SNRE IT Policies

Computer Allocation and Replacement Practices

Computers are typically supplied and replaced by the SNRE IT Services Office according to these guidelines.

  • Regular Faculty, Regular Administrative & Academic Staff

    One desktop computer is supplied. Faculty and senior staff may choose a laptop instead.

    We purchase computers with four year warranties and replace them as the warranty expires. Faculty and staff may not keep or repurpose the old machines when a replacement is provided.

  • Temporary Administrative and Academic Staff

    If the user is assigned to an SNRE office, access to a computer is provided in that office. Typically the office and computer are shared.

    Replacement practices for these systems vary over time; we often use older computers that are still under warranty to fulfill these needs.

  • Adjunct, Visiting, and Emeritus Faculty. GSIs and Ph.D. Students

    If the user is assigned to an SNRE office, access to a computer is provided in that office. Typically the office and computer are shared.

    Replacement practices for these systems vary over time; we often use older computers that are still under warranty to fulfill these needs.

  • Research Scientists, GSRAs, and Research Fellows, Staff of programs, labs, projects, centers, and initiatives

    Computers are not supplied by SNRE-IT; we expect that project/grant funds will be provided to purchase computers.

    To meet SNRE IT's support requirements, faculty-purchased computers must have four year warranties. We strongly encourage faculty to plan on replacing computers as the warranties expire. Computers that are out of warranty will receive no support from the vendor and will often receive limited support from SNRE IT.

  • Masters Projects and Visiting Scholars

    Computers are not supplied by SNRE-IT and are not expected to be supplied by faculty advisors/sponsors.

  • Computing Site & Classroom

    Computers are supplied by a partnership between SNRE and Campus Computing Sites.  Replacement practices for these systems vary over time, and depend on a variety of factors including the overall needs and budgets of both Campus Computing Sites and SNRE.

 

Equipment Loan Policy

  • SNRE IT will loan computers and AV equipment to faculty, staff, and students to support SNRE-affiliated class presentations, conferences, events, and work.
  • SNRE IT will not loan equipment to support non-SNRE or PiTE activities or classes.
  • SNRE IT will not loan computers to students for homework, papers, dissertations, or student group presentations, since SNRE students are required to have their own laptop and computers are provided for these purposes in multiple campus computing sites.
  • SNRE IT will not, in most cases, be able to staff events. We will loan the required equipment and demonstrate its use to borrowers, and in some cases help borrowers set the equipment up, but we will not be able to attend events and run the equipment. For events during business hours, IT staff will be available to troubleshoot problems. For events after normal operating hours, users should make sure they are comfortable operating the equipment themselves.

 

Property Disposition & Buying Used PCs

SNRE faculty and staff often ask, "Can I buy that old PC that you are planning to send to Property Disposition?"It's the policy of the SNRE IT Services Office that we do not "shortcut" the Property Disposition (PD) process by selling computers ourselves. PD does sell computers and other surplus equipment to U-M faculty, staff, students, and the general public. Upon request, we will notify SNRE individual faculty, staff, and students of the dates when we are sending equipment to Property Disposition so that they may visit PD to purchase the equipment.

Generally this question comes up when we deploy a new office computer to someone and take his or her old computer away. Users naturally believe that if they can buy their old desktop, they'll have a convenient way to get a home PC with all the same programs and functionality that they've had at the office. This is not the case.

The connectivity, maintenance, and software of these systems have been paid for and actively managed during the life of these systems by SNRE IT. It's these features that tend to make these machines more attractive than purchasing a similar computer from another source. But in the process of retiring these machines from active service within SNRE, all of these features are discontinued.

In regards to software, U-M and other policies require us to wipe the machines of departmental data and all software (including the operating system). To do this in a practical way requires completely wiping the hard drive clean and leaving the computer non-functional until the purchaser also buys and installs an operating system (e.g. Windows, Mac OS, Linux).

In addition, the systems SNRE IT sends to Property Disposition typically:

  • Are at least three years old, often older
  • Have an expired warranty
  • Are past the lifetime that they were engineered for, with components that have failed or may fail at any time
  • Have shortcomings in hard drive, memory, or CPU performance that make it difficult to run current software
  • Are missing components that have been removed for use in repairing other systems

For those willing to invest the time and effort to get a used PC functional for their needs, PD may certainly be worth a visit.  Property Disposition's web page lists their hours, and some details about making purchases.

Data Backups

  • SNRE Network-stored Files

    SNRE group files (Q: drive) are stored in the IT í¢â‚¬Å“Mainstream Storageí¢â‚¬  service, which includes a "snapshot" capability, from which deleted data can be restored. Snapshots are taken at the following times:

    • Daily snapshots at noon and 4 p.m., retained for 3 days
    • Nightly snapshots at midnight every day, retained for 7 days
    • Weekly snapshots every Sunday morning at midnight, retained for 8 weeks

    SNRE home directories (H: drive) are currently stored in the "CIFSPilot" service. Snapshots are taken at the following times:

    • Twice-a-day snapshots (morning and afternoon), retained for 7 days
    • Weekly snapshots every Monday morning, retained for 5 weeks
    • Monthly snapshots every first of the month, retained for 12 months

  • Desktop and Laptop Computers

    Desktop computers at SNRE are generally not backed up. It is essential that you store your data on a network drive.

    Selected SNRE laptop computers are backed up with the Iron Mountain Connected Backup service provided by IT Central Services. Backups are run automatically. The service keeps a copy of each file from the hard drive. Files that have been changed may have up to twenty previous versions retained, and these old versions are retained for 90 days. Files that have been deleted from the laptop are retained in the backup system for 62 days.

    Please do not assume that your laptop is being backed up with Connected Backup software. To be sure, contact the IT Services office and get confirmation in writing.

  • Restoring Files

    Please contact the SNRE IT Services Office if you need to have data files restored