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Information for New Students
Technology at USCA
Technology at USCA is provided and maintained by the Computer Services Division (CSD), which has primary offices, servers and repair rooms in the Admin building. CSD also maintains the campus Helpdesk within the main computer suite (room 238) in the B&E building.
Computer Services provides students, faculty and staff the necessary computing, network and voice communications tools and support necessary to support the academic and administrative missions of the university. USCA and the Computer Services Division are committed to provide a state-of-the-art, reliable campus computing environment.
Campus Network (USCA Network)
The USCA network is comprised of more than 2000 wired nodes connected via a gigabit backbone and 80 Cisco switches which provide 100Mbps connectivity to the desktop. Wireless networking is provide by over 80 access points providing indoor and outdoor access utilizing 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g connectivity. Internet and wide area network connectivity to Columbia and the other USC campuses is provided by a 20 Mbps MPLS pipe. All buildings are connected via multi-mode and single-mode fiber providing gigabit backbone connectivity. A Cisco Catalyst 6513 switch is the central core of the network providing high speed layer 3 switching and routing.
Network services such as electronic mail, file sharing, printing, WWW are provided via over 20 high-end server and network storage devices. CSD manages over 18TB of data, 6,000 user accounts and 85 network printers. Network directory services are provided by Active Directory and electronic mail is provided by Exchange 2003. Each student, faculty and staff member are provided with user accounts, electronic mail and private storage on the network. Secure remote access is provided via a Virtual Private Connection.
Assistance
Computer Services is staffed by full-time employees Monday - Friday from 8:00AM - 5:00PM. In addition, student assistants provide coverage in the B&E Computer Suite Monday - Thursday from 5:00PM - 10:00P and on Sunday from 1:00PM - 6:00PM.
In the event of major service outages staff is available on call, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
If you need assistance please contact the Helpdesk at extension 4357 from on-campus, 641-3502 from off-campus or by email at help@usca.edu. You can also visit the Helpdesk in the B&E Computer Suite located in room 238 on the second floor of the B&E building.
