that requires all the cash registers, then as before your speed can be improved by using all cash registers at the same time, the extra overhead must be considered. In some cases, the store may have single cash registers (or islands of cash registers) located all over the store - each cash register (or island) must communicate by phone. Since all the cashiers working the cash registers can talk to each other by phone, it does not matter too much where they are.  Example: One or several copies of UNIX or NT with extra CPUs on the same or different motherboard communicating through messages.

The above scenarios, although not exact, are a good representation of constraints placed on parallel systems. Unlike a single CPU (or cash register) communication is an issue.

The common methods and architectures of parallel computing are presented below. While this description is by no means exhaustive, it is enough to understand the basic issues involved with Beowulf design.

Hardware Architectures

There are basically two ways parallel computer hardware is put together:

I) Distributed memory machines that communicate by messages (Beowulf Clusters)
    example at HKU: the Linux cluster and SP2 supercomputer
II) Shared memory machines that communicate through shared memory (SMP machines)
    example at HKU: the E10000 system with HKUSUA, HKUSUB etc.)

A 4 way SMP box is a shared memory machine and can be used for parallel computing - parallel applications communicate using shared memory. Just as in the computer store analogy, local memory machines (individual cash registers) can be scaled up to large numbers of CPUs, while the number of CPUs shared memory machines (the number of cash registers you can place in one spot) can have is limited due to memory contention.

It is possible, however, to connect many shared memory machines to create a "hybrid" shared memory machine. These hybrid machines "look" like a single large SMP machine to the user and are often called NUMA (non uniform memory access) machines because the global memory seen by the programmer and shared by all the CPUs can have different latencies. At some level, however, a NUMA machine must "pass messages" between local shared memory pools.

It is also possible to connect SMP machines as distributed memory compute nodes. Typical CLASS I motherboards have either 2 or 4 CPUs and are often used as a means to reduce the overall system cost. The Linux internal scheduler determines how these CPUs get shared. The user cannot (at this point) assign a specific task to a specific SMP processor.  The user can however, start two independent processes or threaded processes and expect to see a performance increase over a single CPU system.

Software API Architectures

There are basically two ways to "express" concurrency in a program:

    1. Using Messages sent between processors
    2. Using operating system Threads

Other methods do exist, but these are the two most widely used. It is important to remember that the expression of concurrency is not necessarily controlled by the underlying hardware. Both Messages and Threads can be implemented on SMP, NUMA-SMP, and clusters, with efficiency and portability being important issues.

Copyright (c) 1999 by Paralogic Inc., Bethlehem, PA, USA, All Rights Reserved.

Idy Tang
Tel: 2859-2491
E-mail: kytang@cc.hku.hk

The Computer Centre has recently completed a tendering exercise on PC systems for the Joint Universities Computer Centre (JUCC).  The results of the tender, which have been approved by the JUCC Tender Board, cover both desktop and notebook computer systems of the following selected CPU models :
 

Models	Selected Suppliers
Desktop Pentium-III (667/800/866/933/1G MHz)	Dell, Spectrum
Desktop Dual Pentium-III (700/733/800/850/866/933/1G MHz)	Comtech, Dell, Spectrum
Notebook Pentium-III (500/600/650/700/750/800/850 MHz)	Chevalier, Dell, Spectrum

The systems which come closest to the configuration of the Computer Centre's recommended standard staff PC workstation are the following :
 

From Dell Computer Asia Ltd

            Dell Optiplex GX110 Pentium III (866MHz) CPU,
            Integrated 256KB Advanced Transfer L2 cache,
            128MB PC100 SDRAM,
            Intel 810e chipset,
            3 PCI expansion slots (standard),
            10GB EIDE Hard Disk Drive,
            1.44MB floppy disk drive,
            SVGA colour display card w/ 4MB video RAM,
            15" SVGA colour monitor (1024x768),
            48x IDE CD-ROM drive,
            Mouse,
            Keyboard,
            Integrated 3Com 3C905C 10/100Base-TX NIC,
            Integrated sound card w/internal speaker,
            Harman Kardon Speaker,
            English Windows 98 SE,
            Desktop casing,
            3-year on-site (parts & labour) warranty
 
 
 

From Spectrum Electronics & Computer Systems Ltd.

