Information Technology Services (ITS)

Information Technology Services (ITS), provides comprehensive information technology services with a state-of-the-art IT environment to support teaching, learning, research and administration of the University. Its facilities include an advanced campus network, powerful central servers, high-performance computing (HPC) clusters, cloud computing and modern learning environment, and its services include portal services, learning management and lecture capture services, centrally coordinated software, user support service and web-based administrative applications.

HKU Portal Services

ITS runs 24-hour, non-stop system and network services to support the IT needs of the University. All students are given a computer account, identified uniquely by a HKU Portal UID (User Identification) and an associated PIN (Personal Identification Number), for accessing a wide range of network services and applications conveniently.

The HKU Portal provides a user-friendly and easy-to-access interface for University members to access all the centrally provided IT services including services offered under the Student Information System (SIS), electronic mail, learning management system, web-based administrative applications, and Library services.

Computer and Research Support Facilities

Powerful central computer servers support various web-based applications, departmental web sites and electronic email.

ITS provides expertise and central support in high performance computing (HPC), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Grid Computing to facilitate compute-intensive research activities of the University. An 988 Tera-FLOPS HPC system that equipped with the latest technologies, including fast multi-core processors, Nvidia Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) and Lustre parallel file-system is available for supporting compute-intensive and accelerated computing. An AI platform (total 5 Peta-FLOPS Deep Learning Performance) is provided to facilitate AI, Machine Learning and Deep Learning researches. Software packages for supporting engineering and scientific applications, biomolecular simulations, statistical analysis and data visualization are installed on these systems. Please refer to the website at http://hpc.hku.hk for more details.

HKU Campus Network

HKU campus network is connected with a high-speed and sophisticated internet based on 10-Gigabit Ethernet, And, Gigabit Fast Ethernet is provided with over 49,000 network access points installed which links together all the computer servers, workstations and PCs in the main and remote campuses.

Wireless access to the campus network and Internet is provided by over 13,400 WiFi access points and is available in all centrally-administered classrooms, public areas in the main campus, department offices and halls of student residence. Apart from the University’s WiFi network “HKU”, students can also enjoy WiFi access off-campus at CSL and Y5Zone WiFi hotspots in town, and at other local and overseas universities using “eduroam”.

The University of Hong Kong is a member of the Joint Universities Computer Centre (JUCC) that manages HARNET (the Hongkong Academic and Research NETwork) and coordinates inter-campus network services among the eight tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. The HKU campus network is connected to other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong through a resilient network backbone of HARNET supporting two 10Gbps ports at each institution to cater for future expansion.

Learning Environment

ITS, through the Learning Environment Services (LES) Team, looks after the central learning environment of the University, comprising classrooms, lecture theatres and Chi Wah Learning Commons. A wide variety of facilities are provided to support the technology-enabled learning experience. For example, the Digital Literacy Laboratory (DLL) is equipped with digital video production facilities and multi-purpose studios to encourage active learning and experiences through digital technologies. Communal PCs come with the latest version of software packages, including word-processing, web page design, graphical and multimedia tools, and statistical analysis. uPrint Service (laser printing service) is available for both communal and personal laptop computers which are connected to the campus network through WiFi.

User Services

ITS provides a wide range of IT support services to members of the University. Orientation courses are offered to new students at the start of each academic year. Regular IT seminars, induction courses and training workshops on popular IT topics and commonly used software packages are also held throughout the year. Students can contact the Service Desk through the multiple channels described at https://its.hku.hk/service-desk/ to get assistance in using the central IT services.

More Information

Please visit https://its.hku.hk/students/ and https://its.hku.hk/kb/information-technology-services-guide/ on how to get started in using the central IT services. Students can also refer to ITS homepage at http://its.hku.hk/for its popular facilities and services.

