Tux Services

Tagged with: tux

CCI maintains a Linux compute environment to support class requirements. Typically referred to as Tux, this environment provides various services, which are described below.

Tux nodes

  • The primary way of working with Tux is to log in to one of the Tux nodes. These nodes, numbered tux2 through tux4 (tux1 is reserved for management and testing), are virtual machines with 64 GB of RAM and 32 CPU cores. The underlying hypervisor runs on AMD Epyc CPUs.
  • Tux supports logins over SSH or Remote Desktop. For more information on accessing your account and logging in, please visit the page Tux Account Information.

Shared storage

  • Tux storage lives on the college's CEPH cluster, which provides 300TB of shared storage, including Tux file storage and space for virtual machines in the college's virtualization environments. Each Tux user is allocated 4GB of storage, and additional storage can be requested for approved use cases. To request more storage, please contact ihelp@drexel.edu and include your username, how much space you need, and what the storage will be used for. 
  • For help transferring files between Tux and your local computer, see the documentation at Working with Files and Folders on Tux and Linux Servers

Single log-in

  • Tux has moved to Drexel authentication as of Spring 2023. This simplifies logins as users will no longer have a separate Tux account.

Gitlab

  • CCI hosts a Git server, accessible to all CCI students, faculty, and staff. There is a limit of 10 personal projects set by default, but users may request an increase by sending a message to ihelp@drexel.edu explaining the need for more projects.
  • Gitlab projects include an Issues board, which can be used for project management, planning, and task management. If the project is shared with multiple users, each user can contribute to the board. Custom labels and milestones can be set on a per-project basis. Gitlab projects also include a Wiki section for documentation. 

Float and Double

  • Float and Double are the college's shared GPU workstations, which are part of the Tux ecosystem. Each node has 32GB of RAM, 8 CPU cores (virtualized AMD Epyc cores), and an NVIDIA Tesla T4 GPU.  Students, faculty and staff are welcome to use these resources as needed, but please keep in mind that these are shared resources. If a process is found to be preventing others from using the system, we reserve the right to contact the user(s) who are running those processes and request that they be stopped so others can use the system.
  • Float and Double can be reached by SSH. Use the same instructions as connecting to Tux over SSH (Tux Account Information), but replace "tux.cs.drexel.edu" with "float.cs.drexel.edu" or "double.cs.drexel.edu". If off-campus, you will need to connect to the Drexel VPN (instructions at VPN) first. 

Web server

  • All CCI students, faculty, and staff have access to a basic Apache web server, which is accessible on the public Internet. For information on setting up your website, please visit HTML Webpages on Tux.

Web Services

  • Additional servers for Node.js, Python, and other web frameworks are also available as part of the Tux ecosystem. Information on using these services can be found at Tux Web Services.