Everyone in the class now has an account on a PostgreSQL (version 7.4) database server that I am
managing (see the website for documentation and specific info
pertaining to PostgreSQL).
Your account username is your CWRU email (i.e. something like abc123).
Your password is initially set to the same as your username, although
I would suggest changing this at some point.
Changing your password may be possible with a GUI database client.
Using an SQL interface (i.e. a place for you to enter SQL commands
directly), you can use the following line:
When connecting to a database server, you must specify which database you intend on connecting to. Each username is associated with a database by that name, and you are the "owner" (i.e. full access) of that database. (I.e. user abc123 can connect to database abc123, but not to database def456.)
In addition, all of the project groups also have a database set up for that group itself. This way, group members share the group database, but also have their own private database as well. Single-member groups do not have any such setup. Group databases are named as the concatenation of the members of the group, where the concatenation is done in increasing lexicographic order. This means that if abc123 and def456 are in the same project group, there is a database (and a group of the same name) named abc123def456. Using this scheme, you should all be able to figure out the name of your group database. The first username listed in this lexicographic concatenation is the technical "owner" of the group's database (as the server does not allow group owners), although every member of the group has full access (which can be altered by the owner, if needed).
There are two GUI clients that I can suggest for connecting to the server, although any other program you know of is acceptable as well (including a wide-variety of command-line-like interfaces for many database systems).
Connections are only allowed from a campus IP address (i.e. 129.22.x.x), so if you are going to connect from off-campus, use VPN. The name (and address) of the database server is "efes.cwru.edu".
Questions? Ask me. More talk of this will be given in class.
The department will provide you with two database servers (one Microsoft SQL Server and one PostgreSQL server) that you may utilize to house your projects. Details on connecting to these servers and establishing accounts will become available soon.
For people interested in web applications, you will need a web server (with the proper extensions) to house your middle tier. The department UNIX accounts all provide you with web pages on an Apache server that has Perl and PHP extensions loaded. If you plan on doing most of you project with Microsoft products, you may need a Microsoft IIS installation instead. I will check on how this can be accomplished through the department servers and post any information I find out here.
Note that the list of links below is by no means exhaustive. Google searching will undoubtedly provide you with a ton if information on whatever technology you are looking for.