|
| People | Departments | Search UMD |
| |
ITSS provides an extensive list of software for PCs and Macs from our lab server. See our lab software page for a complete list. Faculty may also request that new software be added to the lab server. Elect this service for each computer in your laboratory or laptop program that you wish to have access to the software on the lab server. ITSS will provide a cost estimate that depends upon our costs for the server and the software licenses.
Not all software can be put on the server; some of it must be loaded directly onto the computer hard drive. For laptop computers, we recommend that most software be loaded directly on the hard drive, although you might want to choose the server option to distribute especially expensive software that can be shared.
Departments can arrange with ITSS for access to the lab server without charge to the department if all students who use these services are required to pay the ITSS lab fee. This will require a check-in service where lab fee payment is confirmed upon check in.
Computers in laboratories are often reconfigured by their users. Significant changes to the desktop of a laboratory computer by one user can be confusing to other users. Games and other unnecessary software loaded onto a laboratory computer can waste disk space and interfere with other legitimate applications. Moreover, if a computer has a hard drive failure or some other problem, it may be necessary to reinstall operating system or software. These problems can be addressed by building a standard image of the computer software and using it to duplicate and rebuild the desktop software according to this standard.
ITSS staff can work with you to develop a standard desktop configuration for your entire laboratory or for your fleet of laptops. Computers in labs that are constantly connected to the network can be rebuilt regularly by an automated process through the network. Laptops can be rebuilt by our ITSS maintenance staff when needed.
A separate image is required for each different type of computer. Adding software or changing the configuration in some way requires a new desktop image. Software to do the rebuild is required for each computer. Software costs are dependent upon the vendor and upon the number of licenses we buy.
Staff time to create the image initially can be significant (approximately 20 hours) depending upon the number of software applications. Changing the image once it is created ususally takes less time and depends upon the number of changes to be made. Staff time to send the image to the computer is significantly less (approximately one-half hour).
ITSS will be glad to provide a cost estimate for your particular situation.
ITSS provides printing in student laboratories using a product called Uniprint. This product allows us to collect fees to help cover the cost of the printing. We will provide this service to your department upon your request. We will work with you to negotiate a price, which will depend upon which components you provide and which ITSS provides. Components required are the printer itself (which must be an ITSS-supported printer), the Uniprint license, a computer to act as a print station, ITSS staff time to set this up, paper and toner, and staff time to monitor and service the printer. Uniprint can support both color and black-and-white printers. Color printers are more costly to purchase and more complicated to service and maintain.
Return to main page.
| Did you find what you were looking for? YES NO | |
| ©2003 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. Last modified on 01/04/06 | Contact ITSS | Privacy |