BIRS Information
Dear BIRS Participant,
When you arrive at the Banff International Research Station, you will
probably wish to access your email and to have access to the BIRS
Lounge. Here is the relevant information.
PLEASE PRINT THIS OR COPY IT DOWN !
1. If you are staying in Corbett Hall (most people do), you can use the
terminal (SunRay) in your room to log into the BIRS computer
system. The terminals are connected to a Sun server that is
running Sun Solaris 9 (UNIX) with the GNOME 2.0 user interface.
A computing account with a default password has been created for
you. The login name and password will be printed on the back of
your name tag, which you can pick up in the BIRS Lounge. To
change the password, run the command: "passwd" in a terminal window,
and follow the on-screen prompts.
2. The BIRS Lounge is in Corbett Hall, 2nd floor, Room
5210. There is an electronic lock on the door that requires a
key-code to open. Every Thursday, the key-code changes. The
next key-code will be:
door key-code: 1253
Other Information:
Laptop/Notebook Computers
If you have a laptop computer with a network interface, you can connect
it to the BIRS network. Your computer should be configured to
"Obtain IP address automatically" (DHCP). Ethernet (wired) access
is available at these locations:
- The even-numbered port in your room in Corbett Hall
- Even-numbered ports in the BIRS Reading Room (Corbett Hall, Rm 5310)
- The computer room across from main lecture room (Maxx Bell Rm 157)
- The tables in the main meeting room, Maxx Bell 159
Each room in Corbett Hall includes an ethernet cable for your laptop.
Please make sure that it is still in the room when you leave BIRS.
Wireless (802.11g and 802.11b) network access is available at these
locations:
- The "BIRS Wireless" network has excellent signal strength in the BIRS
Lounge and Reading Room. Signal strength varies in the rest of
Corbett Hall and Max Bell Buildings.
- The Banff Centre provides a wireless network called "public" that is
available in the Max Bell building, in the Kiln Cafe, and possibly
other locations throughout the Banff Centre campus.
Note that the wireless networks are not encrypted - your security and
privacy when using the wireless networks is your responsibility (use
secure protocols).
If you wish to use our local SMTP server for sending mail from your
laptop, use "birs.pims.math.ca" as the outgoing mail server. If
that doesn't work, use this IP address instead: 10.200.203.1.
Printers
The default printer is in the Reading Room (Corbett Hall, rm 5310).
Other printers are available in Corbett Hall in the BIRS Office (5110),
and in the Team Room (5410); you can print to them all over the local
network. To list the available print queues, run `lpstat -a` on
the server, or click on the Print Manager icon on your SunRay desktop.
Scanner
The BIRS Reading Room (CH 5310) has a PC with a scanner and CD-writer
for anyone to use, several free network ports for laptops, and a UNIX
terminal (SunRay).
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions regarding the
computer network at BIRS, please feel free to contact me at
brentk@pims.math.ca, or at BIRS local 6997.
If you have general questions about BIRS, please contact the BIRS
Station Manager, Brenda Shakotko, at 403-763-6999 or
birsmgr@pims.math.ca.