            Spectrum Genie-II Pentium III (866MHz) CPU,
            256KB ATC L2 cache,
            128MB SDRAM,
            Award PCI BIOS,
            VIA 694 chipset,
            5 x PCI, 1 x AGP, and 1 x ISA expansion slots,
            Seagate ST310211A ATA-100 10GB Hard Disk,
            1.44MB Panasonic floppy disk drive,
            S3 TRIO 3D AGP display adaptor w/4MB video RAM,
            Philips 105S 15" SVGA monitor,
            40x IDE Panasonic CD-ROM drive,
            Logitech PS/2 Mouse,
            104 Keys PS/2 Keyboard,
            3COM 3C905C-TX 100Base-TX PCI NIC,
            Filand Stereo speaker (one pair),
            English Windows 98 SE,
            ATX Desktop case,
            3-years on-site warranty
 

For more details, please click on the 'PC Tender Prices' item under  'Computer Centre' menu in the Intranet System for Staff.
 

T. Y. Shen
Tel: 2241 5229
E-mail: sty@cc.hku.hk

The Computer Centre has continued to experience a big staff turnover probably due to high demand of professional IT personnel in Hong Kong.  While we are continuously recruiting new staff members to fill the vacancies, we are seeing also departure of old members.

We welcome the following new members to the Computer Centre:

• Mr Benson Lo Chi Man joined the Finance Support Team on November 1, 2000.  Benson is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago and received his Bachelor of Science (Computer Engineering) degree in 1992.
• Mr Sunny Leung Yat Wai joined the Information Services Team on November 13, 2000.  Sunny is a graduate of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and received his Bachelor of Business Administration (Management Information System) degree in 2000.
• Mr Ho Kwok Fai joined the Finance Support Team on January 1, 2001.  Kwok Fai is a graduate of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and received his Bachelor of Computer Science degree in 1999.
• Mr Koo Ting Wai joined the Research Services Support Team on January 1, 2001.  Ting Wai is a graduate of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and received his Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Engineering) degree in 1999.
• Mr Samuel Lo Worlds Light joined the Electronic Service Delivery Development Team on January 1, 2001.  Samuel is a graduate of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and received his Bachelor of Engineering (Information Engineering) in 1998.

Mr Leung Chi Wai who left on October 2, 2000

Mr Lam Kwok Leung who left on December 31, 2000

Ms Tracy Au Yeung who left on January 15, 2001

The Computer Centre is pleased to announce a series of courses scheduled for February to April 2001 to assist staff and students in using the Centre's facilities. The courses will cover the following areas:
 

Internet Browsing and Webpage Authoring Chinese Information Handling Spreadsheet Unix System and Application Software PC Network and Services

Word Processing  Web Course Tools Parallel Programming Adobe Photoshop Statistical Analysis

Most courses are open to all staff and students free of charge.  A fee is charged for courses provided by a course vendor. Some courses require pre-requisites.  Click on the course number to see the description of each course.

Users can apply on-line for these courses through the "CC Course Registration" icon in HKUWIN or click the "Staff Registration" or "Student Registration" links below.

Click here to suggest new courses you would like.

Staff Registration   or   Student Registration

Courses on Parallel Programming
 
 

C0613500	SP2 Parallel Programming with workshop	Feb 27, 2001  2:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-101
C0713500	SP2 Parallel Programming with workshop	Mar 28, 2001  2:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-101
C0813500	SP2 Parallel Programming with workshop	26 Apr, 2001 2:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-101

Courses on Unix System and Applications
 

C0411800

Introduction to UNIX

Feb 22, 2001  2:30 p.m.- 5:30 p.m.

Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201

Staff Registration   or   Student Registration
 

Courses on Web Browsing and Webpage Editing
 
 

C0516200	Introduction to HKU ESD Applications	Feb 13, 2001  9:30 am - 12:30 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0715100	Basic HTML   Editing	Feb 16, 2001 9:30 am - 12:30 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0514000	Introduction to WWW  and Internet services	Mar 8, 2001 9:30 am - 12:30 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0216100	Using CGI programs in Webpages	Mar 13, 2001 9:30 am - 12:30 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0815100	Basic HTML   Editing	Apr 3, 2001  9:30 am - 12:30 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0614000	Introduction to WWW  and Internet services	Apr 27, 2001 9:30 am - 12:30 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201

Staff Registration   or   Student Registration

Courses on Microsoft Office and Other Topics
 
 

