Introduction to SCS Computing

Welcome

Welcome to the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University!

This guide offers an overview of the SCS computing environment for new users at the School of Computer Science. This is not intended to be a comprehensive set of instructions, but a good place to get started and gain familiarity with our computing environment.

Throughout this guide we will provide relevant links to our website which contains more complete and expansive information on any of the topics covered in this guide. For updated service hours or availability, please visit our website at https://computing.cs.cmu.edu/.

What We Can Help With

We support SCS-affiliated persons and SCS-owned computing equipment and we are happy to act as liaisons to help address any issues you may have that involve computing outside of SCS.

The SCS Help Desk

The SCS Help Desk is the first place to go for support; you are welcome to send us an email, give us a call, or schedule an in-person appointment.

SCS Help Desk Hours

9:00 am to 5:00 pm

SCS Help Desk Location

Gates Hillman Complex
Room 4203
Gates Hillman Complex, 4th Floor
Near Helix

We strongly encourage you to contact us to schedule your visit to our help desk.

For Technical Support

• Submit a request through our website via https://computing.cs.cmu.edu/gethelp.
• Contact our help desk at 412-268-4231
• Email our help desk at help@cs.cmu.edu.
• Contact SCS Operations, who provide after-hours support for critical issues and infrastructure. They can be reached by phone at 412-268-2608. 

The Computing Website

The SCS Computing website is our online resource for documentation, tools, solutions to common SCS computing problems, and news about computing at SCS. You can consider our site the central place to learn more about the computing environment, manage your passwords and account preferences, and keep up to date with current events that affect the facility.

Visit our website, at https://computing.cs.cmu.edu.

Some popular support topics include:

• Change your SCS password using our Instance Manager
  • https://computing.cs.cmu.edu/help-support/instance-manager.html
•  Publish a web page
  • https://computing.cs.cmu.edu/help-support/web-publishing.html
• Sign up for support (hardware, software, backup, network access and more)
  • https://computing.cs.cmu.edu/help-support/equip-registration
• Recommended Hardware Configurations
  • https://computing.cs.cmu.edu/desktop/supported-hardware.html

Shared Computing Resources

Help keep our computing environment safe and working well:

• Use SCS euipment for SCS/CMU work.
• Keep your account and its password private and respect the privacy of others.
• Make sure that your computer is secure by applying updates and security patches.
• Notify SCS Computing Facilities in advance and review our website's section on network policy before connecting any computer or other networked device to our network.
• If you need to make multiple copies of a document, use a photocopier.
• Print large documents at off-peak hours.
• Consider printer output private.

To learn more about security and best practices, visit the Information Security Office website. 

Locating People

There are several online directories that can easily be used to get information about members
of the University community.

SCS Directory

The School of Computer Science maintains an online directory of all current faculty, staff, and graduate students who are part of the SCS community. The directory can be accessed at the following website:

https://www.cs.cmu.edu/directory/

Campus Directory

Carnegie Mellon maintains an online directory of all current faculty, staff, and students affiliated with the university community. The directory can be accessed at the following website:

https://directory.andrew.cmu.edu/