Departmental Computing Facilities


The Computer Science (CS) Department manages several labs specifically for the students taking CS courses. The MetaGeek lab, (named in honor of a lab sponsorship by a local software company MetaGeek) is located in room CCP 240. The Kount Tutoring center in room CCP 241 (named in honor of a lab sponsorship by a local software company Kount) also runs the same software. In addition, there are lab machines in the CCP 242 lab/classroom and in the ENGR 111 lab/classroom.

All machines in the lab as well as departmental servers run CentOS 7 Linux. The lab uses a proximity card reader for access with your Boise State ID card. You will also need a login name and a password to use the machines. This is normally the same as your Boise State username and password. Your instructor should also be able to help you with setting up lab access.

The main server for all of the CS labs is onyx.boisestate.edu and the only one that is on the public Internet that is visible from outside the lab. There are 143 workstations in the various CS labs, which are named onyxnode01, onyxnode02, $\ldots$, onyxnode143. The name onyxnode00 is an alias for the main server onyx. The workstations in the labs are connected with a private Gigabit Ethernet switch with the main server and each other.

The lab is especially setup for Computer Science classes. Depending on the Computer Science class you are taking, you will learn to use various features of the lab. The 143 machines in the labs are clustered together using a network so you can use them as a single machine if need be! Since the machines in the lab are part of a cluster, it is important not to power off any machine or disconnect the network cables. You may disrupt the work of another student.

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Linux Logo and a Penguin Cluster!

Your home directory resides on the main onyx server, which is the file server for the lab. Thus you have the same home directory on all machines in the lab. As a result you will see the same files in your account on any workstation in the lab.