Campus Hosts are multi-user computers designed for special purposes. There are host systems for instructional use and for graduate student research projects supported by various institutions and departments at Cornell. If you are in a class that requires a shell account, contact your professor for more information.
The Campus Hosts service allows you to connect to commonly used multi-user hosts at Cornell. Not everyone has access to these systems. They are all for special purpose computing needs, such as access to administrative systems, coursework, or research. You need to have an account for the particular system you want to use.
When connecting to one of these hosts, you use a program called a telnet client. The telnet clients for Macintosh and Windows systems have similar features: you can open multiple, simultaneous sessions and switch back and forth between several hosts or services.