University Accounts

Over 48,000 students, staff, and faculty have accounts on the NCSU Eos/Unity computing system. Unity accounts provide users with access to the NCSU computing network and its many resources.

University Account Resources

Storage Resources

Every individual that holds a University Computing Account is allocated a block of storage space on University provided servers. This storage space is alocated between three primary areas:

• AFS space
  Your space for personal files and web pages. When you use a Unity lab machine, this appears as your Home directory (on a Solaris or Linux machine) or K drive (Windows machine). The path to this space is in this format:
       /afs/unity.ncsu.edu/users/initial/unityid
  where unityid and initial represent your Unity ID and its first letter.
• Email space
  Storage for the IMAP email contained in all the folders of your campus email account
• Novell space
  When you use a Windows machine in a Unity lab, this space holds your profile data as well as any files you save onto the machine's desktop or M: drive.

By default, AFS storage space and Email is alloted 50MB and Novell has a default setting of 100MB.  This allows for a total quota setting of 350 MB. Novell supports some applications which require more extreme amounts of space to hold settings, and therefore all accounts have been retrofitted to handle this issue. As mentioned above, users have an additional 150MB of storage to be allocated to any area as the user wishes through the Quota Manager at http://sysnews.ncsu.edu.

For a lot more information about quotas: http://itdapps.ncsu.edu/smdbwiki/index.php/USMDB:FAQ. While the user is allowed to manage the additional 150MB, the 50MB of default space (100MB for Novell) must be left in thier respective spaces. In other words, each of the 3 areas must have their default amount at all times.. These rules imply several things:

• The maximum amount of network storage space for a account holder is 200MB (50MB + all of 150MB extra).
• Likewise with email, the maximum amount of space is 200MB (50MB + all of 150MB extra).

Email space is NOT considered storage space, even though it is entirely possible for an account holder to email themselves a file. Email is not primarily designed for this role and by standards will not be denoted as storage space.

The space allotted to the Windows Novell System isn't considered network storage space, due to the fact that it is used and maintained under Novell, which can only be accessed by logging onto a Windows lab machine.

Additional Resources

In addition to the Storage resources available to a University Account holder, there are several other resources available to you.

• Nightly backup of user storage spaces
• Email services and delivery of personal web pages
• Wired and wireless Internet access
• Use of workstation labs with high-speed Internet in the library, residence halls, and academic buildings
• Use of application software in labs, classrooms, and via remote access
• Free access to subscription academic resources, e.g., library databases, journals, newspapers, government documents, etc.
• Networked printing, see http://print.ncsu.edu
• Help desks help@ncsu.edu for remote access and support services
• If preregistered for fall, students also have access to all resources over summer without paying a fee. They also have free access to e-mail and AFS space for four months after graduation

Unity ID

Once employed or admitted, users are issued a unique Unity ID and password to use in logging in to secure campus web pages, lab workstations, and other computing resources. To log in, the user types his or her Unity ID and password in the login and password fields of a workstation or web page without capitalization or spaces. The Unity ID is referred to by many names, e.g., username, login name, login ID, userid, etc. The Unity ID is also used for the user’s NCSU email address, e.g., unityid@ncsu.edu. The Unity ID is written in lowercase, and is generally composed of a person’s first and middle initials and first six characters of his/her last name. For example, if the user's name is John Q. Public, his username would be jqpublic. Unfortunately, as with any rule, there are exceptions to this standard.

Exception 1: Common Names

Two users, John Quincy Public and James Quinn Public, would have the same username under standard guidelines – jqpublic. Since file storage, email, and personal information are all stored by account name, these two users cannot share the same Unity ID. To resolve this issue, numbers are substituted for the final letter of the username. Usernames are modified in the chronological order that the users entered the University system. The first username issued would be jqpublic, and the second would be jqpubli2. If another J. Q. Public came to the University, and both existing John Q. Public still had their accounts, that person would receive jqpubli3.

Exception 2: Middle Names

Another exception to the standard rule is when someone does not have a middle name. In this case the middle initial is skipped and then the remainder of the rule is followed. Thus Johnny Public's username would be jpublic.

Exception 3: Short Names

The final exception is when an individual's last name is shorter than six characters. In this case you would use all the letters of the last name and the username would just be shorter than most. For example John Q. Pub's username would be jqpub.

Users who do not know their Unity IDs should contact help@ncsu.edu, 515-HELP(4357), or come to the Help Desk in 106 Hillsborough Building.

Passwords

The password is a lock on the account, keeping the user's resources and information secure. To prevent unauthorized access to their files, users must change the initial Unity passwords they are given to passwords they choose themselves. Password changes are made at http://sysnews.ncsu.edu/passwd/. Password change requests are processed every 5 minutes, so it shouldn't take long before your new password is valid.

If you never used your Unity account before October 13, 2004, then your initial (default) 8-digit password is:

• the last four digits of your Campus ID number as show below
• the four digits of your birth month and day

Therefore, if Ms. Card above was born on March 31, then her initial password is 67890331.

If you used your Unity account before October 13, 2004 then your password will remain the same. If you need to have your campus password reset it will follow this new default format.

Follow the password guidelines below in choosing a password and maintaining account security. For an in-depth discussion of password protection, see C.L.E.A.R. Security at NC State.

Your password must:

• be at least 8 characters
• be no more than 127 characters
• not contain your Unity username
• not contain your Unity username backwards
• contain at least one digit (number)
• contain at least one letter
• not be a word found in the dictionary
• not have 5 consecutive digits (e.g. phone number)
• be more than a simple case change of your old password

It is recommended that your password:

• have at least one special character (not a number or letter)
• contain at least one capital letter
• contain at least one lowercase letter

If you forget your password, go to the Help Desk in 106 Hillsborough Building. Please have your NCSU ID with you. System administrators cannot find out your old password for you. Rather, they reset your password to your default, which you must then change again to a password of your choosing. In addition, you may visit the User Identification and Authentication webpage to set up a series of authentication questions that will allow you to have your password reset remotely.

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Additional Information

 

Account Information	University Policies
Sysnews	Computer and Network Use Regulations and Rules
Password Change Tool	Violations of Policy
UIA	C.L.E.A.R. Security at NC State
	Computer Use Regulation