Computing & Information Services
Reed Servers
Description of Reed Servers
Academic Servers (username and password required)
Community Servers (general on-campus access)
Academic Software Server
The Academic Software Server is located at downloads.reed.edu and contains both normal software and "keyed" software available for you to use. You may install many of the applications licensed to Reed on your own computer because they are "keyed", allowing users to share the limited number of licenses Reed has purchaed for these programs. There are many keyed applications available for Macs and a very few for Windows. Since the Key Server is accessible only when you are directly connected to the campus network, the "keyed" software you install will only work while you are on campus and connected to our network. Make sure to install the Key Client before using "keyed" applications. See Keyed Software for more information about available software and installing the client.
Courses Server
As of January 2009, the Courses Server has moved over to AFS.
The Courses Server is for course-specific work. Unlike the Home Server, you cannot store personal work here. You will only see folders on the Courses Server for which you have access privileges.
Classes may have space within the Courses Server for course materials and handouts. A professor can distribute assignments and related readings using their class folder on the Courses Server. If your professor chooses, you submit your papers or other documents for sharing by putting them in a special folder on the Courses Server shared by you, your classmates, and your professor. In-class projects can also be saved to this space.
Faculty Server
As of January 2009, the Faculty Server has moved over to AFS.
The Faculty Server is only accessible by faculty and departmental secretaries. Like the Home Server, it may be used to backup important work files. In addition, it may be used to share files with other faculty members by creating shared folders. There is no quota limit on the faculty server.
Home Server
Please note that over the course of 2009, people's Home Servers will be migrating to AFS. By the end of the academic year, all users will be using this new file server system. You can migrate easily today using our online migration instructions.
The Home Server is a place on the network where you can store your files, including your personal webpage files. It also provides a place where you can backup your files. By keeping your important files on the Home Server, you can access them from anywhere on the network, including your personal computer or the computers in the IRCs.
However, you should never work directly off the Home Server because some applications (like Microsoft Word ) sometimes generate bogus files when they try to work directly off the Home Server. Instead, copy your work files onto the desktop and work on those files. When you finish, copy your files from the desktop back onto the Home Server.
There are several ways to access the Home Server. On campus, you can directly access the Home Server from the network folders on your operating system. But if you're off campus or you want to publish your webpages via some web publishing software (like Dreamweaver), you must connect to the Home Server via SFTP. Click here for additional information on how to connect to the Home Server.
Griffin Exchange
As of January 2009, the Griffin Exchange has moved over to AFS.
The Griffin Exchange is a space for campus organizations to share and distribute information. Organizations can create publicly accessibly "drop boxes" so that anyone in the Reed Community can drop files for submission to the organization. They can also use the Griffin Exchange as a way to distribute information to the rest of the Reed Community. Griffin exchange space is given on request to any campus organization, publication, or department that would like central network space to share documents between members or with the community.
For student organizations and publications, the current signator or editor must request the folder from CUS by email. The signator or editor will assume responsibility for the use and contents of the folder. For college departments and administrative organizations & publications, the request must come from the head of the dept., organization, or publication. Responsibility for the use and contents of the folder can be assigned to another member of the dept., organization, or publication.
In both cases CUS needs to know the names of everyone who should have access to the folder, and what level of access they should have. We also need to know the intended duration of the folder, e.g. one semester, one academic year, just the summer, permanent, and so on. You can request a folder on the folder request page.
How to Connect to Reed Servers
As on January 2009, the Courses Server and Faculty Server must be accessed through AFS. Learn more about AFS at Reed.
From a Mac OS X machine:
Note: These instructions are only used for the Home Server if you have not already migrated to AFS. The Courses Server, Faculty Server, and Griffin Exchange can all be accessed through AFS at Reed.
- Download the server connections disk image file:
http://web.reed.edu/cis/files/Mac_Server_Connections.dmg - Double-click the disk image if it doesn't automatically mount.
- Double click the server name you wish to connect to, e.g. "Home Server".
- You may want to copy the connection files from the disk image onto your desktop or into your documents folder for easy access.
From Windows XP
Note: These instructions are only used for the Home Server if you have not already migrated to AFS. The Courses Server, Faculty Server, and Griffin Exchange can all be accessed through AFS at Reed.
Once you download and run the Reed Windows Printing installer, it will place a shortcut to the Home Server in your start menu. After you launch the Reed Login window and enter your Reed network username and password, you will be able to access these servers from these shortcuts.
You may also use the network addresses listed below to connect to Reed servers if you have installed either Reed Windows Printing or the Registry Patch on your computer.
- From the Start menu, select Run.
- In the Run dialog box enter \\home_server to connect to your Home Server.
- A Connect to dialog box opens. In the dialog box type your Reed network username and password and click OK.
- In a few moments, a new window opens displaying the contents of the server. Remember to copy files from the server to your computer before working on them. Never open files directly off the server!
Disconnecting from Servers
To disconnect from a server, you can either log off of your computer or restart it. Disconnecting from servers keeps both your computer and personal work more secure.
Off Campus Access to Reed's Servers
The Courses Server, Faculty Server, Griffin Exchange and migrated Home Server can all be accessed easily through the AFS Web Interface.
These instructions are only useful if you have not yet migrated to AFS. In order to connect to your Home Server, you must use an SFTP program. For specific instructions, please visit our Fetch page for Mac OS X and WinSCP page for Windows.