FY05 Hardware and
Software Standards

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Outline of the Preventative Maintenance Program

Guidelines for Preventative Maintenance Program participation

Administrative Computing Renewal Program

Departmental Computing Liaison Responsibilities

Current Departmental Computing Liaisons

Participating IS Teams and their responsibilities

Background: SoS Pilot

Hardware/Software standards

Key Dates

On This Page: Environment Thresholds | Desktop Recomendations | Software Recommendations

 

FY2005 Administrative Computing Desktop Environment Thresholds

The initiative to transition to a 4 year renewal cycle for desktop
computers continues in this fiscal year. The 'threshold' recommendations
listed below reflect this initiative by indicating Macintosh computers and
Microsoft Windows computers first purchased during the summer of
2001 or later as continuing to be effective for Administrative Computing
desktop needs.

Monitor replacements will continue to be assessed independent of
computers.

Cost sharing will continue for laptop deployments during FY2005.

Macintosh Desktop Thresholds:

  • Power Mac G4 desktop computers with cpu speed of 700 MHz or greater
  • 256 MB of memory (RAM) or greater
  • 40 GB hard drive and CD-RW
  • MacOS X 10.2.8 or greater
  • 17 inch Flat Panel (LCD) or Monitor (CRT)

Microsoft Windows Desktop Thresholds:

  • Dell Optiplex desktop computers with cpu speeds of 1 GHz or greater
  • 256 MB of memory (RAM) or greater
  • Windows XP Pro OS,
  • Note: Windows 2000 Pro OS is planned for retirement as of mid FY2005
  • 17 inch Flat Panel (LCD) or Monitor (CRT)

FY2005 Administrative Computing Desktop Recommendations

Recommendations for new desktop computers may be adjusted during
the fiscal year due to vendor product line revisions or vendor partnership
negotiations. The initial recommendations for Fiscal Year 2005 are
as follows.

Macintosh Computer Recommendation:

  • Apple Power Mac G4 desktop computer with dual cpu's running at 1.25 GHz
  • 512 MB of memory (RAM)
  • 80 GB hard drive and DVD/CD-RW (Combo Drive)
  • MacOS X 10.3 or greater
Microsoft Windows Computer Recommendation:
  • Dell Optiplex GX270 with cpu speed of 2.6 GHz or greater
  • 512 MB of memory (RAM)
  • 40 GB hard drive and DVD/CD-RW
  • Windows XP Pro Operating System
NOTE: floppy drives continue to be included in our configuration for the
            time being but may be dropped at any time.

FY2005 Administrative Computing Desktop Infrastructure Software Recommendations

Some current recommendations and anticipated changes in desktop infrastructure
software include the following.

Macintosh (Mac Os X 10.3 or Higher):

  • Apple's 'Software Update' run at least weekly to apply all
    Apple corrections/enhancements
  • Virex 7.2 or higher with Virus description updates as
    they become available
  • Safari web browser 1.2 or later, or Netscape 7.02
  • Eudora 6.1
  • Microsoft Office X (Microsoft Office 2004 anticipated)
  • SUN Java Run Time 1.4.2

Microsoft Windows:

  • Windows Critical Update service running to assist in quickly
    applying corrections/enhancements
  • VirusScan 7.0 or higher with daily Virus description updates
  • Internet Explorer web browser 6.0 SP1
  • Netscape web browser 7.02
  • Eudora 5.2 (may become a minimum version soon to help
    control junk e-mails, etc.)
  • Microsoft Office 2003 or XP with MS Office Updates applied
  • SUN Java Run Time 1.4.2 or higher
  • Kerberos for Windows 2.6 or 2.5

FY2005 Administrative Computing Desktop Application Software

Macintosh: (MAC OS X 10.3 or Higher) :

Coeus - new release anticipated this summer (which will require MacOS
X 10.3
  and Java Run Time 1.4.2 or higher)

Microsoft Windows:

  • SAPgui 6.20 release for Windows to become 'required' in the fall
  • Coeus new release anticipated this summer (which will require
    SUN Java Run Time 1.4.2 or higher)

Special Considerations For Desktop Configuration And Security

Software Updates:

Over the course of FY2004 it became critically important that all desktop
computers stay up to date with Operating System and other software
vendor patches and updates. This need continues at MIT and for the time
being we must assume will be an on-going need for all computers
connecting to the Internet. Daily Automated Updates are urgently
recommended for the Operating System, Anti-Virus software, and
Office Suites at a minimum.

E-Mail

The latest versions of MIT installers for Eudora (5.2 or higher) are
configured to Authenticate on Send for all outgoing e-mails. This
feature could become a requirement at any time now as a means
to control malicious e-mails claiming to be sent from individuals
or computers on the MIT network (when in fact they originate
elsewhere) and through the IS&T e-mail infrastructure. This feature
can also be effective when an ISP (Internet Service Provider) has
blocked the traditional ports used for sending e-mail. Please ensure
that all computers have the latest releases of the e-mail applications
and that the product is configured to Authenticate on Send.
For further information see:


Setting up AppleMail for Secure SMTP
http://web.mit.edu/is/products/applemail/smtponlyapplemail-102.html

Setting up Microsoft Outlook for Secure SMTP
http://web.mit.edu/is/products/outlook/smtponlyoutlook.html

Setting up Microsoft Outlook Express for Secure SMTP
http://web.mit.edu/is/products/outlookexpress/smtponlyoutlookexpress.html

Additional Software Information is available at:

The Software Release Team web page <http://mit.edu/swrt/>
The MIT Software Distribution web page <http://mit.edu/software/>
Software at MIT <http://web.mit.edu/ist/topics/software/>

 

Last Modified September 10, 2004 10:42 AM