W0281500	Access 2000  (Staff only)	Feb 5 & 6, 2001 9:30 am - 5:00 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
W0380500	Adobe Photoshop 5.5  (Staff only)	Feb 19 & 20, 2001 9:30 am - 5:00 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
W0181800	Chinese Word 2000 (Staff only)	Mar 5 & 6, 2001 9:30 am - 5:00 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
W0181900	Word 2000 (Staff only)	Apr 9 & 10, 2001 9:30 am - 5:00 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
W0481000	Dreamweaver 3  (Staff only)	Apr 19 & 20, 2001 9:30 am - 5:00 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
W0281300	MS FoxPro  (Staff only)	Apr 23 & 24, 2001 9:30 am - 5:00 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201

Staff Registration   or   Student Registration
 

 Course Descriptions:

Introduction to HKU ESD Applications

This is a 3-hour workshop on how to use electronic signatures in electronic documents. It will cover the following topics :

1.  Introduction to the PKI and ESD concept
2.  PKI infrastructure and ESD applications at HKU
3.  Using digital signature for HKU ESD applications
4.  Overview on building ESD applications for your department

Courses on Internet Browsing and Webpage Authoring

Introduction to WWW and Internet Services

This is a 3-hour introductory course. Course contents include
    Introduction to Internet
    Using The Netscape Communicator 4 Browser
    Reading Chinese on WWW Browser
    Tour on the HKU Intranet
    Tour on the Global Internet

Basic HTML Editing

This 3-hour course workshop on HTML editing using the Netscape Communicator 4 Editor.  In the workshop, students would be doing the following exercises:
    Exercise 1 - Create a document, try colors, fonts, bullets lists etc.
    Exercise 2 - Create targets and hyperlinks
    Exercise 3 - Create a table
    Exercise 4 - Using image files in your document
    Exercise 5 - Uploading your document to the server

Using CGI Programs in Webpages

This is a 3-hour course on using cgi programs in webpages.  Contents include:
    Exercise 1 - Running cgi program on the web server
    Exercise 2 - Imbedding cgi programs in a web form
    Exercise 3 - Putting a counter in a homepage
    Exercise 4 - Putting a guestbook in a homepage
Pre-requisite: Basic HTML Editing. Attendants must have HKUSUA computer account.
 

WebCT (Web Course Tool) Training Courses

Introduction to WebCT

This 2-hour course will discuss the basic functionalities provided by WebCT from a student's point of view to give participants some feelings on what WebCT can do for their course. e.g. browsing course materials, attempting on-line quizzes, using bulletin boards.

Introduction to WebCT2.1

This 2-hour course will provide hands-on training on WebCT v2.1. Major new features in v2.1 are:

• a single set of account/password,
• the 'WebCT ID', for each WebCT user including designers, graders and students. With the WebCT ID, a user can access all his WebCT courses, check new bulletin messages, course and system announcements, etc. in a centralized page, the 'myWebCT' page.

This 4-hour course will cover steps for course designers (staff members who actually prepare courses on WebCT) to post lecture materials on WebCT, and to perform customization on course homepages.
Pre-requisites: Introduction to WebCT, Basic HTML Editing.

WebCT Course Designer's Advanced Workshop

This 2-hour course will cover more advanced features for course designers, e.g. preparing on-line quizzes, checking statistical data, managing student records.
Pre-requisites: WebCT Course Designer's Basic Workshop

Courses on Parallel Programming

SP2 Parallel Programming with Workshop

This is a 3-hour seminar and workshop for people interested in parallel programming using the IBM SP2 Supercomputer. It covers the methodology of writing parallel programs using the message passing interface (MPI). Students should have programming experience in C or Fortran but experience in parallel programming is not needed. Sample programs will be given to users in the hands-on workshop.

High Performance FORTRAN

This 3-hour seminar on High Performance FORTRAN provides an easy way to write data parallel programs in MIMD computers such as the IBM SP2. The High Performance FORTRAN is an extension of the FORTRAN 90 in several areas, including:

• Data distribution features
• Data parallel execution features
• Extended intrinsic functions and standard library
• EXTRINSIC procedures

This 9-hour course provides and introduction to the structure and syntax of the FORTRAN 90 language for FORTRAN 77
programmers. After taking this course, users will be able to write FORTRAN 90 programs using arrays and write reusable and
readable codes using the data encapsulation feature of FORTRAN 90.

Courses on Unix System and Application Software

Introduction to UNIX

This is a 3-hour introductory course for users with little or no Unix experience. The course will cover the Unix computing environment, the Unix file system, the editor, email, disk quota and mail quota allocations and commonly used Unix commands.

