You can use department machines for your project development whether you prefer to use Windows or Unix.
SQL Server, IIS, ASP.NET and Visual Studio have been preconfigured for the P544 project on select UW CSE lab machines (with a caveat about remote access, just below).
Alternatively, you can use a Linux host called cubist.washington.edu or set up your own tools in your user account on the instructional Unix cycle servers. In the latter case you will have to rely on yourself to resolve most configuration issues - make sure you know what you're doing.
Terminal server instructions from support.
Access privileges for IISQLSRV have been reduced for security reasons. You unfortunately can't host the web aspect of your project on IISQLSRV.cs.washington.edu, or use aria.cs.washington.edu for development over remote desktop connection.
Instead a number of lab machines have been or are being made available for development and debugging using Remote Desktop Connection. You can log in using your CSEPCLAB account, and have local admin privileges on the machines.
IMPORTANT: Because you will be accessing the machines over Remote Desktop Connection and there are fewer machines than students, you will occasionally attempt to log onto a machine somebody else is using. In these cases, because you have admin privileges (necessary for development) you will be offered the option of knocking the currently logged-on user off the machine. Please be careful to avoid disrupting each other's work.
EVEN MORE IMPORTANT: You will have the option of disconnecting without logging out, as usual with terminal server. Please do not do this at all, because it will needlessly tie up the machine.
The upsides of this are that security and web server stability issues that have caused problems in previous courses should be eliminated, and you have full use of the debugging facilities. The downside is that there are a limited number of terminal servers, and multiple users can't share a server concurrently.
You can continue to use the SQL server installation on IISQLSRV as previously discussed.
Step-by-step instructions for getting started follow.
SQL Server:
IIS, ASP.NET and Visual Studio:
Documentation:
Cubist is a Linux machine that is configured with most if not all the Unix tools you would need for the project.
You can also use the instructional Unix cycle servers, attu{1|2|3|4}.cs.washington.edu, to host your Unix-based project; however, your user accounts do not have elevated access privileges which can be very frustrating when you need to install everything from scratch.
More notes on using Unix will be added later, but the Windows instructions will still be considerably more detailed.
Documentation: