Hello everyone, This email contains multiple sections: 1. Updates and reminders 2. Upcoming Maintenance (including machine reboots) on Friday, August 18 3. Introducing the CSC Cloud SECTION 1: UPDATES / REMINDERS A few updates and reminder: - Disk space: Please remember that disk space is limited. Home directories have a 4GB quota and SHOULD NOT be used for computational purposes. Please use /scratch or /scratch-hfcs for large storage and computational purposes. Disk space in both is limited, so please remove large items once you are done with them. If space is fully utilized, the systems committee may remove large items to make room for others. - caffeine: When caffeine was upgraded to Debian Stretch a few weekends ago, PHP was not fully upgraded. This has been resolved, and we are now running PHP 7. - Networking for all MathSoc clubs (including the CSC) was upgraded to provide additional redundancy and capacity. On Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017, there were some issues when the inter-building (MC -> DC) link was activated that resulted in unavailability of the CSC network for periods of time during the day. These issues have now been resolved and we apologize for any inconvenience caused. - Is there a piece of software that you'd like installed on our machines? Email syscom@csclub.uwaterloo.ca to request the package. SECTION 2: UPCOMING MAINTENANCE On Friday, August 18, 2017, from 12pm to 6pm, the CSC will be in a maintenance period. During this period: - Machines will be rebooted to upgrade their kernels (including security updates). Please ensure that all program state is saved prior to the start of the maintenance period to ensure minimal loss. - corn-syrup and high-fructose-corn-syrup will have a 10Gbps network card installed. SECTION 3: INTRODUCING THE CSC CLOUD The CSC systems committee is currently working on the development of a private cloud for all CSC members. Our cloud, powered by OpenStack, will allow us to offer virtual-private servers to members. We are currently looking for beta testers. Please email cloud@csclub.uwaterloo.ca if you are interested in joining the beta. *Please include your CSC username in the email.* We will ask you for your feedback and ask that you report all issues to us. Thanks to the Math Endowment Fund (MEF) and CSC members for hardware donations that made this project possible. CONCLUSION Finally, we are looking for people interested in joining the systems committee. Please contact syscom@csclub.uwaterloo.ca if you are interested in learning more. If you have any questions/concerns/comments about the content of this email or about the CSC systems, please email syscom@csclub.uwaterloo.ca. Thanks, Zachary Seguin Systems Administrator Computer Science Club | University of Waterloo syscom@csclub.uwaterloo.ca