For information on currently available hardware, please click here

Recommended Computer Hardware

ITS recommends that areas upgrade their computer fleet on a 3 year lifecycle.  This provides the best user experience and reduces the support cost overhead to the University.  University computer hardware is supplied by Datacom.  Information about the computer models available and how to order are available here. 

ITS support is designed around standard model computers that are under a 3 year warranty. As computers that deviate from the standard model have different support requirements ITS classify computers according to the following scale. Any costs associated with supporting a computer increase as the computer moves further down the scale.

”Gold Computer” means a computer that was acquired by the University via the University preferred reseller and was one of the standard computer models. The computer is therefore under a three-year warranty and is less than three years old. Gold computers are also configured with the USD.

 “Silver Computer” means a computer that was acquired by the University via a computer supplier other than the University preferred reseller or a computer acquired via the University preferred reseller but was not one of the standard computer models. The computer may or may not be under hardware warranty and may or may not be configured with the USD. Silver computers are less than three years old.

 “Bronze Computer” means any computer owned by the University that may or may not have been acquired via the University preferred reseller and is over three years old. The computer may or may not be under hardware warranty and may or may not be configured to run the USD.
By default, all Macintosh computers that are under four years old are classified as “Bronze” unless agreed
otherwise during SLA negotiations.

 “Lead Computer” means any computer owned by the University that may or may not have been acquired via the University preferred reseller and is over four and a half years old. The computer may or may not be under hardware warranty and may or may not be configured with the USD. The desktop support services provided for Lead computers are limited.
All Macintosh computers that are over four years old are classified as “Lead”.

All hardware acquired through Datacom has undergone stringent testing by ITS to work in the University's IT environment.  It will also meet all required standards to run the new Windows Vista environment.  Vista is scheduled for a staged deployment which will commence during the second quarter of 2008.  Further information regarding Windows Vista and Desktop Excellence, including requirements of existing hardware is available here.

This service is the responsibility of the Desktop Management Services team.