ACMPC: Building the ACM Server

The ACMPC server was brought online by Nathan Straz, Andrew Levy and Ryan Esty on May 1, 1997 at 8:02 pm Eastern Daylight Time. It ran over 140 days, all summer, without a single problem. We built the system using the parts from our origninal PC, a 486DX2/66 and a few upgrades.

Mission Statement:
To create a dynamic information server available to Clarkson’s student run organizations. To enable the organizations to easily and quickly distribute information to their members and the campus community. To explore and implement advanced methods of information distribution and management.

Tools used to create the site:
In addition to the hardware/software listed below, we've also used the following programs to create our pages, scripts and images:

• Microsoft Notepad
• vi
• Programmer's File Editor
• Microsoft FrontPage Express
• Pico
• JASC Paint Shop Pro
• CuteFTP

Why use so many programs, you ask? Well, when the files are on the server and we just need to make a quick fix, we use Pico or vi on the server, and the FTP back to where we're doing most of the work later. FrontPage Express is a decent tool for getting a page written and laid out quickly, but then we go into a text editor and clean up the HTML. Notepad's OK if you're using working in just one file at a time, but PFE, with it's multiple document interface support, it's a breeze to do copy/paste operations.