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The newsletter of the SIE de Investigación y Enseñanza and the Servicios Informáticos N. 12 - October 2024

Manage wired and wireless connections on a (linux) laptop

When a laptop is connected via ethernet cable (through the docking station), it is a good practice to disable the Wi-Fi connection or to enable airplane mode (while keeping ethernet enabled). This prevents the laptop from maintaining unnecessary wireless connections and potentially switching between Wi-Fi and ethernet, which can cause network interruptions. Not only does this help avoid connection conflicts, but it can also reduce power consumption since the wireless card won't be actively searching for and maintaining Wi-Fi connections.

Additionally, a wired ethernet connection provides faster, more stable speeds than Wi-Fi, so ensuring the computer uses only the ethernet link helps maintain optimal network performance.

Usage tips for external hard disks

External disks are perfect for creating backup copies of documents and important files. They also make it easy to transport large amounts of data when traveling or moving between work and home. Their large storage capacities and relatively low cost make them an attractive backup solution. However, external drives are particularly vulnerable to physical damage and can fail without warning. They can be dropped, damaged by power surges, or simply stop working due to mechanical failure. This is especially critical for encrypted disks, as even a small error, like disconnecting the disk without unmounting it properly, may make the disk unreadable. That's why depending on a single external drive as your only backup, or as the main work area, is risky — if that drive fails or gets lost, all your backed-up data disappear with it.

A more robust backup strategy should include multiple copies of important data stored in different locations, such as a combination of external drives, cloud storage, and NAS-type storage for critical files. For instance, you may make a backup copy of the data stored on your laptop on the disk of a Linux server belonging to your project, or on the "storage" area (a 700 TB rack), accessible from deimos and diva.

Do not hesitate to ask us if you need help with implementing a good backup strategy for your data.

Add CernIE apps to your "favorites", and set them as default to open specific filetypes

You may have noticed that some new icons are included in the Applications Menu (the one you open by clicking on the 3x3 square bottom-left). These new icons corresponded to applications that are part of CernIE, and which are commonly used. They are identified by the string "CernIE" within parenthesis and currently are: VScode, TOPCAT, Zotero and Zulip. If you right click on any of them, you can "Add to Favorites", and the icon will be moved to the vertical menu bar on the left.

Also, you can associate a given file extension to an application, so that clicking on such file in a file manager windows, the file will be opened directly by the selected application. So, let's say you want to open all the python scripts (files with the .py extension) with VSCode. Open the file manager, go to some directory where you have a .py file, right click on it, then "Properties", "Open With", select "Visual Studio Core (CernIE)", and click on "Set as default". This selection applies to all files with that extension.

If you have some favorite applications that you wish to add to the Applications menu, drop us a line on Zulip!

CCA machines updated to Ubuntu 22.04

This summer the machines in the "Aula Profesor Teodoro Roca Cortés" (aka CCA) have been upgraded to Ubuntu 22.04, the same version we have at the IAC. While the CCA network is external and separate from the IAC network, and for this reason we could not apply the CernIE system to the CCA machines, they have the same astronomical software packages installed, thus ensuring an easy transition from IAC to CCA machines for teachers and students alike.

Also, management is more straightforward, as the same packet and version installed at the IAC can simply be copied to the CCA, while before, when they had Ubuntu 18.04, it had to be recompiled/installed from scratch. The only drawback is that the root partition has increased, leaving less space in the scratch area (currently about 180 GB), but still plenty enough for the typical usage in the Master courses.

The https://research.iac.es/ensenanza/wikiCCA/ website gathers useful information and usage instructions for CCA users.

SIE de Investigación y Enseñanza :: N. 12 - October 2024 - Contact: