The department maintains a computing infrastructure that is separate from the rest of the University. Department computing systems support all of our administrative, research and educational needs. The technical staff administers these systems and provides support services to the computer science community.
Visit the Tstaff Blog for the latest system news and alerts.
Getting Started
If you are a new user in the Computer Science Department, here is our New User Orientation slideshow.
Health and Safety
Work safely! Learn what Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) is, and how to prevent or find treatment for this painful condition. The Computer Science Department has an Ergonomic Equipment Pool to help you prevent RSI.
Getting Help and Support
Here's where you can learn what kinds of hardware and software the Computer Science Department supports, where to find the documentation for them, and how to report problems you may have, including problems that come up after hours.
Accounts
This section explains who can have accounts in the Computer Science Department, how to get disk space for CS-related work, and important information about recent changes to email.
Managed Systems
Managed systems are any desktop systems managed by the technical staff. The technical staff's management includes hardware and software support. The technical staff also provides CS Department support for courses and CS Department research, such as Contributed Projects.
Connecting Remotely
Open VPN , SSH and FastX can provide secure, encrypted remote access for computers that are not on the Brown CS network, including the department's networked filesystem.
Services
The Computer Science Department provides System and Network Services such as Printing that can be used by all. Filesystem Services provide space for CS Dept. related work and make Backups and Snapshots possible, to ensure that work done will be retrievable. Database Services are available for course work or research, and the CS Department has available VMWare Hosting and .cs.brown.edu SSL certificates for secure web/app hosting needs.
Our website is the public face of the department, but also provides space for courses, research groups, and individuals, as well as a page for live streamed Recordings of events and lectures.
Other services provided in support of CS Department work include Email discussion lists for CS Dept. courses, a High Performance Computing Grid for computationally intensive research, and Anonymous FTP to help disseminate software developed in the Brown CS Department, including sharing through encrypted sessions.
Things you might need
The CS Department either has or can provide access to most of the equipment you might need for your work in the department. Whether you need to purchase software, borrow department-owned equipment, purchase equipment from third parties for a specific purpose, get licenses for software, or know what software and hardware the CS Department supports or does not support, check here to see if what you might need is already available or can be obtained from outside vendors.
Publishing
When you're ready to share the results of your work with the world (or the CS Department,) here's more information about how you can publish Tech Reports, as well as how to embed video in Web pages, or how to use the CS Department's video web application. Whatever medium you use to disseminate your work, make sure that you respect Copyright, including the Brown University Copyright policy.
