Desktop OS Standards
In February 2005, the University began the transition to Windows XP Professional as the main desktop operating system. Approximately 80% of the desktops on campus run this operating system. On September 1st, 2008 the University will begin the transition to the next desktop operating system - Windows Vista. Unlike the previous flavors of Windows, Vista has been released with a number of different commercial versions. These range from Vista Starter to Vista Ultimate. The University will be standardizing on Windows Vista Business Enterprise. The Office of Computing and Communications Services will provide support for this version of the operating system only on campus.
To ensure the integrity of the network and provide support for a reliable, safe and useable operating and networking environment for all areas of the campus, it is vital that the entire campus community adhere to specific standards.
The following general standards have been established:
- All colleges/departments installing and supporting their own workstations or servers which require unique machine, workgroup, domain, or NDS tree names - such as NT/2000/2003 servers, Windows 2000 Professional/XP Home/XP Professional/Vista workstations, and Netware servers - should register these names with OCCS.
- The only supported/routed networking protocol on the campus network is TCP/IP.
- All IP addresses will be issued by OCCS via a DHCP server except those requiring a static address or in areas where a DHCP server is not accessible. In those cases, IP addresses will be issued by OCCS manually.
- All configured desktops should register with the OCCS Windows update server and allow for automatic updates. This will insure constant patching to fight against insecurities that are prevalent and potential outages/problems associated with this activity.
Please remember that these standards have been established to protect the viability of campus computing environment. If they are not used, the results could be devastating to the entire network. To retain the privilege of using the campus network, users must adhere to the standards as presented.
In addition to the general standards listed above, the following apply to all systems installed and supported by OCCS:
- All Windows Desktops supported by OCCS will be added to the Campus AD Domain for remote management and support.
- The privileges for all user accounts will be limited to that of user status. The installation of updated applications, drivers, plug-ins, or modules will be primarily accomplished through Novell Workstation Manager at login, Active Directory policies or by LAN support personnel. A second point of reference for users to arrange application installations will be the local container Technical Support Person (TSP) or OCCS staff representative working in that area who will have an Administrator object available to them.
- Remote Access Services (RAS) or Terminal Services (TS) will not be supported on the campus network to the desktop.
- Local Web/FTP servers (MS IIS services) will not be supported on the campus desktops.
Individual Operating System Notes
Windows 2000 Professional Standards (until removed from the University)
Windows 2000 Professional has been the University desktop standard since October 14, 2001. Centralized support for this operating system will come to an end on 1 March 2009. Windows 2000 Professional systems operating after that time may continue to be used. Systems encountering problems would need to be corrected through a system upgrade process.
Windows XP Professional Standards
In January 2005, the University transitioned to Windows XP Pro as the supported desktop standard. Windows XP Pro will be available as the default operating system on all preconfigured desktop equipment (managed PC's) purchased through the end of August 2008. Desktops that were purchased with Windows XP Pro will be supported on the campus until around the time that Windows Vista replacement is released to the public (approximately 2011 - 2012). The configured system images that were previously provided to Gateway are contained on disk images here at the University. These images contain updates that were current at the time of development only. The newest images established with Lenovo contain patches and site license applications current through the period of development and release to manufacturing. These should also be updated when put in production.
Windows Vista Business Enterprise Standards
An upgrade path for existing desktops running Windows XP Pro to Windows Vista will not be provided except through hardware replacement. This is due to hardware driver and compatibility issues. University elements purchasing hardware from other than the preconfigured site should expect significant delays in implementing these new desktop systems to comply with University standards.
Any additional software outside of the ODU Campus agreement can be purchased through the University Site License Program. Information, availability and costs can be found at the OCCS Site License page.
Questions or comments concerning this issue should be indicated on your electronic application, when you are contacted for installation scheduling, or via e-mail to occshelp@odu.edu. If you have any questions please contact the Technical Support Center at 757.683.3192.