Here's information to help you when you are working from home, or your workplace is a satellite of the main University campuses. Each of the paragraphs below have a link to more information.
You need to use University-owned equipment, or request an exception to this rule from the Head of Network Services.
When you're working from home, a broadband (adsl) line works well as it provides a continuous connection. Some of the following actions allow you to put your own computer on the University networks. Ensure that you do secure your computer, and use up to date software and security settings: eg Updates and antivirus software.
For either the academic or admin network, but especially the admin one, set up a specific user account on your home machine with a strong password, and reserve use of this for Bath Spa University work. This will protect the connection, even in the unlikely event that your home machine is stolen.
Windows XP can keep a local copy of a network drive you use - its resources will be available when your network connection is not, and when your machine sees the network, it synchronises any changes. You need to set this up individually for any network folder you'd like to use in this way: here's how to set up Windows Offline Mode. Thinking about it, you'll realise that it's not good to manage a shared network resource like this ... and offline files mode will dig its heels in should you attempt to treat a database in this way ...
This simply means setting your computer up to connect to a particular network resource so it's available to you in file/open or save dialogues - if your 'S' drive is available to you, it's already mapped, and you can also map others. Here's how to map a network drive.
Remember the need to back up files you'd like to see again. An easy way to ensure this is to save everything to a University network drive - these are backed up daily.
Once you've mapped a network drive, you can set default locations file saves for Word or Excel. To do this, start Word and use the menu 'Tools/Options'. Select the 'File locations' tab and point this to your network drive. This causes all files to be saved to the drive, and once they're there, they'll be backed up overnight.
It's good to take backups of material on a home pc - for instance it may contain photos that you'd rather not lose in the case that your only disk drive collapses. Modern external hard disks provide unfeasable amounts of backup space - buy two, back up everything, and then keep one of those drives in a separate location to your computer. 'Separate location' implies 'Separate building' and perhaps 'Separate county' ...
You can also use an online system to back up files. Despite being free at the point of use, the following work well.
Mark Annand • Site updated April 12th 2013
All before you, in this world, is smoke and shadows.All before you, in this world, is smoke and shadows.
Words found on a door lintel in the garden of a house in the Cretan village of Argiroupolis.
The lintel is a fragment from the city state Lappa, which occupied the same site.
Fifteen hundred years later, when you use the web, from time to time you might well feel that the author was on to something. And if you work with particle physics, you'll know he was ...