CONVENTIONS

Keys that must be pressed will appear in italics. Commands that must be typed will appear in bold. Prompts that appear on the screen will appear in "double quotation marks". Click means press and release the left mouse button once quickly. Double click means press and release the left mouse button twice quickly, or alternatively, press and release the middle mouse button once quickly if using a three button mouse. Select means press and hold down the left mouse button, move the highlight bar to the desired item, then release the left mouse button.

INTRODUCTION

As the name suggests, Internet interconnects millions of computer networks from education, business, government, and corporations. The SGI mainframe, located in the computer centre, serves as the host computer through which one connects to the Internet. While E-Mail and the World Wide Web are the two most common resources accessed through the Internet, a variety of other resources can be accessed through the Internet as well including usenet newsgroups which are discussion groups based on a focused topic.

OBTAINING AN SGI ACCOUNT

In order to access the Internet you require an SGI account. To set up a new account you must obtain your 4-digit PIN number from the Registrar. You will require your University Student Card to obtain your PIN number. Then, bring your University Student Card and your PIN number to the Student Computer Lab in the University Computer Centre. The University Computer Centre is located between the Faculty of Education Gymnasium and Essex Hall. The Student Computer Lab is located downstairs.

Four terminals in the Student Computer Lab will be reserved during the first two weeks of each semester for activating userids. After this period, you must contact the Student Consultants. The Student Consultants are employed by Computing Services to assist people in the Student Computer Lab. Student Consultants wear a designated t-shirt so they can be easily identified. The Student Consultant desk is located in the centre of the lab.

At the terminal you will be asked to do the following:

1. Enter your 9-digit University Student Number and press the Enter key.

2. Enter your 4-digit PIN number and press the Enter key. The PIN number will NOT be displayed.

3. You will then be asked to enter a password. This is the password that will be used with your userid. The password you enter MUST be at least 6 characters in length, and CAN NOT be a word, name, or anything simple. You will be warned if the password is too easy and prompted to enter a different password. Choose a password that you will remember. It's your responsibility to remember it! If you forget your password it will take the University Computer Centre up to 48 hours to generate a new one. Again, the password will NOT be displayed on the screen.

4. If the password was accepted, you will be asked to retype the password in order to verify that it was typed correctly.

5. A number of informational screens will be displayed. Read them, they are important. The terminal will not go to the next step even if you press the Enter key so that you will have time to read the Acceptable Use Policy.

6. You will then be asked whether you understand and agree to the conditions specified in the Acceptable Use Policy. To view the policy again type view and press the Enter key. If you did not understand or do not agree with the policy type quit and your userid will not be created.

7. Finally you will be presented with your userid. Again, it's your responsibility to remember your userid. Your actual userid will be ready for use by the next business day after verifying that you are indeed a registered student.

ACCESS TO THE INTERNET

In general, there are two forms of access to the Internet. Text-based access presents only the text of an Internet resource and uses a text-based interface. In general, this type of access uses software located on the SGI itself to view the resource. Graphics-based access presents both the text and graphics of an Internet resource and uses a graphics-based interface. In general, this type of access uses software located on the desktop computer to view the resource and a special protocol to communicate with the SGI. The most common protocol used is called Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP).

There are three ways you can access the Internet.

1) COMPUTER CENTRE: Most people will probably use the computers in Student Computer Lab at the University Computer Centre. If the Student Consultants are unable to help you, the University Computer Heldesk located upstairs is also available.

The computers you will feel most comfortable using are those connected to the Student Novell server. At the time of writing this document, these computers were located in the first half (closest to the door) of the first, second, and third rows, the entire last row and the computers immediately to the left of the Student Consultant desk. At the far end of the third row are Macintosh computers. These computers can be reserved in advance at the Student Consultant desk or online through the Computing Service's help web page.

Text-based access

From the Windows 95 Desktop, double click on the "Telnet to SGI" icon. At the "login:" prompt, type your userid and press the Enter key. At the "Password:" prompt, type your password and press the Enter key. You should then receive a "%" prompt indicating that you have successfully logged into the SGI. To logoff, from the "%" prompt, type lo. If needed, to close the window, click on the "X" in the upper right corner of the window.

Graphics-based access

To access the World Wide Web, from the Windows 95 Desktop, double click on the "Netscape" icon. To close the window, click on the "X" in the upper right corner of the window.

