CoSINe IT Services, Division of Arts and Sciences

• Call the CoSINe Help Desk: 541-737-5574
• Send an e-mail message to helpdesk@science.oregonstate.edu
• Visit our helpdesk in person in Cordley 1003, M-F 8am-5pm
• Visit the CoSINe web site: https://cosine.oregonstate.edu
• Limited after-hours support is available from the OSU Service desk at 541-737-8787

• University-owned computers are protected with Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection. If we receive a report that your computer is infected, we will retrieve the PC to clean or rebuild the operating system. Your data will be backed up and restored.
• If your computer is infected with a Crypto-Locker then we will do our best to restore the data.  Crypto lockers and other ransomware use cryptography to lock your data only to be released if you pay the hackers.  We don't recommend paying the ransom.  This fuels the hackers for further exploitation and you are still not guarunteed to receive the keys to your data.  First, the best way to avoid losing data in a ransomware attack is to keep your data backed up by Box, the T-drive, Google Drive, etc.  In some ransomware scenarios having a single file backed up that is also encrypted can be used to recover the keys and decrypt the rest of your data.  Second, when a ransomware is discovered, many tech companies, governments, and researchers work as fast as they can to protect unaffected devices and release programs which can decrypt your data without paying the criminals.  If you've been infected please give us a call or stop by the helpdesk to get more information about the specific attack.  The sooner the better.
• If you need guidance protecting your personal device, please give us a call or stop by the helpdesk.

Here at OSU, you have several options for network storage.  Below is a list of network storage options you may have access to.  We strongly recommend that you always save your data to one or more of the network storage options listed below.  All of the network storage options provide data protection in the event of accidentally deleting or modify a file.  Storing data on your local PC or laptop hard drive puts you at risk of data loss should that hard drive fail. In addition, using network storage protects your data should your PC or laptop get lost or stolen.

Network Storage Options:

• Google Drive: All OSU faculty, staff and students have access to this storage space.
  • Quota: Unlimited
  • Additional information
• Microsoft OneDrive: All OSU faculty and staff have access to this storage space.
  • Quota: 1TB
  • Additional information
• Box: All OSU faculty and staff have access to this storage space.
  • Quota: Unlimited
  • Additional information

Optionally, the following local network storage space can be requested through the CoSINe help desk.

Windows Z: drive \\pfs.cosine.oregonstate.edu\homes: Your personal home directory.

• • Quota: 10GB

Windows T:drive \\cos-dfs.science.oregonstate.edu: Department area for sharing documents

• • Quota: 10GB per account

By default, you begin with an OSU Google mailbox (username@oregonstate.edu) maintained by Information Services (IS). After you activate your ONID account and your department notifies our help desk, your department may request a First.Last@oregonstate.edu Exchange mailbox maintained by Cosine. If you have both mailboxes, we recommend your First.Last@oregonstate.edu Exchange address be your primary address. 

The default email software is Microsoft Outlook for both Windows and Mac clients. However, you are welcome to use your favorite email program.

The college hosts a shared high performance compute cluster for research.  The HPC cluster has eight nodes with 272 cores and 1088GB of RAM.  Sun Grid Engine manages job submission and resource scheduling.  These clusters have a number of software packages and other software can be installed on request. Researchers interested in participating in these clusters should contact CoSINe. Details on the cluster are available here.

In addition, we can also help facilitate faculty and researchers to gain access to large national HPC clusters through XSEDE.  XSEDE is a single virtual system that scientists can use for shared computing resources, data, and expertise.  Look here for more information about XSEDE.

• Wired network access: All new OSU purchased network devices must first be registered with CoSINe before the device will get access to the network.  Please contact CoSINe help desk with the building, room number and wall data jack number the network device will be plugged into.
• Wireless access:  The preferred method of wireless access is through the “eduroam” wireless network.  The “eduroam” wireless network is a world-wide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community.  Once set up, you will be able to access other eduroam wireless networks located in thousands of locations across over 89 countries worldwide.
• Remote access to OSU network resources: In order to access many of your network resources from off-campus, you will need to set up a VPN connection.  Please see our web pages for details on how to connect to the OSU VPN.

CoSINe has a limited number of loaner items should you need a temporary computer to work on if your main system is in for repairs.  Please contact CoSINe helpdesk for further details.

OSU maintains a number of license agreements for commonly used academic software. You can request a license and view the list here. If you require software that is not listed, Cosine can order it for you. Please submit a ticket to our helpdesk with an index. An index is used to transfer funds between departments.

CoSINe is here to help recommend and facilitate purchasing of computers and laptops for faculty, staff and graduate students.  The benefits to you when purchasing electronic devices through us include: Special educational discount prices on most types of electronic devices; CoSINe can directly handle hardware warranty repairs for you including all other out of warranty repairs (at cost of parts); Finally, we will make sure that the system meets the minimum-security requirements in terms of having the latest operating system patches and recommended anti-virus software installed and activated. 

We understand that there is a broad array of computing needs in our college and that no single solution is adequate. Checking with CoSINe prior to ordering ensures a mutual understanding of the support available for any purchased item.

OSU has an agreement with Microsoft to provide productivity software for free. If you have an active position or are registered for classes, you likely have an Office365 license, which allows you to install the Office suite on personal devices. Similarly, Microsoft’s DreamSpark alliance provides Windows and VMWare licensing. However, this service is limited to College of Science members only.

The help desk is often contacted for assistance installing networked printers, but you can try on your own by following our FAQ here. Each networked printer will have a Cosine label with the printer name. You will need that information to install the printer on your university PC or personal laptop.

If you have suggestions about any of the services or with some aspect of the computing environment offered by CoSINe, please send a respectful message to us via helpdesk@science.oregonstate.edu. In addition, you also have the opportunity to fill out a customer satisfaction survey when your help ticket is closed.

In addition, you are welcome to meet with Andrew Wheeler, Director of CoSINe or CJ Keist, Assistant Director, to discuss any issue or suggestions you might have.

Andrew Wheeler: 541.737.3846, Andrew.Wheeler@oregonstate.edu

CJ Keist: 541.737.1066 or CJ.Keist@oregonstate.edu

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