About Promax
The Promax is a large high-speed file server with dedicated network connections to the Media Arts Edit Lab computers located in RTFP 180. The Promax is also available off-campus (via the UNT VPN) to facilitate faculty, staff, and students who are working and learning remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Note that remote access to the Promax via the UNT VPN will be a much slower experience. There are a lot of new changes to the functionality of the Promax server starting in Fall 2020, so please be sure to read over the details below.
The most significant change is the Promax now allows access based on your EUID, and the Promax Platform Client Listener is no longer used.
Access the Promax server from within the MRTS Edit Lab
This mostly applies to Students.
Important notes about Lab computers:
- Lab computers will auto log off after 15 minutes of inactivity.
- All data saved to the Lab computer will automatically be deleted when you log off (whether intentionally or forced via inactivity timer)
- You must save your work to the Promax (either Personal or Class folders) or to a USB drive for it to persist, and you should save regularly!
On Edit Lab PCs
The Edit Lab PCs have been configured to automatically map the Promax file shares.
When you login to a lab computer with your EUID, you will be authenticated automatically to the Promax server and you'll find the Promax files shares in Windows Explorer via This PC under Network Locations.
The drives are mounted as X:\ (Personal storage), Y:\ (Class folders), and Z:\ (Practice Footage). Learn more about these file shares below.
On Edit Lab Macs
The Promax share drives can be found in the dock under the folder labeled ProMax Server.
Clicking on the folder will expand it to show the various folders.
Once prompted to authenticate, enter your EUID credentials as described and shown below
Faculty/staff use: UNT\YourEUID (e.g. UNT\euid0123)
Students use: STUDENTS\YourEUID (e.g. STUDENTS\euid0123)
Access the Promax server from On-campus but not in the Edit Lab
This mostly applies to Faculty. Faculty are encouraged to connect to the Promax server from a computer on the RTFP building wired network. This will allow for the highest possible data transfer speeds from outside the MRTS Edit Lab.
The Promax can be accessed via the following path:
On a PC
The Promax can be accessed directly via Windows Explorer, by entering the Folder path in the Address bar: \\cas-promax.unt.ad.unt.edu\
Windows will likely offer the file shares as options, like in the screenshot below. Feel free to use those suggestions or ignore them and press Enter to connect.
You can also map the Promax as a network drive using the path: \\cas-promax.unt.ad.unt.edu\PROMAX (follow steps 2-10 here)
On a Mac
- In Finder, click Go
- Click Connect to Server (shortcut: Command + K)
- Enter in the following as the Server Address: smb://cas-promax.unt.ad.unt.edu/
- Optional tip: Select the '+' symbol to add this address as a favorite for quicker access. This only works if you are on a computer that keeps data persistently, like faculty/staff computers.
- Click Connect
- Once prompted to authenticate, enter your EUID credentials as described and shown below
Faculty/staff use: UNT\YourEUID (e.g. UNT\euid0123)
Students use: STUDENTS\YourEUID (e.g. STUDENTS\euid0123)
- Choose the share you are wanting to access.
Note: PROMAX in this view is just a mirror of the other folders. This was just done so that Windows users could map as a network drive if wanted.
Access the Promax server from Off-campus
There are two options for accessing the Promax server from off-campus.
- Remote access to Edit Lab computers via the CAS Lab Broker (THIS METHOD IS A WORK IN PROGRESS)
- Remote access straight to your personal PC/Mac
Both of these options require a connection to the UNT VPN via the Cisco AnyConnect Mobility Client.
To learn how to download and install the Cisco Anyconnect client, please see our VPN guide.
The UNT VPN is being used heavily during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data transfer speeds may be slower than 10Mbps, and this will likely impact your remote access experience. You may see better speeds during non-peak hours.
Unfortunately, we are not able to increase the VPN bandwidth at this time.
Be sure to disconnect from the UNT VPN when you no longer need it!
Remote access to Edit Lab computers via the CAS Lab Broker
Once connected to the UNT VPN, you can access the Media Arts Edit Lab computers via the CAS Lab Broker. Follow instructions linked on that page to connect to "Media Arts" computers.
Once connected to a Lab Computer via RDP or VNC, you can interact with the lab computer, including its high-speed connection to Promax (see the above section Access Promax from within the MRTS Edit Lab) almost as if you were sitting at the lab computer.
Note that the work you do here takes place on the Lab computer, not your computer.
Important notes about Lab computers:
- Lab computers will auto log off after 15 minutes of inactivity; this includes remote RDP connections.