2) FACULTY OF EDUCATION COMPUTER LAB: In the Faculty of Education Computer Lab several computers are connected to the SGI host: one at the front of Room 2223 next to the Macintosh computers which has a text-based access and four multimedia computers at the front of Room 2221 which have a graphics-based access. All of these computers are only available during student lab hours on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Text-based access

If using the text-based access computer in Room 2223, from the Main Menu, use the down arrow key () to move the highlight bar to "Network" and press the Enter key. If using the graphics-based access multimedia computers in Room 2221, from the Program Manager window, double click on the "Internet" program group icon. Then, from the Internet program group window, double click on the "SGI" icon. In either case, the University of Windsor's login screen should be displayed. At the "login:" prompt, type your userid and press the Enter key. At the "Password:" prompt, type your password and press the Enter key. You should then receive a "%" prompt indicating that you have successfully logged into the SGI. To logoff, from the "%" prompt, type lo.

Graphics-based access

Using the graphics-based access multimedia computers in Room 2221, from the Program Manager window, double click on the "Internet" program group icon. Then, from the Internet program group window, double click on the "Trumpet Winsock" icon to make a graphics-based connection. You may then double click on the icon which represents the Internet application you wish to access. To close the Internet application window, double click on the long bar in the upper left corner of the window.

3) DIAL-UP: Students can access the Internet using their own desktop computer, a modem, and communication software. The University of Windsor dial-up number is 252-8484. The communication settings for the University of Windsor are: 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit (i.e., 8-N-1). Please note that there is a charge for dial-up.

Text-based access

In order to establish a text-based connection to the Internet, you require a communication program. The communication program called Kermit is available through the University Computer Centre at the Student Consultant desk in the Student Computer Lab. Although the Kermit program is free of charge, you must bring a blank diskette. Of course, you can always use your own communication program instead of Kermit if you wish.

After establishing communication, press the Enter key to received the "connect?>" prompt. From the "connect?>" prompt, type c server (connect server) and press the Enter key. The University of Windsor's login screen should be displayed.

At the "login:" prompt, type your userid and press the Enter key. At the "Password:" prompt, type your password and press the Enter key. You should then receive a "%" prompt indicating that you have successfully logged into the SGI. To logoff, from the "%" prompt, type lo.

Graphics-based access

In order to establish a graphics-based connection to the Internet, you require at least a 14.4K modem and a socket program. The socket program provides one or more sockets into which your Internet resources connect. As such, you may access multiple Internet resources at the same time.

The most common socket program for Windows is called Trumpet Winsock. Although Trumpet Winsock is available free of charge from the University Computer Centre at the Student Consultant desk in the Student Computer Lab, you must provide the diskette.

The actual executable Winsock program is called TCPMAN.EXE or TCPMAN for short. This program must be executed and make a connection to the Internet before any resources can be accessed. Moreover, the Winsock must continue to run while accessing the resources. Because of this, most people setup TCPMAN as a program icon. Once an Internet connection is established, the window is minimized.

To setup the network configuration, from "File" on the top menu, select "Setup...". The configuration parameters to connect to the University of Windsor are as follows:

IP address: 0.0.0.0 (Note: an IP address will be dynamically assigned)

Name Server: 137.207.92.2 137.207.32.2

MTU: 1006 (Note: Maximum Transmission Unit = 40 + TCP MSS)

TCP RWIN: 2989 (Note: TCP Receive Window = 3 or 4 times TCP MSS)

TCP MSS: 966 (Note: TCP Maximum Segment Size)

Internal PPP recommended

SLIP Port: the COM Port used by the modem

Baud Rate: try 38400 or 57600 for 14.4K modem and 57600 or 115200 for 28.8K modem

Hardware Handshake: Select if supported by modem

Like the Trumpet Winsock program itself, a dialler login script is also available from Computer Services to automatically connect to the University. To setup the automatic dialler login script, from "Dialler" on the top menu, select "Other". Select the "setup.cmd" script. Enter the dialin telephone number, your SGI userid, and your SGI password. If you want to automatically login when the Trumpet Winsock program is started, from "Dialler" on the top menu, select "Options...". Click on one of the two automatic login options. When finished, click on the "OK" button.

To login to the Internet, run the TCPMAN program. If you have not configured the program to automatically login, from "Dialler" on the top menu, select "Login". After connecting, you will be able to run an Internet application. To logoff, if you have not configured the program to automatically logoff, from "Dialler" on the top menu, select "Bye". If you have configured the program to automatically logoff, simply close the window by double clicking on the long bar in the upper left corner of the window.