Important Notes To New Students

1. HKU Portal UID, Email Alias and PIN

The HKU Portal UID and PIN will be distributed to new students upon admission registration. Thus, no application is required. The pre-assigned UID begins “u” followed by the 3rd to the 9th digits of the HKU student number. For example, if the student number is 3031234567, the pre-assigned UID will be u3123456 and the corresponding pre-assigned email address will be u3123456@connect.hku.hk

Students can personalize i) the pre-assigned HKU email address by creating an email alias, (i.e. create John.Smith@connect.hku.hk instead of using the pre-assigned email address) and ii) the pre-assigned sender name,(i.e. displaying it as John Smith in the recipient's inbox). To make these changes, students can access the HKU Portal at https://hkuportal.hku.hk and search for "email alias" or "sender name" in the Search field. Click on the respective link to proceed.

Please note that the creation of email alias will not change the UID for signing in HKU Portal, which will remain as i.e. u3123456.

Students are strongly advised to change their initial PIN as soon as possible and keep their PIN confidential to protect their personal information. The change of PIN can be done via the HKU Portal at https://hkuportal.hku.hk (type “pin” in the Search field and click the link “Change HKU Portal PIN”). Students can change their PIN online anytime through their mobile phone number or alternate email address if such information is provided when they change their initial PIN.

If necessary, students can also change their pre-assigned UID (once only during the entire study at the University) within 7 days after master registration is completed if they prefer to choose another UID. A fee of $200 will be charged for subsequent requests to recover part of the administrative overhead. The UID chosen should resemble his name. ITS reserves the right to disapprove any chosen UID which is deemed inappropriate.

2. Connecting to the HKU Network

The network connection procedures for connecting to the campus network can be found at https://its.hku.hk/services/network-connectivity/.

Students can also access the “Wi-Fi.hk via HKU” service (requires no prior configuration) before their mobile devices are configured for connecting to the University’s WiFi network, “HKU”. However, the Wi-Fi.hk via HKU is only for quick and immediate network access in an unsecure mode within limited bandwidth. More details can be found at https://its.hku.hk/kb/accessing-wi-fi-hk-via-hku-service/.

In summary, after the one-time configuration and registration of a PC/mobile device, students can access Internet services from the HKU campus without further configuration steps.

For accessing the campus network services outside the University network, for example HKU emails, students are required to be authenticated by Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), or students can use the HKU Virtual Private Network (HKUVPN). Access to HKU emails or HKUVPN requires MFA which means on top of HKU Portal UID/PIN, the second factor authentication has to be provided to complete the login step. New students will have MFA registered for them automatically when they change their initial PIN.

Students may choose different options in receiving the second factor authentication when they access HKU emails or making a VPN connection. Please refer to our webpages for the configuration and connection steps.

3. Protect Your PC from Computer Viruses and Network Attack

Students must protect their PCs vigilantly against computer viruses, trojan horses and spyware because they affect not only the operation of their PCs but also the performance of the entire campus network and the Internet. It is every user's responsibility to do the following (more details available at https://its.hku.hk/kb/healthy-and-environmentally-friendly-pc/):

a.	Perform Windows Critical Update whenever new critical update is available.
b.	Install anti-malware software on the PC and update it with the virus and spyware definition file daily, preferably to be done immediately after the PC is started up. Students can download one copy of the Sophos Home Commercial Edition for use on their PC during their studies at the University. Please refer to ITS webpage at https://its.hku.hk/kb/install-sophos-home/ for more information.
c.	If a PC is infected with a virus, the virus may disable it from accessing anti-virus web sites and so it cannot be updated with the latest virus definition file. Please refer to the FAQ at https://its.hku.hk/kb/how-to-protect-your-pc-against-computer-viruses-or-malware/ for the necessary action to take.
d.	Do NOT open suspicious mail or attachment from unknown/suspicious source.
e.	Do NOT visit suspicious web sites or click on unknown web links.
f.	Always remember to switch off a PC when not in use for a prolonged period to reduce its chance of being attacked and if infected, to attack other computers or the network. This also saves energy.

4. Policies and Regulations

All students are required to abide by the policies and regulations in using the University’s computer and network facilities and services. These policies and regulations can be found in the appendices of this Handbook or at https://its.hku.hk/policies-and-guidelines/.