Beginning October 1, 2001, the Physics Department is implementing a charge for network connections.
� Before that time, the Department funded its computing needs by billing for CPU time, connect time and disk storage on central computer systems.
� With changes in technology, support and equipment costs now are attributed to the network, and other commonly shared resources.
� Usage of central computer systems has declined.
It no longer makes sense to charge for the unused resources, and not bill for the heavily used resources.
Basic functions and services (like e-mail, web serving) need to be provided universally and uniformly, without excessive accounting overhead.
Computer and Network Support Plans
Support Levels:
Two levels of service are available for network devices attached to the Broida network:, Network Support and Isolated Network.
Network Support is the basic support provided to computers on the Broida Network. It provides networking, Internet access, access to central services such as e-mail and Web servers, file storage, dial-in modems, etc. This plan also pays the annual campus networking charge for each computer attached to the network.
Isolated Network machines are physically connected to the network, but are logically isolated from machines on other networks.� As such, they cannot access the Internet or other machines not on the Isolated Network.� Because they are isolated, they will not require extensive patching, maintenance or security updates.
None of the support plans include:
� Licenses for software (exceptions listed below)
� Configuration of remote or home network connections
� Installation or configuration of software
� Installation or debugging of hardware.
� Backup of local hard disks or restoration of data.
� Cost of repaired or replacement components.
The above services are available only on a material recharge and per-hour basis.
Recommended computer systems:
Recommended hardware is subject to change. However, hardware will inevitably fall off of the list on a three year cycle, and replacement hardware should be budgeted.� Older machines will be supported to the best of our ability.
�Hardware debugging is charged on a per-hour basis. This includes problems related to the motherboard, power supply, monitor, mouse, keyboard, hard drive, memory, internal cabling, network cards, scanners, USB cameras, local printers, data acquisition hardware and PDAs.
Recommended software:
Recommended software is subject to change.� Software version numbers are current as of 01-Sep-2003. Versions older than those indicated are not recommended.� Newer versions, as they are released, will gradually supplant older ones.� We require all security patches and updates be applied as needed on each platform to keep the machines up-to-date.� The recommended software list does not indicate the support is without additional cost, it indicates which versions and titles we consider supportable by the network and systems we operate, and afford the best efficiency in budgeting costs by the system�s owners. Some software will be provided by the department for free.� An example would be the site-licensed Norton Anti-Virus software.� The department pays its share of the campus cost annually, and distributes the software for free, as it is important that all machines on the shared network be protected.� Similarly, SSH and SecureFTP software is in the best interest of all if universally used, and will be provided for free at department expense.
Software specifically not recommended without ongoing, daily management includes, but is not limited to:
� Sendmail
� IMAP server
� FTP Server
� Web Servers
� Packages acting as services
� ssh server
� IRC, News servers
� NFS server
� LPR printing to remote queues
� Other advanced and complex systems (i.e. computer clusters)
These programs and operating systems are not yet recommended, but are expected to gain support as numbers and proficiency increase. In general, support for newer versions of existing applications and operating systems will be available from two to six months after their release.� Immediate support is available on a per-hour basis, if desired.
� None as of this date
Charges:
Network expenses consist of hardware expenses, hardware depreciation and labor costs based on the currently approved PCS recharge rate. The network charge for Network Support is based on the labor costs (historically) to support the network, distributed over the number of machines (historically) on the network during that time.� The charge will be examined on a periodic basis to assure it accurately represents the actual cost of providing this service to the currently attached machines.
For Physics Department faculty, the Department will pick up the cost of the first networking device to support basic office support functions (faculty e-mail, web access, instructional goals).� Note that support for services not covered by Network Support are billed at the PCS hourly rate.� This applies to all machines, including the Department administrative machines and the first networking device for each faculty member.� The charges for this additional service will be billed to the grant of the faculty member, not the department.
The charge for Isolated Network connections is $0.
This fixed charge schedule will make it easier for faculty to budget appropriately for the costs of network support in their proposals.
The PCS hourly rate is currently $54.64 per hour.
Billing:
In order to minimize the amount of time generating recharges and to provide accurate account balances throughout the year, we will automatically bill the designated accounts on a monthly basis.
When a machine is connected to the network, the account will be entered into the system for automatic billing at the end of each recharge cycle (monthly).� Because connecting and disconnecting systems are labor intensive, a fraction of a cycle will be billed as if the machine was connected for the entire cycle.� This would also include visitor laptops, conference room connections, etc that exist for a very short time.
IMPORTANT: It will be the responsibility of the grant P.I. to notify us when machines are removed from the network (please use the Removal form) in order to stop the automatic billing.� No charges will be reimbursed for failing to notify Physics Computing Services (PCS) of a machine's removal or demise.� Central services are still being used (e.g., e-mail sending, receipt, web access, etc) as well as use of a physical port. You must contact PCS to free up the use of these resources or billing will continue.