Syracuse Architecture Technology

Sections on this page: Teaching Lab | Overflow Lab | Lab Software | Student File Storage

The School of Architecture offers 24-hour access to two computer labs in Rooms 014 and 004 of Slocum Hall. The labs are open to all architecture students who have obtained SUSOA Network Accounts. Access to the labs is restricted during specified class times, schedules of which are posted on the entrance doors.

• The tables and floors in the labs are not to be used for cutting or scoring for any reason.
• Food and drink are forbidden in the computer labs at all times as they can damage computer equipment. Lab accounts will be disabled for two days for ignoring this policy.

During the school year (not including breaks), the lab is open 24/7. The School reserves the right to close the lab in the event of major problems and/or malfunctions. In addition, the lab may be closed periodically for regular maintenance. No one will be permitted to enter the lab or print during this time. Computer lab accounts may be temporarily disabled during this time. Summer hours are generally reduced and student accounts are disabled except for those enrolled in summer course work.

If a student leaves the lab, they must logout. "Camping" a computer is not allowed, as the demand on the number of computers is too great. Leaving one's personal belongings at a computer does not 'reserve' the computer while one is away. Other students have the right to logoff unattended computers, and they are not responsible if the student who failed to logout did not save his/her work. Unattended computers may be auto-logged off after 30 minutes, and any unsaved work may be lost.

Room 014 – Large Computer/Teaching Lab

This lab contains 40 PCs and a ceiling mounted digital projector. Classes are regularly taught in this lab.

	Quantity	Connected to Network?	Login Required?	Specs	Notes
Work stations	40	Y	Y	Dell Precision T3500: Quad Core Xeon 3.07ghz, 6gb ram, 1GB ATI FirePro V5800 video, 22" widescreen lcd monitors Dell Precision T3500: Quad Core Xeon 2.93ghz, 6gb ram, 768mb Nvidia Quadro FX 1800 video, 22" widescreen lcd monitors	For software list, see below

Room 004 – Small Computer Lab

This lab contains 16 PCs equipped with assorted software applications, two PCs acting as print stations, and two PCs acting as scan stations. All PCs run Windows 7 x64, and are equipped with 22" widescreen monitors.

	Quantity	Connected to Network?	Login Required?	Specs	Notes
Work stations	16	Y	Y	Dell Precision T3400: Core 2 Duo 3.2ghz, 4gb ram, 256mb Nvidia Quadro FX 1700 video, 22" widescreen lcd monitors	For software list, see below
Scan stations	2	N	N	Dell GX620: Pent. D dual core 3.2ghz, 2gb ram, 256mb ATI X850 video, 19" lcd monitors	Use USB drive to move files off computer; files deleted after 24 hours. For scanning tips, click here.
Print stations	2	Y	Y	Dell GX620: Pent. D dual core 3.2ghz, 2gb ram, 256mb ATI X850 video, 19" lcd monitors	For printing PDF and DWG files only.

CAUTION: the scan stations have special software that completely restores the machine to a standard configuration whenever the machine is restarted (whether intended or due to power failure or computer crash). Do not store any files on these computers or the desktop, as they will be lost when the computer is restarted.

Lab Software

Workstations in both labs run Windows 7 x64 and contain the following software applications:

• 7Zip 9.2
• Adobe After Effects Pro CS5.5 (10 licenses)
• Adobe CS5.5 Design Standard (Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat Pro, InDesign)
• Adobe Dreamweaver CS5.5 (5 licenses)
• Adobe Flash Pro CS5.5 (8 licenses)
• Adobe Premier Pro CS5.5 (15 licenses)
• ArcGIS 10.0 sp2 with Google KML export plugin (24 licenses)
• Audacity 1.36
• Autodesk 3dsMax Design 2012
• Autodesk AutoCAD Architecture 2012
• Autodesk AutoCAD 2012
• Autodesk Ecotect 2011 with Solar & Weather tools
• Autodesk Map 3D 2012
• Autodesk Maya 2012 (10 licenses)
• Autodesk RevIT Architecture 2012
• Autodesk RevIT MEP 2012
• Autodesk RevIT Structure 2012
• Autodesk STL Exporter for Revit
• Bentley Microstation v8i, Architecture, Map, Structure, GenerativeComponents (23 licenses)
• Cinema 4D R12 (40 licenses)
• Digital Project / CATIA v1r4 sp7 (2 licenses)
• Filezilla FTP 3.5.2
• FormZ 6.7 (5 licenses)
• Google Earth Pro 6.1
• Greeble 2012 plugin for 3ds Max
• Irfanview
• Microsoft Image Composite Editor (image stitching)
• Microsoft Office 2010 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, OneNote)
• Materialise Magics 15 (10 licenses)
• Processing 1.51
• Quicktime Pro 7.7
• Real Flow 4.3 with Max and Maya plugins (5 licenses)
• RhinoCam 2.0 plugin for Rhino (CNC toolpatch software; 5 licenses)
• Rhinocerous 4 and plugins (Grasshopper, Advanced Flattening, Archcut Tools, Developable Surface Creation, Electric Field Solver, Mesh From Points, Reduce Mesh, Paneling Tools, Pointset Reconstruction, Rhino Labs Tools, Technical Drawing)
• Roland SRP Player (CNC toolpath software)
• SAP2000 15 (10 licenses)
• SketchUp Pro 8 (15 licenses)
• SolidWorks 2011 (10 licenses)
• V-Ray for Rhino

Several programs are limited in the number of licenses. If all licenses are in use when you try to run one of these programs, the program either won't start, or you will get a message that you are in the 'queue'.

If you are having problems with the lab software, check the Help page.

Students can get free or low cost versions of several of the lab programs for use on a personal computer:

• Free - Autodesk programs (AutoCAD Architecture, Ecotect, 3ds Max, RevIT Architecture) - visit the Autodesk Student Community
• Free - Bentley Microstation v8i, Architecture, Map, Structure, GenerativeComponents - find it in on the R\Resources drive in the folder \Software\Bentley Microstation\.
  
• Free - V-Ray for Rhino - find it in on the R\Resources drive in the folder \Software\VRay for Rhino\.
• Low Cost - Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office - visit the SU Bookstore

Student File Storage

• Each computer has a D drive, which is specific to that computer, and can be used as a temporary location to work on files. When working with files, copy them to the scratch folder on the D drive. Remember not to leave files on the D drive when you are done–there is no guarantee that they will be there the next time you login.
  
  
• Each student has approximately 2.0 GB of storage space on the lab file server, which can be accessed under My Computer as the H drive or as My Documents. Your My Documents/H drive is accessible from any lab computer. Avoid opening or working on files directly from your My Documents/H drive; file corruption or program crashes can result when working on files across the network in this manner. Instead, copy the files to the D drive and work on them from there. File operations such as opening and saving will be much faster. When you are done working, copy your files from the D drive back to your My Documents/H drive.
  
  
• The X drive, aka the scratch drive, is a temporary shared space, accessible under My Computer from any lab computer. The X drive is shared between all lab computers. Files can be stored here for up to 24 hours, but may be deleted earlier if the drive runs low on space. Files are routinely deleted after 24 hours.
  
  
• The School will not provide backups of data left on the lab computers OR on the lab file server. It is essential that you make multiple backups of your work. Loss of work on any computer is no excuse for failure to meet a presentation or course deadline.
  
  
• Only architecture related files can be stored in your My Documents/H drive. Other files are routinely deleted. These include music files, programs, installation files, or pirated software. These types of files take up limited space that is needed for student projects and class files.
  
  
• All student files stored on the server will be deleted twice each year: on or about December 21 and May 20.