Waterloo Polaris is a network designed to meet the needs of its user population. It was deemed necessary by several successive committees.

• UCIST Report on Windows NT and Watstar - not available online
• Joint IST/EC report on the state of NT server (1996)

This site refers to the campus-wide aspects of Waterloo Polaris, not the status in a particular faculty.

Complete user documentation is available on the Web. Comments are welcomed by the author, Steve Carr. Updates to the current edition are indicated with a date in the section title in the online documentation.

Features of the Waterloo Polaris network are described in the Waterloo Polaris User's Guide.

Workstation configuration is slightly different for users in private offices. The following guide provides more information about the networking features of Waterloo Polaris and a quick introduction to Microsoft Windows95. It is a PostScript file, ready to print.
Using Waterloo Polaris in the Office

We also maintain a Frequently Asked Questions List (FAQ)

Waterloo Polaris went live in September 1997. Now plans are underway for Phase II

• Phase II White Paper - the big picture (Feb 1998)
• Phase II and Selected Open Aspects - particular Phase II changes and how open servers will be used (updated Oct 14, 1998)
• Appfilers - application filservers
• Application Servers - different from appfilers
• Userfilers - user fileservers
• Email Servers
• Web Servers
• Bruce Campbell on the topic of change (Feb 5, 1998)

The following topics are designed to answer questions about some of the technologies in place.

• Boot and Login timing - (Sept 17, 1998)
• The differences between a private office install and a lab install.

Waterloo Polaris can work with both NT and Unix and any other technology which supports open protocols, such as Network Appliances.

When the choice was between Unix and NT, we often chose Unix for its flexibility, scalability, and maturity. And given the availability of decent PC unixen, there was often a significant cost savings following this route in terms of licensing, hardware requirements, and support staff time.

• Applications of Unix and other technologies in Waterloo Polaris Updated July 24, 1998
• Unix Topics of Interest Updated June 10, 1998

Topics related to FreeBSD

• World Record for FTP serving
• Installing FreeBSD (fast notes for those who use it)
• FreeBSD Handbook
• FreeBSD FAQ
• Miscellaneous info
• Installing Radius on FreeBSD