Author Archives: Adam Thorn

Software updates for managed Windows computers

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Adam Thorn

Windows computers in the Department have their installed software managed by WPKG. Software that has been recently added to the list of available packages includes: WinDirStat – a free utility for producing a folder-by-folder report of disk usage MarcEdit – … Continue reading →

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ssh fingerprints for bastion hosts

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Adam Thorn

Those of you who use our bastion host (citadel.ch.cam.ac.uk) may know something about ssh fingerprints: these are identifiers used by ssh servers which allow you to check that you really are connecting to the right server, and allow you to … Continue reading →

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Microsoft Office available across the University

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Adam Thorn

The University now has a University-wide license for a number of Microsoft products, including Microsoft Office. Departmentally-owned computers are eligible for Office 2016 Professional, and this can be installed on managed Department computers via WPKG (Windows computers) or Munki (Mac … Continue reading →

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Cambridge Structural Database on the Managed Cluster Service

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Adam Thorn

The Cambridge Structural Database System (provided by the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre) is now available for use across the University via the Managed Cluster Service, including MCS rooms in the Colleges. Anyone using a Departmentally-managed computer can already access the … Continue reading →

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ChemNet

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Adam Thorn

We recently launched a new Department-wide wireless service, which we’re calling ChemNet. The idea is that it’s a single wireless network that covers the entire Department, so you can connect to it once and then move around the building seamlessly. … Continue reading →

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Remote webpage access

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Adam Thorn

There are many websites that are only accessible from either a University or a Department IP address – for example, many journal websites, internal Departmental pages (such as those with .private. in the address). One method for accessing such pages … Continue reading →

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Knime 2.10 available

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Adam Thorn

We now have a package for Knime 2.10.1 available for installation on managed Windows workstations. It is distributed through our normal software distribution system, and users can request installation via the software management web interface.

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Thunderbird Upgrades

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Adam Thorn

We’ve been having some troubles with users who have upgraded from Thunderbird 17 to Thunderbird 24 (despite the jump in numbering, that’s only one version different – Thunderbird recently changed their version numbering scheme to match Firefox). The symptom was … Continue reading →

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A tale of two lifts

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Adam Thorn

We’re currently planning a major reorganisation of one of the two main server rooms in the department, and one of the first things we needed to do is put an additional rack into the room. We had a suitable spare … Continue reading →

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Hobbiting

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Adam Thorn

We use a system called Hobbit to monitor all of the computers in the department. (Catherine wrote about this system not too long ago). In fact, that’s what drives this webpage which tells you the current status of all the … Continue reading →

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