A Short Guide to the Computingenvironment at Åbo Akademi

A short guide to the computingenvironment at Åbo Akademi

As a student of Åbo Akademi you are granted access to use the computerfacilities at the university, i.e. computerrooms, backed up storage and e-mail, for free. Printing is free to a certain limit.

Security:In order to be able to use the computers, you need a username and a password. These are private and must neither be mentioned, nor lent, to anyone. If anyone asks for your password, Don't Give it. Not to anyone, not your girl-/boyfriend, not familymembers, not friends. No-one. The staff at the computingcentre will never ask you for your password.

Passwords: Choose a good one. That'sat least 8 characters of which a few are digits. Do not use any specialcharacters(eg. å ä ö Å Ä Ö / | \ = ´ `). Change it using the application on the ÅA webpages.

Antivirus and VPN:Antivirus software is available for download. In order to use a secure network connection to the ÅA-environment you may set up and connect through a Virtual Private Network to the ÅA network.

E-mail: Your (and everybody elses) e-mail is backed up at the e-mail server. You are allowed to store 50MB of mail on the server. Use ÅA-Mailtools to delete attachments and transfer your mail from the server if you get plenty of mail you have to save.

Spam: Several methods of filtering out spam before it reaches your mailbox are in use. If you need to adjust how the spam is filtered, use ÅA-Mailtools.

Documentstorage: You have access to homedirectories, which are backed up and intended for the documents related to your studies. There is one homedirectory for Windows-use, another for Unix/Linux-use. Their sizes are 100MB each.

Web-page storage: Space for homepages is reserved on a Unix server. You can access it from both Windows and Unix environments.

Scratch-disk: For temporary, non-backed up, storage of large amounts of data you may use the scratch-disk. You may access it from both Windows and Unix environments.

Internet from home:Connection type as well as the applicationform varies depending on where you live. Please see opposite page for detailas.

Wireless network: The Sparknet wlan network covers large areas of the buildings at the campus and is also available at some areas in the city, e.g. the Hansa shoppingblock.

Computerclassrooms: Several classrooms with computers are available for use related to the studies.

Specialequipment: Scanners (paper and film) and a colorlaserprinter are available for use in Galleriet, located at the facilities of Datacentralen in Chemicum.

Please see opposite page for details on the services.
Newest version of this document is available at

WHATWHERE

Change password

Manage mail/spam

Check printerusage
Please observe: 180pages/3months are free of charge. Every exceeding page cost 3.3cent.Color pages cost 25cent/page. Invoice will be sent via e-mail.

Network at home:Kåren (Tavasthem and Domus):Fill in the electronic application at

TYS-apartments: Fill in apaperapplication, available at: and return it to the helpdesk at Datacentralen in Chemicum. Printed application forms are also available at the helpdesk.

Rest of the city: ADSL-line: Either:
1. Order an university-ADSL:
– Prices at:
– Orderform at:
2. Order an ADSL-line from any commercial provider

Please Observe: You will need the mac/hardware/ethernet-address of your computer in order to complete the applications above. Illustrated instructions (in Swedish) at:

VPN (Virtual Private Network):Illustrated instructions (in Swedish) at:

Software to download:

DiskspaceWindows pathUnix path

Windowshome (100MB)H:\n/a

Unixhome (100MB)n/a~/

Personal web pages\\web\username/wwwusers/username

Accessible over the web at:

Scratch-disk\\scratch\username/scratch/username

Computerclassrooms in ÅboWindows computersLinux computers

Arken, Faculty of Arts, ground floorX–

Biocity library, Biosciences, ground floorX–

Chemicum, Datacentralen, ground floorX–

Gripen (Aeon classes), second floorX–

Hanken, Faculty of Economics, third floorX–

ICT-library, ground floorX (Thin Clients)–

Axelia, Faculty of Technology, ground floorX–

Axelia, Faculty of Technology, third floor (Hyllan)XX

ICT-building, IT-department, third floor–X

Datacentralen vid Åbo Akademi/Computing Centre at Åbo Akademi University
Helpdesk: , tel. +358 2215 4777, Chemicum, Akademigatan 1