Computer Core Resources
The computer core offers research support to faculty associates, postdoctoral
trainees, predoctoral trainees, research assistants, and students in the dual-degree
program in demography by providing a professional staff of hardware/software
specialists, and a state-of-the-art computing environment
designed to facilitate demographic research.
The staff also maintains the local area network and evaluates new
hardware and software for potential use. Working with the statistical core,
the computer core staff ensures that software and hardware for cutting-edge
statistical analyses are available.
The state-of-the-art computing facilities at the institute are built from interconnected computing environments including: the center's MS Windows Domain; microcomputers in individual offices; the PRI computer lab housed in Oswald Tower; access to Unix workstations; two departmental labs housed in the Department of Sociology; Penn State's Academic Services and Emerging Technologies (ASET) IBM SP2 super-computer; and other worldwide Internet sites. Our network of Windows Computers, Sun SPARCstations, and Linux workstations provide a robust computing environment for our researchers. The network was designed to accommodate mass storage, manipulation and analysis of large data sets commonly used by demographers.
The hardware is designed for the efficient storage and retrieval of large demographic databases, and for reading external data from a variety of media (tape, Zip disk, CD-ROM, or printed). The combination of hardware and software makes the PRI network a powerful and unique computing site to perform analyses in support of demographic research.
The institute's faculty associates, staff, and postdoctoral trainees have PCs and laser printers in their offices that provide access to our local services, the University SP2 & Lion-X Cluster, and Internet sites. One public lab provides access to state-of-the-art Windows XP Dell computers, digital scanners, a CD-R devices, Zip drives, color printers, and networked laser printers for research assistants and students in the dual-title degree program in demography. We also have presentation laptops, projectors, and digital cameras available for signout (click here for a list). In addition to the computing equipment in faculty associates offices and public labs, laptop computers are available upon request (first come, first serve basis) for visiting scholars, short-term project use, or travel overseas. Upon request, microcomputers can be dedicated for dissertation research of senior graduate students in the demography training program.
In addition to the software offered in the computer lab (click here for a list), we have a number of site licenses available to student and faculty. These include SAS, SPSS, and S+. The terms of these licenses vary, so contact the Computer Core if you are interested.
The computer core supports a number of data intensive projects by maintaining secure data servers for restricted data. If your research might involve the need for a restricted data set, please contact the Computer Core for consultation on a your specific needs. We try to balance the need for security with the desire for convenient access to the project data.
Last modified: 03/27/08 | Contact Webmaster