- All data saved to the Lab computer will automatically be deleted when you log off (whether intentionally or forced via inactivity timer)
- You must save your work to the Promax (either Personal or Class folders) for it to persist, and you should save regularly!
- RDP and VNC have limitations on how well they can present video feeds (i.e. editing video files on a Lab computer via RDP or VNC might be choppy)
Remote access straight to your personal PC/Mac
This will likely be the most common method for Faculty and Students working remotely to access the Promax. Unfortunately, it is also the slowest due to bandwidth limitations on the UNT VPN that are outside of our control.
Below are the steps to map the Promax file share to a personal device:
On a PC (Windows 10)
- Connect to the UNT VPN
- Open Windows Explorer (shortcut: Windows+E)
- Click This PC (may be Computer on older versions of Windows)
- In the top of the window, click the Computer tab
- Click Map network drive
- Pick a drive letter to map the Promax as (any letter is fine, Z: is default)
- Enter the Folder: \\cas-promax.unt.ad.unt.edu\PROMAX
- Uncheck Reconnect at sign-in
- Check Connect using different credentials
- Click Finish
Steps 3 through 10 shown below
- Once prompted to authenticate, enter your EUID credentials as described and shown below
Faculty/staff use: UNT\YourEUID (e.g. UNT\euid0123)
Students use: STUDENTS\YourEUID (e.g. STUDENTS\euid0123)
Example for student authentication shown below
Note: Remeber my credentials may or may not work, depending on your computer settings. - When done, you can disconnect from the Promax share by right-clicking the Z:\ drive and clicking Disconnect.
- Remember to disconnect from the UNT VPN when you no longer need access!
On a Mac
- Connect to the UNT VPN
- In Finder, click Go
- Click Connect to Server (shortcut: Command + K)
- Enter in the following as the Server Address: smb://cas-promax.unt.ad.unt.edu/PROMAX
- Optional tip: Select the '+' symbol to add this address as a favorite for quicker access. This only works if you are on a computer that keeps your data persistently.
- Click Connect
- Once prompted to authenticate, enter your EUID credentials as described and shown below
Faculty/staff use: UNT\YourEUID (e.g. UNT\euid0123)
Students use: STUDENTS\YourEUID (e.g. STUDENTS\euid0123)
Promax Folder Structure
There are three primary folders on Promax:
Personal: contains folders (named after a user's EUID) that faculty and students can use to store personal/private data. Everyone with access to a Promax class gets a Personal folder. Think of it as a flash drive. Your Personal folder is only accessible to you, it is not shared with anyone else. Default size: 80GB
Classes: contains a folder for each class and section that uses Promax. The folder structure and permissions within this folder are described in more detail below. Default size: varies
Practice Footage: A folder for faculty to drop "practice footage" video/audio files for use in their class(es). This folder by default is shared with all faculty and students who have access to Promax. Default size: 4TB
Class folders
Each class section using the Promax will have a corresponding folder named after the class and section numbers (e.g. MRTS1010.002).
Students will only be able to see the class folders for the classes in which they are currently enrolled.
Professors have read/write/modify access to the class folders for which they are teaching. (e.g. Professor X who is teaching MRTS 1010 section 002 will have read/write/modify access to the entire MRTS1010.002 folder.)
There are three default folders created inside each Class folder:
Assignment Turn-in: Used as an assignment turn-in space where Canvas is not viable. Students have write-only access, which means they can drop files in here but they cannot modify them once they are there. A student can only see the files they put in here themselves - they cannot see other student's files that are in this folder.
Resources: Good place for professors to put Syllabi, assignment details, or anything else useful for the entire class. Students have read-only access.
Student Collab Space: Used as a place for students to collaborate with each other. All students in the class have read/write access to this entire folder, and can see files created by other students in the class.
Note: Professors can create new folders within the root class folder (i.e. within our MRTS1010.002 example folder) - but students will have read-only permission by default. If a professor wishes to create a new folder with different permissions, they can request that change by submitting this form.
Practice Footage folder
This is a shared space that all classes using Promax can access. Professors have read/write access and can add footage to this folder, students have read-only access so they can pull from it, but not modify what's there. It's ideal to put "free use" footage here that can be legally shared with everyone else with Promax access.
If a professor wants to use this space for footage that is not "free use" and/or access should be limited to a subset of specific users (such as a specific class) they can request a new subfolder with restricted permissions by submitting this form.