The Whitman Network

Once you’ve protected your computer and activated your account you’re free to use all the resources the Whitman Student Network (ResNet) has to offer. You’ll be able to store projects on the network file systems, create a your own home page, read your Whitman E-mail and more.

Big Red XProtect Your Computer and Our Network

Before you plug your computer into the Whitman ResNet Network you must:

Complete instructions available at your residence hall registration table, from the Maxey and Olin labs, or at http://wcts.whitman.edu/beforeyouresnet.html (from a lab computer.)

These steps are extremely important, and are mandatory before you can activate your ResNet connection. If you do not complete them, and it results in the spread of a virus or worm on the network, you may be charged for the time and work required to restore the system.

If you need assistance...

Introducing ResNet Plus by PocketiNet

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Good news for those of you who want a screaming fast Internet connection! Technology Services has partnered with PocketiNet* to give you an option to purchase DSL/cable level speeds from residence hall rooms.

We still continue to offer a free Internet connection as well. In fact, we increased the connection by 50% (from two T1 lines last year to three T1 lines.) However, three T1 lines can only offer 4.5 Mbps, shared among 850 students. Most students will find this quite adequate for E-mail and normal Web surfing.

If a faster connection is important to you, you can take advantage of our new service. The cost is quite reasonable, and you use the exact same network outlet in your room. No need for special equipment (like DSL/cable modem) and there is no setup charge. With this optional connection, you can still access restricted Whitman resources, such as the online campus directory and library resources, just as if you were on a regular ResNet connection.

Here is a glimpse of the new service options:

For more information, including how to sign-up, visit: http://whitman.pocketinet.com.

WCTS pilot tested three residence halls last spring, then upgraded networking equipment in all other residence halls and fraternities over the summer. For those of you that are curious, we replaced all old ResNet network hubs with newer, faster switches, making our internal network faster and more secure as well.

As mentioned before, Whitman will still provide the regular ResNet connection at no cost. In other words, ResNet Plus through PocketiNet is an optional alternative. So if you want greater speed, or you want more flexibility in how you can use your Internet connection, then visit http://whitman.pocketinet.com and see if ResNet Plus by PocketiNet is for you.

* PocketiNet is a local Walla Walla Internet Service Provider (pocketinet.com).

Connect to the Student Network (ResNet)

All students living on campus have better, faster access to academic records, course materials, E-mail and the World Wide Web. Each residence hall room is equipped with Ethernet ports that you can plug your computer into for network access. We call this network ResNet. Each student should only connect one computer and no network routers, airports, hubs or switches without express authorization from WCTS (see our Acceptable Use Policy http://wcts.whitman.edu/policy/aup.html .)

Though most computers today are network-ready, note that you need these things:

Before you plug in your computer please read Protect Your Computer and Our Network.

Should you need assistance, there are many resources available to help you. Your primary source of technical assistance in any Residence Hall is your ResNet Assistant. They are trained to help you get connected to the network. To schedule an appointment, sign-up on your hall’s main bulletin board.

For configuration questions, you may also contact the Help Desk at x4976 or helpdesk@whitman.edu. Finally, there is a bulletin board just outside the Olin 168 office with a list of technicians for hire if you need advanced assistance. WCTS cannot provide support beyond the network outlet for personal computers.

Activating your Student Account:

All students new to Whitman College this fall must “activate” their Student Network Account before they can use computer resources at the College. Most students do this in the summer before arriving on campus. If you have not activated your Student Account you should visit either the Olin or Maxey computer Lab. In the Lab open a web browser to http://wcts.whitman.edu/activate_account.html and follow the on-screen instructions.

This Student Account gives you access to the Students E-mail server. You also have the ability to log into public and Lab machines and to save up to 20MB of private files on the academic file server.

If you are having trouble activating your computer account, contact the WCTS Help Desk at ext. 4976, Monday-Friday, 8AM - 5PM.

Secure Shell Internet

In order to promote a Whitman style electronic culture, Whitman servers maintained by WCTS all require that you use Secure Shell (SSH) instead of regular telnet. SSH encrypts information that is passed over the network so that other people can’t decipher your messages. This gives Whitman’s network traffic greater security, and more protection from hackers.

