Assistance

SENS exists to provide quality computing and technology support to our community. The information this page will help us to help you, and make you aware of what you can expect from us in return.

If you are looking for support and assistance with services and facilities provided by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), please refer to their support page.

SENS Provides consultation and assistance with:

What you should know about SENS support

General

  • There are a variety of ways to contact us. While we prefer email, please do not feel that you cannot call us on the phone or come to our offices if you are having an urgent issue or cannot send email.
  • SENS is not a 24-hour service facility. Our hours are, in general, Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM. Requests made at times other than those will be processed on the next business day.
  • In order to ensure accountability for course web sites, we request that faculty submit requests for course web space and for TAs to edit and maintain existing course web sites. If your TA requests course web space, we will not be able to fulfill the request, and will direct your TA to ask you to submit the request.

What We Can Do

  • We can help you get started with using the services and facilities we offer.
  • We can assist you with the ongoing use of any of SENS' services, including solving problems related to their use and working with you to make your computing experience as effective as possible.
  • We can work with you to learn more about using our facilities to best advantage.
  • We can offer advice on how to integrate the SENS environment with instructional and research requirements.
  • We can work with you on open source and other freely-distributable software needs, including installation on local clients systems or our timeshare systems.
  • We can provide assistance and advice with regard to purchasing computer hardware and software, including providing information regarding software site licenses, educational hardware pricing, and obtaining quotes from vendors.
  • We can provide assistance with installation of computer software for faculty and staff, including UB site-licensed software, software licensed by your school or department, and software you have purchased.
  • We can and will respond to emergency situations during off hours which can have an adverse affect on our computing environment, such as power failures or server crashes. We are on call lists maintained by various 24-hour operations and facilities groups on campus to alert us of such issues.

What We Cannot Do

  • At the present time, due to a very large work load, we cannot accept requests to repair or maintain personal computers. As a general rule of thumb, if the machine does not have a state/research tag or is not on an official inventory list, we must refuse a request to service it.
  • We do not give help related to programming problems or homework assignments, unless the problem is with the software used to perform this work.
  • In general, we do not support software in the "/util" directory; questions regarding this software should be directed to the UBIT Help Center.

Contact Information

In general, the preferred method for contacting us for assistance with problems is via email to SENShelp, as documented in more detail here. However, there are some other email addresses you should know:

UBIT Help Center
For basic questions regarding Unix, software in the "/util" directory, or for hardware support for CIT-maintained labs.
sens-accounts@buffalo.edu
To resolve problems with your account.
sens-restore@buffalo.edu
To restore lost files (more than 1 day old). We prefer you use the interactive form, shown in the "On-Line Forms" section, below.

If you have difficulties contacting us by any of the above means, please let the Director of SENS, Jason Lasker, know about it by calling 645-4690 or visiting 104 Bell Hall.

Assistance Locations

The main SENS office is located in 103e Bell Hall on the North Campus. Our phone number is 645-3797.

A consultant station in the 101 Bell Hall public computing site is another good source of assistance. The consultants in that location work closely with SENS staff, and are familiar with the UBiquity environment. The lab is open 24 hours a day, 6 days per week, and closed from 6:00 PM Friday evening until 8 AM Saturday morning.

Finally, the UBIT Help Center is located on the third floor of the Silverman Library in Capen Hall. Their phone number is (716) 645-3542, and their email address is ubithelp@buffalo.edu.

Documents and FAQs

General

Unix Environment