Equipment allocation and replacement

Allocation

The department provides systems for:
- research students (for their 3 years). For extra computer kit (such as test boxes, specialist hardware, etc) students approach their supervisor to find suitable kit from the group pool.
- academic staff (machine from the pool; non-standard hardware to be on grants)
- support/admin staff (upgrades as required)
The machines are provided from a diverse pool, allowing people to select an appropriate one for their current needs. Someone may start with a silent fanless low power machine while reading papers, move on to a lowish spec machine for some initial experiments, and end up with a high spec machine for final tests. Someone else may require a very low power, but "always on", machine, using a TSS for more serious cycles.
The spec of the default offering is reviewed from time to time by the people who consider IT strategy. As of 2011/09 the min spec is a 3GHz CPU, 1GB RAM, 250GB disc, 2MPl LCD, 100Mbps NIC, running Unix or Windows with MS office. In practice the default minimum is a Dual Core 64b CPU with 6GB RAM and 180GB of SSD.
Research Assistants equipment is provided from the supporting grant
For H&S related bits (such as a Quill, split keyboard, etc) contact the safety-officer.
For office equipment, contact building-services.

The Computer Officers support "standard" workstations for their 3 years of warranty. After that we try our best to patch things up.