You can get SSH free for your personal computer plus instructions at http://wcts.whitman.edu/docs/ssh.html

You can also use a web based SSH by pointing your browser to http://people.whitman.edu/mindterm

Your Personal Network Folder

As a Whitman student, you have 20MB of file storage space on the Whitman network, so you can save papers and other documents you are working on and access them from other locations on campus, such as from multiple computer labs and from your own personal computer. 20MB is not a lot, but it is usually enough to store normal coursework.

How do you get to this private storage space?

First, be aware that your space, or “folder” is on a file server called the “Acad-server.” When you log in to any lab (Windows) PC using your network username and password, you are automatically connected to the server, and your folder becomes “Drive G” -- so when opening or saving a document, you can scroll down the list of available drives (C:\ being the hard drive, etc) and simply pick the “G:\” drive as the location you want. On a Macintosh lab computer, open the icon on the desktop labeled files, then open the Home folder. You’ll see a long list of folders labeled with people’s usernames (you can see other folders, but you can’t open them). Simply type the first letter of your last name, the window should automatically scroll down to that alphabetical section of folders, and from there you can easily locate the folder with your username.

To get to your folder from ResNet or off-campus, we recommend using an FTP program (Fetch on a Mac). See the instructions at wcts.whitman.edu/docs if you need to know how to get and use FTP. Set your FTP program to connect to acad-server.whitman.edu along with your network username and password.

What is the most important thing to remember about your personal folder?

Make sure your last step is to LOG OUT when you are finished. Otherwise, the next person using the computer can get to your folder, and your files are no longer secure. You’ll find the Log out command under the apple menu on lab macs, and under the Start button‹Shutdown on lab PCs.

Creating Homepages

Homepages are a great way to express yourself and communicate with the world at large. They are also relatively simple to create! One of the first things you will need to do is set up your account so that you can create your own homepages. The easiest way to do this is to run the webwizard:

  1. SSH into Students (students.whitman.edu) and login.
  2. At the students% prompt, type setup_my_web_page and hit Enter

Your web space will be available within 24 hours through http://people.whitman.edu or by typing http://people.whitman.edu/~ and your network user name. For more information on building a web page or pages to publish in this space, see our instructions at http://wcts.whitman.edu/docs/ (follow the link labeled “specialized documentation.”).

On-Line Computer Workshops with Element K

Element K is an on-line software training site, available to Whitman Faculty, Students and Staff. You can take all or part of a “course” at your own pace from any computer connected to the internet. Course topics include MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), web-authoring applications like Dreamweaver, and graphics programs like Photoshop and Illustrator, as well as other software titles.

To request a login, Send an e-mail to training@whitman.edu. This login is given to you for one month and can be extended as needed.

Element K provides extensive help. Each page has a “help” link you can click for assistance. For Whitman-specific Element K questions, E-mail training@whitman.edu or go to http://wcts.whitman.edu/training and click on the Element K link.

Stop Viruses and Spam before they reach you:

One great service available to help cut down on virus infected E-mail and spam messages is Postini. Postini is a gatekeeper and filter for your E-mail. It checks all incoming off-campus E-mail for viruses or spam and quarantines suspected messages. You can then view and manage quarantined messages in a safe and private off-campus “Message Center”, keeping your campus mailbox free of virus and spam E-mail. Postini is a service provided free for the Whitman community, but it is not set up automatically to work for you; you have to visit http://login.postini.com/exec/login and activate it. Detailed instructions on using Postini can be found at http://www.postini.com/help/ and http://www.postini.com/help/#FAQs

Postini is private and secure. The E-mail scanning and filtering is an automated process. Nobody but you can enable the filters or change the Postini settings for your E-mail.

Important Note: Postini only checks E-mail incoming from off-campus. You are not completely protected from viruses unless you install your own anti-virus software.

If you are having trouble setting up Postini, contact the WCTS Help Desk at ext. 4976, Monday-Friday, 8AM - 5PM.