IT Student Services

IT Student Services Catalogue

 Computer Room Workstation Bookings

This service provides a means for students to book individual workstations in the computer rooms on campus.

Each student is able to book two one hour sessions per day seven days in advance.  The two one hour sessions may be consecutive.
 Data Storage & Recovery

NWU students are assigned the following storage options when registered as a student at the NWU:

Platform

Description

Size

MS 365 OneDrive

Cloud storage

5Gb

Google Workspace

Cloud storage

1Gb

Storage is only available while a student is an active student of the NWU.

Students are encouraged to use OneDrive as preferred storage space.

The following conditions apply when using the NWU cloud environment:

  • It is the student's own responsibility to back up the data stored in the MS 365 cloud or Google environment.
  • When a student graduates or leaves the University, it is the student's responsibility to backup data on personal storage and take it along.

 
 eduroam

"eduroam (education roaming) is the secure, world-wide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community.

eduroam allows the user from participating institutions to obtain Internet connectivity when visiting other participating institutions by signing on with their institutions credentials." source: www.eduroam.org

Watch this video that explains how eduroam works.
 HPC (High Performance Computing)

This service provides the means to compute extensive parallelized mathematical computations on a large dataset.
 Internet

The Internet service enables the user to access the Internet from any network access point with a valid ip address on the default “web-based” network ports: 80 and 443.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is also allowed via the proxy.
 Laptops & Tablets

The NWU is part of a national initiative to provide laptops and tablets at affordable prices.

The laptops and tablets are moderately priced with discount on the fixed prices of some of the models.

Two suppliers have been selected (Acer and Lenovo) and each have different models to choose from.
 Network Cables

This service provides network cables.
 NWU Templates for Postgraduates

This service provides an MS Word Postgraduate and Proposal template for creating a Dissertation/Mini Dissertation or Proposal.
 NWU-Vending (VV)

This system manages the following services:

  • Point-of-sale (various service providers)
  • Stock management
  • Fund management
  • Mobile services
  • External Vending
 Password Management

This is the password you use in conjunction with your NWU# to gain access to most IT services. Your initial password is either your ID number or passport number followed by @Nwu, e.g., 12345667890123@Nwu

Your password will be the same for all CAS systems (e.g., eFundi, e-mail, MS Office 365 suite, etc.) This is NOT your student PIN, used for academic systems (e.g., registration, account enquiries, exam results). To change your student PIN, please visit Change Student PIN.

ATT: Staff - this is not your VSS password. To change your VSS password, please visit VSS Password Reset. Your password expires after three months. Please change your password before this time.

If your password expires, you will have to reset your password by clicking on 'Forgot Password' on site.
 PC Lab Virtualisation (Citrix)

The strategic goal of Citrix Desktop Virtualisation (click for a quick overview) is twofold: firstly to provide convenient, anywhere, anytime access on almost any device to NWU staff and students,  and secondly to extend the life of physical PC labs by offloading demanding computing tasks to a central system that is more capable than the individual workstations

Citrix allows you to connect to a Virtual Desktop from almost any recent device with internet access. Students have access to an "All-purpose Lab Desktop" with mostly the same software as can be found in the physical PC labs, while Staff have access to a "Staff Desktop" which has access to network drives.
 Printing

This service provides secure printing on the NWU network printers.

Staff and Guests use the printers situated in their departments.

Students have access to printers situated in computer rooms and libraries on their campus.
 Remote Support Software AnyDesk

This is the standard NWU Remote connection program and can be loaded on any device regardless if private property or NWU owned.
 ResNAC (Residence Network Access)

This service enables students to access the NWU Network from the pre-installed network point in their residence rooms.
 Student Laptop Support for NWU issued Laptops

This service provides laptop support for students who own laptops that was issued by the NWU during the Covid-19 lockdown.
 Student Registrations

Students are automatically registered on the NWU network and provided with a NWU number when they register on the Student System .

When students log into the NWU network for the first time, their password is their RSA ID number or passport number.
 WiFi (Wireless Network for Mobile Computing)

This service provides mobile access to the NWU Network.

IT Student Software Catalogue

 Antivirus Software

Microsoft's antivirus software provides protection of Windows workstations against virus attacks and malware intrusions.  Microsoft Security Essentials is used for Windows 7 and Microsoft Defender is used for Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10.
 eFundi

This service is a web-based eLearning, collaboration and research management system. It is designed to help lecturers and researchers create many different courses and project sites with varying levels of complexity.

eFundi offers a broad spectrum of features, including tools for:

  • administration,
  • assessments & assignments,
  • communication,
  • voting for your favourite lecturer (twice per year),
  • sharing resources and,
  • collaborative learning.

The Tools can be individually selected, added, or removed based on each site's specific requirements or needs.
 eFundi MOVE

eFundi MOVE is the app that provides an offline version of the eFundi platform. 

This service synchronizes the following eFundi tools to Android, IOS and Windows devices:

  • Resources
  • Announcements
  • Schedule

Alternatively see the eFundi Move Manual

 Matlab

Millions of engineers and scientists worldwide use MATLAB® to analyze and design the systems and products transforming our world.
MATLAB® combines a desktop environment tuned for iterative analysis and design processes with a programming language that expresses matrix and array mathematics directly. It includes the Live Editor for creating scripts that combine code, output, and formatted text in an executable notebook.

(Source:
https://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab.html)
 Microsoft 365

This service provides Microsoft Office 365.  Enjoy a full, installed Office experience across PCs, Macs, Windows tablets and iPad® and Android™ tablets, and most mobile devices. Each user can install Office on 5 PCs or Macs, 5 tablets/phones.
 Site Administration & Access Control (NWU-SAS)

This service provides administration functionality relating to access control for NWU. This includes the management of identity cards, traffic (parking), and keys.
 VPN (Virtual Private Network)

This service enables the user who is not on campus to work on the NWU network as if being on campus with access to all services (e.g. HPC).