Seminar on MAPLE V

This is a 2-hour introduction course on the use of MAPLE V for mathematical computations.  The course covers:
    Maple Objects,
    Syntax of Maple V commands
    Some Common Operations
    Numerical Operations
    Graphics
    I/O
    Programming in Maple V

Seminar on MATLAB

MATLAB is an integrated computing environment for numeric computation and visualization. This 2-hour seminar will give an
introduction on using MATLAB in numerical analysis, matrix computation and graphics etc.

Seminar on Mathematica

Mathematica is a general computer software system and language intended for mathematical and other applications. In this 2-hour seminar, examples of using Mathematica in numerical calculations, graphics, algebra and calculus, solving equations etc, will be shown.

Seminar on SAS

The SAS package is an integrated system for data analysis. In this 2-hour seminar, users will learn how to create a SAS
data set, to retrieve data from the data set and to perform some commonly used statistical procedures. Users are expected to have some statistics background.

Seminar on SPSS

This is a 2-hour seminar for users with some statistics background. Users will learn how to read the input data as well as to
perform some simple statistical analysis.

Connecting to the HKU Network (PPP, ACEnet and Hall Network)

This is a 3-hour seminar on the HKU network with an introduction to the network topology, network services, and the software for accessing the HKU network.  The HKU network can be accessed from the following venues:
    PPP - for dialing in from home
    Hallnet - for student residing in residence halls
    ACEnet - for accessing everywhere from any network point
 

Courses on Microsoft Office and Other Topics

MS Word 2000 ($360)

This is a 2-day course especially designed for users who want to learn how to navigate through and work with documents; manipulate text; change formatting and page layout; and preview and print a document.

Course Outline :

1. Word 2000 processing concepts
2. Using dialog boxes and icons
3. Documents editing
4. Files save/retrieve and Management
5. Files conversion and import/export filters
6. Selecting fonts and using special text and symbols
7. Auto formatting and style options
8. Using thesaurus and hyphenation, spelling and grammar check
9. Creating multiple columns and table
10. Positioning text and graphics with frames
11. Assembling documents with mail merge
12. Working with long documents
13. Printing master documents, envelopes and labels
14. Data linking and embedding

 

This is a 2-day course especially designed for users who are familiar with the English microcomputer working environment but with little experience on Chinese microcomputer operation. The course will cover :

• Basic principle Changjei Chinese character input method.
• Basic operation of Microsoft Word 97 under the Chinese Windows 95 working environment.
• Techniques and common practices in preparing Chinese document.

 
This is a 1-day course on making a professional presentation slide show using PowerPoint2000.  Contents include:
1.     Introduction to PowerPoint
2.     Creating a presentation using "Auto Content Wizard"
3.     Understanding PowerPoint views
4.     Adding clip art and pictures
5.     Customise slide shows
6.     Transition effects and text animation
7.     Printing slides and speaker notes
8.     Creating special text effects with WordArt
9.     Creating organisation charts
10.     Inserting Microsoft Word table and Excel spreadsheet
11.     Creating charts


ACCESS 2000 ($360)

Access is a powerful database software allowing users to create database and database applications without any programming work.  This is a 2 day course.

Contents of this course include:
 

1. The Access 2000 fundamental database components
2. Using a database wizard
3. Creating a database
4. Defining data types and setting field properties
5. Using the primary key
6. Adding and deleting records
7. Finding and replacing records
8. Filtering and sorting records
9. Relational database
10. Making use of queries
11. Using quick form and quick report
12. Creating a customised form
13. Changing design of forms
14. Creating print reports
15. Mailing labels

The course outline of this 2-day workshop include :

1. Spreadsheet concepts, basic movement
2. data entry techniques & create formulas
3. using special functions formatting
4. cells formatting, data & formulas cell reference
5. workbook save & retrieve
6. using dialog box commands, icons & toolbars
7. creating an embedded chart on worksheets
8. creating graphical objects on worksheets
9. worksheets printing techniques
10. database query and table handling auto filter
11. worksheet and workbook linking
12. useful built-in & functions, PMT, vlookup, (if, sumif)
13. add-in program, auto save
14. graph and picture handling and slide show
15. goal seeking and scenario manager

Adobe Photoshop 5.5  ($360)

