====== ECE do's and don'ts ======

Welcome to the ECE department at University of Toronto. As a research user (grad student, postdoc, RA, visiting professor/grad) there are many computing services available to you within ECE. This page highlights key pointers on accessing these services.

===== DO's: =====

Please **DO** contact //ecehelp at ece.utoronto.ca// for help with all research computing needs

Please **DO** consult our user documentation [[http://ecehelp.ece.utoronto.ca]]

Please **DO** ask how our support services work, including "tier 1/tier 2/tier 3" 
and what tier your supervisor opts for. This page goes over what you need to know about these different tiers: [link]

Please **DO** use CC: (email 'carbon copy') to include your supervisor when requesting a charged-back service: 
  * creating a new account on a research network 
  * connecting a new or previously offline PC to Tier 1 or Tier 2 network
  * reassigning a Tier 1 or Tier 2 PC to a new user
  * converting a PC from one support tier to another
   
Please **DO** let us know who is the new user is whenever a 'tier 2' PC is reassigned, **even though** it is user-managed!

Please **DON'T ASSUME** we know everything about you: 
<code>subject: Help 
Email body: my computer doesn't work. 
Signed - Joe</code>

Please **DO** help us with info in your initial contact: 
  * are you a student? postdoc? visitor? 
  * who is your supervisor?
  * where is your office/desk?
  * what computer? (name, IP address?) What O/S is your PC running?
For network connection issues, please tell us:
  * what is the jack number where your network cable connects to the network? Is it shared?
  * what is the MAC address of your PC's *wired* ethernet interface [link]
I.e., don't just say "my computer {won't connect|needs Matlab|etc.}" and just assume we know what PC, where it is and what O/S it runs.

===== DON'Ts: =====


Please **DO NOT** share your account password or VPN password with any other user [link]

Please **DO NOT** plug in any unregistered device to a Tier 1 or Tier 2 network port, and DO NOT move known PCs to new ports without first contacting ecehelp - the port could be locked out and require resetting [link]

Please **DO NOT** manually assign IP addresses on Tier 1 or Tier 2 networks, e.g. don't try guessing IPs until you find one that doesn't collide (yet) [link]

Please **DO NOT** install your own wireless access points on campus [link]

Please **DO NOT** run peer-to-peer networking such as BitTorrent on any UofT network, wired or wireless [link]

Please **DO NOT** install or run pirated software or post any content in violation of copyright or of non-disclosure agreements