RHIT Math Department Computing - Linux Computing Facilities Overview

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Theorodrome and Linux based computing facilities

The Theorodrome (G220) is the mathematics department's Advanced Computing Applications Laboratory and Classroom (ACALC). It combines a well appointed laptop classroom with 10 Linux/XP HP workstations placed around the periphery of the classroom. We attempt to use the room for both classes that make use of the computational power and software of the workstations and the rest of the time as an open lab and project room. During the summer it houses the department's undergraduate research program NSF-REU.

The workstations support both the Linux and Windows XP simultaneously -- Linux is the base OS, with Windows XP as a host OS using VMware. In addition the department has two HP dual-processor remote compute servers. These servers are used for long or large computations and specialized Statistical and Operations Research software. They are accessible from the Theorodrome or any laptop or desktop on campus.

The lab/classroom is available during the day for class or open lab and in the evenings for open lab. Students seeking to work in the Theorodrome after hours need to have a faculty sponsor to gain continuing access.

The Theorodrome is part of the institute-wide UNIX computing infrastructure. The other main UNIX facilities on campus are the Linux based mathematics compute servers described above, the Computer Science and Software Engineering Computing Network, the primarily SGI-based Imaging Lab, and the RHIT cluster computer. The Computer Science computing network are primarily two open labs supporting Computer Science course work and computer intensive project work. The Imaging Lab is used exclusively for image processing courses and projects. The cluster computer is shared among the academic departments and became available in the Fall of 2001.

With a few exceptions the all these locations support the same UNIX software. It is also possible to run programs remotely on these computers through an SSH session or run an X-windows session from a laptop or desktop PC. All students and faculty have accounts in the Theorodrome through the AFS file and account system. System in the Computer Science Department Public Lab require an account on the Computer Science Department network.

Information on using the computing facilities in the Theorodrome is given on the Theorodrome howto sheet and information on using the servers is given on the servers howto sheet.

Theorodrome and Remote Servers - Features

Lab and Server Features The Theorodrome contains ten HP workstations, with 24 inch LCD monitors. All campus computing facilities are locally interconnected connected by 100 megabit (or greater) subnets connected to a 1-gigabit (or greater) backbone. In addition there are two remote compute servers. Here are configurations of the public workstations and servers:

• HP dc7600, Intel 3.4Ghz processors, 2.5Gbyte RAM, 4M cache, 80 GByte SATA drive, DVD-ROM, NVIDIA Quadro NVS 290 graphics adapter, Fedora 8 (32bit) Linux base OS with Windows XP as a host OS using VMware
• moe.math.rose-hulman.edu
• larry.math.rose-hulman.edu
• curly.math.rose-hulman.edu
• shemp.math.rose-hulman.edu
• stan.math.rose-hulman.edu
• oliver.math.rose-hulman.edu

• HP dc5750, AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4800+ processor 2.5 GHz 1 MB L2 cache 2000 MHz front side bus, 2GB RAM, 160 GByte SATA drive, DVD-ROM, NVIDIA Quadro NVS 290 graphics adapter, Fedora 8 (64bit) Linux base OS with Windows XP as a host OS using VMware
  • jerry.math.rose-hulman.edu
  • dean.math.rose-hulman.edu
  • lou.math.rose-hulman.edu
  • bud.math.rose-hulman.edu

• HP DL140, with dual Intel Xeon Processor 3.20GHz/533MHz-1MB, 4GB ECC RAM, 2x80GB ATA-100 IDE disk drives, Integrated Dual Broadcom 10/100/1000 NICs, and CD-ROM, Redhat Enterprise (32 bit) Linux 4 OS.
• clive.csse.rose-hulman.edu
• derek.csse.rose-hulman.edu

Software Many types of software are supported in the Theorodrome, most of which can be run on the compute servers clive and derek. A small list is given below.

• Mathematics software: Maple, Matlab, Magma, Mathematica, Cplex, Splus, SAS  
• Typsetting Software: TeX, LaTeX, and LaTeX2HTML 
• Graphics Software: OpenGL
• Compilers and Development: GNU Utilities including C and C++, Fortran, Java development kit, Perl

Laptop Classroom Features The Theorodrome has the standard features of the better laptop classrooms at Rose. The arrangement of tables and rolling chairs make it easy to do group work and project work in class and during open lab. The power and network setup allow students to use both their laptops and the Sun computers. The overhead projector is great for giving and rehearsing presentations.

Math Computing History and Culture

The room G220 and the adjacent G222 has been a constant feature of the mathematics department's computing effort since 1986. Here are some of the important phases of development

• 1988-89 - ILI grant to teach Calculus and DE using VaxStations 2000 workstations in G220 and G222. Laboratory originally called SYMLAB - symbolic mathematics laboratory.
• 1990-92 - ILI grant to teach IFYCSEM, Calculus and DE - conversion to NeXT platform. (G220 and G222)
• 1992-96 - ILI grant to develop "DISCO", using DECStations. G220 is named the THEORODROME (theorem discovery).
• 1996-99 - Conversion to laptop classrooms and to SUN platform. All classrooms in Crapo Hall are converted to laptop classrooms and G220 to a lab/classroom. Internal funding sources from Facilities, Academic Affairs, Computing Center, and Math Department.
• 1999-2005 - Continuing upgrade of computing equipment, network infrastructure, and projection facilities throughout Crapo Hall. Internal funding sources from Academic Affairs, Computing Center, and Math Department.
• 2001 Companion RHIT computing cluster purchased and installed. Internal funding sources from Academic Affairs, Computing Center and Math Department.
• 2003 Mike Mcleish hired as joint systems administrator for Math and CSSE
• 2004-2006 Begin and complete migration from Solaris to Linux-XP dual OS - funding from Academic Affairs and Mathematics

All networked UNIX computers need a name and within a given cluster there is usually a theme for the names. In mathematics departments it is common to name the computers after famous mathematicians. However our department has rejected this idea as being too ordinary. An alternative scheme based on comedy teams has been adopted which more accurately reflects the sometimes chaotic art of computing. Here are links to web pages of our "intellectual leaders" ;-).

•  Moe, Larry, Curly and Shemp
•  Stan and Oliver
•  Bud and Lou
•  Jerry and Dean
•  Clive and Derek