Overview

This page gives you information about the ECE/CIS accounts. It does not give you information about your UDEL account.

When to apply for an account

You’ll need an account with us if you’re:

• New graduate student at ECE or CIS department.
• Undergraduate doing class work that requires computer lab access.
• Undergraduate doing class work that requires server access.

To apply for an account head over to the accounts page.

Eligibility

You’ll need an accounts sponsor to apply for an account. Usually this is a faculty person and often an instructor of your class or your advisor if you’re a grad student.

Research vs Academic account

We distinguish between Academic and Research accounts. Usually if you’re an undergrad you’ll apply for a Academic account. Otherwise for a Research account. Research account users automatically get Academic accounts as well.

The differences:

Please note that the SPARC systems stimpy and mudskipper have been degraded into secondary systems in June 2013 and we encourage users to use hoek and catan instead. If you need help migrating applications or scripts to them please feel free to contact us.

Where to apply

At the accounts page.

Process until accounts creation

After you applied there is a process happening until your account is actually created. This can take several days and depends on how fast your account sponsor approves your request.

After the account form is submitted, the forms go to your sponsor for verification. After your sponsor has approved the account, it will go to ECE/CIS staff for creation. Once the ECE/CIS staff receive this form, the account will be created and become active by next day usually.

What the accounts are for

ECE/CIS accounts allow users to do research oriented computing. This means that computing for personal use is not allowed. (The classic example of personal computing is an undergraduate using the laser printer for generating multiple copies of a resumé.) As an ECE/CIS user, the user must:

• Use the account for research for the University of Delaware
• Use the account for the class the Class Account is for
• Not abuse the equipment of the ECE/CIS lab facilities
• Be courteous and not put an excessive work load on a host
• Not allow another person to use his or her account

Anything that violates these rules is considered an abuse of the privilege to use the ECE/CIS computers and will positively result in a reprimand and perhaps stronger action, depending on the severity.

When Accounts Are Removed

The current policy for expiring computer accounts is given here. ‘Expiring’ an account means backing up its contents onto tape and then removing the account from the system. The backup of an account will be maintained by the staff, and you may be able to retrieve files from an archived account. If you want to be sure of saving a special file it is best to make a copy of the file to a personal machine before your account expires. When an account expires, all files become the property of the University. If there are any files that you want to keep private you must delete them before the account expires. A user account will expire if one of the following occurs: The user leaves either the ECE or CIS department (i.e., graduates) The user violated one of the rules stated in the previous section. When the account is removed, it may still be online, but the user cannot log in. (In this condition the account is known as starred.) So, if you cannot access your account, act quickly and your account can be restored without much trouble - simply fill out a new account form as described earlier. If it has been some time since your account was removed, it may have to be restored from tape. If your account was expired because of a violation, your account will only be restored if there is a very good reason.

Resetting your password

See the instructions on the password reset page