Information for Windows users
Integrating private machines
The Lab will permit you to connect a private computer to the internet, using the lab's facilities. These connections provide you with good connectivity, but access to some Lab facilities is subject to the same constraints as if you were connecting from an external ISP.
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Network access
To be eligible for LAN access, you must register your machine's details with the Lab; the information needed is
- the machine's MAC address (see below)
- whether the connection you're after is wired or wireless (wireless connections are not available to visitors)
- the floor-box port you hope to use for connection (if appropriate)
- the machine's "reference name"
- the operating system the machine runs
This is conveniently done via the form to request a connection.
Finding the MAC address
A MAC address is a 48-bit number, quoted as 6 octets (bytes) written as hex values.
Windows tells you the value, when the machine and its network card are running, via the netstat command. Bring up a shell window (also known as a DOS box), by Start-> Run, and then typing cmd (or possibly command). In the window, type netstat -r; the "interface list" gives the MAC address for any physical interface that is active.
Set up your machine to use DHCP, and connect
Most ISPs use DHCP, so most machines will be configured to use DHCP before they even arrive in the laboratory. The system administrators will tell you when they have acted on your request for connection, and you can then plug your computer into the designated network socket.
To verify that the DHCP system has correctly configured your machine try to connect to the Lab home page (www.cl.cam.ac.uk)?
If this does not work, the chances are that your network connection is not set up to use DHCP, so you have to change that:
- On a Windows 2000 machine, go to Start->
Settings, and open the list: choose Network and Dial-Up
Connections, and select Local Area Connection, which
pops up a small dialogue box.
Click Properties, which brings up another dialogue box with a list of protocols.
Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the list, and again select Properties for yet another dialogue box.
On the radio buttons at the top of the dialogue box, select "Obtain an IP address automatically"; this selects DHCP. Press OK.
The machine now needs to be rebooted so as to give DHCP another chance at working.
- On a Windows XP machine, the requirements are very similar but of
course the names (and the structure, to some extent) are changed to
protect the innocent.
Via the Control Panel, select Network Connections, and in that find the appropriate one (typically "Local Area Connection"); open this connection.
Click on the connection properties.
Select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" from the list of protocols, and click "Properties".
On the properties page, select "Obtain IP address automatically", and click "OK". The machine may ask to be rebooted.
This should leave you with a working setup. If not (after at least one iteration to ensure no typos have crept in), seek help via win-admin.
Lab-internal resources via VPN
This DHCP connection provides network connectivity to the outside world and limited access to internal machines. Things like file space (for your windows or unix account), and printers are available from most internael networks directly without needing to use a VPN.
To gain the privilege to access other internal things you may need to run a VPN to vpdn-pptp.cl.cam.ac.uk. You need a Windows domain account to authenticate your access to this service.
File servers access
You can connect to your lab based file space by mapping a network drive using your Windows domain credentials (note if you are using a wireless network then use the name elmer.cl.cam.ac.uk in place of filer).
Then click to "Connect using a different user name."
Please note that you should quote your full name preceded by the domain.
Your windows and unix files both reside on a NetApp fileserver. To connect to your windows files you should map \\filer\CRSID; to connect to your Unix files you should map \\filer\userfiles\CRSID\unix_home. If you cannot connect to 'filer' then try 'elmer.cl.cam.ac.uk' instead, if that works then you should add a WINS server to your DNS configuration in order to see the netbios resource mappings.
The WINS servers are:
wins-serv0: 128.232.13.15 wins-serv1: 128.232.13.16
If you are running a VPN to access other resources then add one of the following Active Directory related DNS servers to the DHCP-provided information or to the VPN configuration:
ad-dns0: 128.232.13.18 ad-dns1: 128.232.13.20
Connecting to printers
Windows 2000 and Windows XP machines should use the Unix printer spooling mechanism directly.
Anti-viral software policy
It is university policy that any machine connected to the university computer network must run up-to-date anti viral software. Members of the University can download this from the Computing Service site details of which are given in the Computing Service Anti-Virus Information page.