Notes on a Visit to Liverpool University Computing Service

Present: Ian Stimpson   LUCS
         P.Stephens     EUCS
         J.Livingstone  EUCS

     Liverpool Computing Service is small in terms of people (17 Academics) and
has standardised on IBM Hardware and Software.  It also operates 3 VMS machines
as departmental resource. No departments operate their own MUMs as a matter of
computing policy. There is at present no Unix on the campus but LUCS expect to
operate a Unix service for engineers before next academic year.

     The main service is VM/CMS on a 32 Mbyte 6Mip 3081 which supports 200+
users. Interactive response is said to be good but shortage of CPU is noticeable.
Terminals, and also almost all micros on the campus, are IBM PC clones bought by
LUCS. These emulate Ibm 3270 full screen terminals which reduce the mainframe
demand for operations like editing.

     LUCS also operate separate IBM machines for the Library using the
specialist IBM software package xxxxxx-yyyyyy and for the Data processing
Service. DPU files are dumped weekly to the VM/CMS system allowing permitted
users access to student lists, accounting and budget information.. The dumping
limits the need for access to the DP machine and preserves it from student
Hackers. This seems a good compromise a lesson for Edinburgh perhaps.

     Communications is via dedicated lines and a Gandalf switch which can
connect terminals to a PAD for access to JANET etc. THey have little hacking
problems except over dial up lines and are considering installing call-you back
equipment. Liverpool enforce a password change on their users at least every 6
months and prevent any of the last 12 passwords being reused.!

     It is impressive what has been achieved by a small staff although there is
little user support as known in Edinburgh. The absence of an AI department
together with a small and rather weak Computer Science mean that users do not
see many alternative possibilities. There are no Suns and only one Ethernet just
3 feet long! It is difficult to know what the costs of such institutionalized
conformity are for the users.

     Edinburgh should not the value of convergence between Academic,DP and
Library computing; also the power of site licenses and free software to
discourage unnecessary variations in micros and workstations