About the Spires computer
For nearly thirty years, ending in December, 2003, an IBM mainframe known as Forsythe was the central resource for Stanford's business and academic computing needs. Hundreds, no, thousands, of important University applications and programs such as SNAP and SUFIN ran on the mainframe. Many of them have been converted to use newer programming technology, such as the financial programs now known as Oracle Financials, and the student systems in PeopleSoft. However, people sometimes still need to work with old data from these systems that did not and will not get converted—for instance, you may need to see a SNAP purchase requisition you created that is not in Oracle.
Additionally, it was not possible to convert some mainframe programs to newer technology. These programs, critical to individual schools or offices, must continue to be available for the time being.
Yet the Forsythe computer, which housed the old data and those unconverted applications, shut down at the end of 2003. How can these two conflicting needs be resolved?
The solution IT Services developed was to move the old data and the unconverted applications to a much smaller host computer, known as the Spires computer. On this computer, the SPIRES data base management program and its better-known sub-program Prism will continue to run until other arrangements can be made for the programs and old data that must remain available.
All of this was made possible by creating a mainframe emulator that allows IT Services to run SPIRES on Unix, Linux, Mac OS X, and other platforms. This new product is known as Unix-SPIRES, and it supports all the old files from the mainframe, and all the old applications that ran under either SPIRES or Prism on the mainframe.
Logging in to the Spires computer
Most people will log into the Spires computer directly into Prism, similar to the way General Access Prism worked on the mainframe. Anyone with a SUNet ID and password can log in—that's less restrictive than the mainframe requirements were.
Some users will have individual accounts on the Spires computer. If you do, notice that your method of logging into Spires is slightly different from the way most people will. The differences are explained in the directions below. We also have a separate page of information for people with individual accounts on Spires.
Directions for logging into Spires using the Samson terminal-emulation programs are available at these links—but don't forget to come back here to read more about what you need to know to use the Spires computer.
Login instructions for PC users:
Login instructions for Macintosh OS X users:
The Spires computer can be used with other terminal emulator programs, including SecureCRT (Windows) and the Terminal program (Macintosh OS X), but standard features of Prism, such as color and function keys, may not work properly with them. For that reason, we document use with Samson, which has been customized for these "Prismisms".
Differences between Prism on the mainframe and on Spires
We'd like to tell you that Prism looks and works exactly the same on the Spires computer as it did on the mainframe, but that's not completely true. Basically it does, but here are noteworthy differences:
- Practically speaking, you may need your University ID and PIN to get into Prism applications. If you use General Access Prism to get into Prism, you must first logon using your SUNetID and Password. You will then be asked for your University ID (or name) followed by your five–eight digit PIN in order to use any of the applications, such as SUFIN or SNAP. If you use regular Prism it is possible that an application may ask you for your University ID (or name) and PIN as you select the application. Once you have given your University ID and PIN in one session, you usually aren't prompted again.
- Your Personal Reports and Personal Searches are available in General Access Prism on Spires. This is good news—on the mainframe, you could not get to your personal reports and personal searches through General Access Prism, nor could you create new ones. Important: This works when we know what the mainframe account you used to use. If you do not see your personal reports or personal searches, or you cannot define any new ones, please let us know by submitting a HelpSU request, telling us what the mainframe account you used to use, and we can make that work for you.
- Prism applications you could select from your account on the mainframe that were not available to you in General Access Prism on the mainframe are available in General Access Prism on Spires. Again, this is good news, but works the same way as Personal Reports and Personal Searches. So if you think you should be able to select a Prism application on the Spires computer that's not there, contact us (see preceding point) so that we can fix that for you.
- You cannot directly download data from Prism (via the Print page) to your personal computer—that option will not be available on the Print page. You can either copy-and-paste data as needed, or send the data as email to yourself (via the Print page), and then use it from your email program. Be sure to include your full email address, e.g., jdoe@stanford.edu.
Once you are logged on, follow the instructions provided for the specific application you want to use for details about using it on the Spires computer.