This is a 2-day course on using the Adobe Photoshop, a software for photo retouching, image editing and color painting.
Adobe Photoshop 4.0 has many new and enhanced features in auto-updating of formats, multiple layers control, digital watermarks for copyright, effects filters, and other enhancements for control of quality etc.
Course outline :
    Photoshop Basic
    Selections, Mask and Channel Operation
    Enhancing Photo
    Montage and Collage
    Using Filters
    Painting
    Combining Photoshop and PostScript
    Special Effects
    3D/4D Adding Depth and Motion

Adobe Illustrator 8  ($500)

This is a 2-day course on using the Adobe Illustrator 8, a popular illustration software that can create graphically rich artwork for print or the Web.
Course Outline :
    1. Basic concepts on computer graphic design
    2. Using various drawing tools
    3. Grid and guides
    4. Text editing, path type and area type and use of different fonts
    5. Rotating and resizing objects
    6. Mask effect, transforming objects from 2D to 3D
    7. Inserting graphic images

Web Creation Using Dreamweaver 3  ($500)

This 2-day course is designed for users who want to learn how to use Macromedia Dreamweaver 3, a powerful & professional visual editor for creating and managing web pages. With Dreamweaver, it's easy to create cross-platform, cross-browser pages.  Course outline :
    1. Dreamweaver Work Space
    2. Site Planning & Site Management
    3. Understanding Hyper Link
    4. Using Images & Animations
    5. Using Cascading Sytle Sheet
    6. Creating Forms & Frames
    7. Creating Interactive Homepage
Pre-requisite: Basic HTML Editing

Flash 4  ($500)

This 2-day course is designed for students who want to learn how to use Macromedia Flash 4, to produce special effects and animation, for a multimedia homepage.  It can help users produce home pages with vector and bitmap graphics, motion, MP3 audio, form input and interactivity.

Course outline :
    1. Flash Work Space
    2. Drawing and Editing Graphics
    3. Editing scenes and objects
    4. Using Timeline
    5. Creating animation and using sound files
    6. Using Actions
    7. Publishing and Exporting to movie
    8. Uploading homepage
Pre-requisite: Basic HTML Editing

Visual FoxPro 6.0* ($500)

This 2-day course provides an introduction to Visual FoxPro, a fast relational database management system in Windows.  It is a 32 bit Xbase database engine, the application can be used in Windows 95/98/NT environments.  It can also support Microsoft SQL Server/Client Server.

Course Outline:
    1. Starting Visual FoxPro
    2. Organizing with Project Manager
    3. Explore a database
        - Creating: new table, Query, view of local data, One-to-many form
    4. Ordering data using indexes
    5. Collecting tables into a database
    6. Finding information
        - Querying data, Updating data with views, Updating multiple tables
    7. Displaying information
        - Designing reports and labels, Displaying data in forms
    8. Visual FoxPro with other Application - Sharing information with other programs.

Graphic Design Using CorelDraw 8* ($500)

This 2-day course is designed for students who want to learn how to use Corel DRAW, the most popular vector-based drawing program that makes it easy to create professional artwork - from simple company logos to intricate technical illustrations.

Course Outline:
1. Basic concepts on computer graphic design
2. Using various drawing tools
3. Style and color of line
4. Text editing, Fit text to path, Uses of different fonts
5. Rotate, skew and resize objects, Group and combine objects
6. Mask effect, transform 2D objects to 3D using Extrude function
7. Inserting graphic images

1. Since workshops on Microsoft Office97 and other programs for Windows are organised in conjunction with a course vendor, the Whiz Company, there is a nominal charge on the course.

For courses requiring a fee, please send payment to the Computer Centre together with your registration form, or as soon as you have registered on the web, otherwise your registration is considered invalid and will be replaced by another applicant.  Payment can be made in cheque (payable to the University of Hong Kong), or through departmental requisition (for applicants supported by departments).   Successful applicants will be notified by e-mail or telephone at least one week before the commencement of the workshop. Once accepted, the fee is not refundable. However, substitution of participant is possible by written notification to the Centre.

2. The workshops on Chinese Word 97  will be conducted in Cantonese.

3. Enrolment for some courses may be for staff only while others are for students only.  Where it is not specified, the courses are open to all staff and students of the University.

* The maximum number of participants for workshops held in Room 135, Old Library Building is 25; Room 201, Run Run Shaw Building is 22; and Room 101, Run Run Shaw Building is 20.