Passive mode ftp connections are not supported on the skiffs. If you are using a newer Linux distribution that has a ftp client that defaults to passive mode, then you will need to use the 'passive off' command in your ftp client. If your directory name is not a valid e-mail address, then the directory will be automagicaly removed, when the cluster is low on storage space. To determine if a Skiff is busy, you can use 'netstat' to see if there are other users connected to the machine or use 'top' to determine the cpu usage. We will be more than happy to reset the unit.
Root access is available on a project by project basis.
If you need or think you need root access, please e-mail me. Note that tigershark and reefshark are also available, mounting the same filesystem as the skiffs.