Policy - Hardware

Purpose

This policy seeks to ensure that desktop hardware is capable of being supported within the department. The driving factors are:

1. Availability of parts
2. The reliability of components in the machine
3. Capability to run current versions of the operating system with security patches

Policy

Desktop hardware should be budgeted and refreshed every five years. Where equipment is more than five years old it will be supported on a best efforts basis by the Computer Officer team. However support will be withdrawn if:

1. The effort to required to support the equipment becomes excessive
2. If the equipment can no longer be software patched or hardware repair components cannot be sourced

Exceptions

Equipment that drives an instrument and or run specialist obsolete hardware in which case the following must be observed:

1. The equipment should only be used to run the specialist hardware
2. If the machine cannot be patched with current security patches or approved current virus software loaded then the machine must be placed behind a dedicated firewall

Support

Technical questions on the application of this policy may be addressed to the Computer Officers by emailing support@ch.cam.ac.uk.