Full Service Athena

Full service Athena is for customers who want a personal Athena Workstation with comprehensive hardware and software support. Access to the entire suite of Athena software, automatic software updates, and first level system administration services are included in the fee. Hardware options are limited. Some customizations are possible as outlined in the Athena Private Workstation Owner's Guide. While administration efforts are minimal with full service Athena, the hardware and customization limitations may be too restrictive for your needs. Weigh the advantages and disadvantages to see if full service Athena is right for you.

Advantages

• Access to a wide range of locally developed and third party software (subject to license terms and platform availability).
• Access to our central AFS file system, and the ability to attach Athena lockers.
• First level system administration is done for you, including system software upgrades. There is no need to maintain separate user accounts or password files on your machine.
• Standard Athena services such as mail, printing, Discuss, and Zephyr are available.
• Access to Athena On-line Consulting (OLC) for software support.
• Access to the Athena Hotline for Basic Services (installation, triage, and hotline).
• Full Hardware Support if you choose Full Service Athena with Hardware Maintenance.

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Disadvantages

• A limited number of peripherals are supported.
• Athena Workstations have a limited life-cycle. If you purchase one of the current supported workstations, they will likely be desupported in three to four years. At that time, you should be prepared to purchase a new system or return to the vendor operating system in three to four years. Subsequent releases of Athena software will not necessarily work on your machine and hardware support will no longer be offered for your workstation.
• There is limited support for locally installed software and not all third-party software is compatible with Athena.
• Updates of the Athena system may include operating system upgrades that may affect or break locally installed software.
• If you opt out of Athena at some point in the future, you will have to reinstall the operating system and learn to administer your own machine.

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Platforms

Full service Athena is limited to a few supported configurations. If you need more flexibility in customizations or hardware configurations Minimal Standard Athena or stand-alone Linux might be better suited to your needs.

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Purchasing

• Choose a supported Workstation or Server.
• Contact the appropriate vendor for appropriate pricing. For additional help see the document Purchasing an Athena Workstation or Server.
• Order your workstation (be sure to state that the machine is being purchased as an Athena workstation).
• Contact the Athena Hotline (hotline@mit.edu, x3-1410) to arrange for them to set up and install your workstation

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Athenizing an Existing Workstation

To acquire Full Athena (with or without Hardware Maintenance):

• Verify that your workstation is currently supported by consulting Athena Workstation and Server Configurations Life-Cycle Summary.
• Contact the Athena Hotline (hotline@mit.edu, x3-1410) to arrange for them to set up your workstation.

Note: If you prefer to install your own machine, see the Minimal Standard Athena information.

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Fees

The rate structure for Full Service Athena is listed on the Getting an Athena System page along with other workstation options.

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