Overview

The University's Desktop Computing Infrastructure consists of a diverse set of hardware and software computing platforms and support mechanisms.  Meeting the specific needs of various campus constituencies often determines the choice of hardware and software. For example, students and faculty are more inclined to use laptop computers.  Administrative staff rely primarily upon desktop computers. Researchers are more inclined to use Macintoshes running the most recent version of MacOS and/or workstations running Linux or Solaris.   University staff tend to use PC’s that adhere to a more standardized environment, notably the most recent version of Windows OS.  Use of peripheral devices, including printers, scanners, and Personal Desktop Assistants (PDA’s) as well as access to a wide range of standardized and centrally supported services are also an integral part of the Desktop Computing infrastructure.

Student Computing

The infrastructure for student desktop computing consists of several OIT programs, services, and facilities.

The SCI (Student Computing Initiative) permits students to configure and purchase online laptop computers for their academic work.  SCI offers students aggressive pricing and a range of hardware and software configurations from several vendors.

DormNet, a physical telecommunications infrastructure that reaches every campus dormitory, provides students with desktop access to software and network services, including high speed internet connectivity, e-mail, anti-virus, file backup, and file sharing.  Dormnet offers both Ethernet and wireless networking options.

OIT Computing Clusters: For students with additional computing needs, OIT manages a number of computer clusters at convenient campus locations.  Clusters offer a variety of desktop operating systems and software, as well as scanning and printing devices.

Academic/Research Computing

The University's desktop infrastructure for academic and research personnel is comprised of a wide variety of computer hardware, operating systems, and software, reflecting individual taste and departmental practice. OIT offers a suite of programs and resources that simultaneously reflect this diversity while also injecting some standards to ease the burden of support.

In the area of hardware, OIT offers the Faculty computer program, a centrally-funded set of restricted and standardized computer purchase options. The computers are pre-configured with a standard Princeton University image containing software for productivity, email, web browsing, and other core activities. Faculty currently have a choice between different vendor desktop and laptop PC’s running the latest Windows or Macintosh operating system.

In addition to Windows and Macintosh, OIT offers some support for Linux.  

Administrative Computing

In order to facilitate reliable and cost effective application software deployment and maintenance, the University has established the DeSC (Desktop Systems Council) program.

DeSC is a collection of policies, procedures, and standards that provide a consistent environment for administrative computing.  The DeSC (Desktop Systems Council) standards define the Desktop Computing Infrastructure for Administrative Applications. The DeSC software consists of the Microsoft Windows Operating system and a collection of Productivity tools. Selected desktop software, with prohibitive single license pricing and where the vendors offer concurrent licenses is available through a DeSC key server. An automated software distribution system, SMS, maintains the standard desktop software. The DeSC hardware consists of a range of standard platforms that is periodically updated.

Peripherals, Software Images, and Special Services

The majority of computer peripherals fall into two categories, input and output. The most used peripherals are mice and keyboards, which are considered input devices, and a computer monitor, an output device.  Another common input device is a scanner. Scanners can take hard copies of documents or pictures and make them into documents that can be manipulated on a computer. Scanners can be attached locally, which most of them are, or networked. Some documents can be optically scanned in such a way that will permit the words to be translated, via OCR, into a word processing document and even to the spoken word. Another common output device is a printer. Many different printers are used at PU. Some are locally attached and some are networked in order to allow many computers to access them. The networked printers are typically on \\ntprintserver which is managed by the Windows Systems Group.

Over the past few years, members of the University community have become increasingly interested in the PDA's (Personal Digital Assistants) owing to the desire for ‘mobile’ computing. Three basic types of PDA’s are supported on campus; Windows CE Based, Palm OS Based and Blackberry based. The Blackberry has become the standard for this technology owing to its ability to integrate with OIT’s Exchange email service.

Other peripherals include digital video recorders, digital cameras, writing tablets, external Compact Disk recorders, and external hard drives.

Software Images

OIT maintains a very diverse library of standardized software ‘images’ for DeSC, the Faculty Computer Program, OIT Training Rooms, and Student Computer Initiative computers. These images consist of the most current operating system, antivirus, and backup client software, as well a suite of productivity tools and applications to access email and the World Wide Web. Images are frequently updated to include most recent OS and application ‘patches” as well as other appropriate driver and client software updates.

Special Services

A wide variety of standardized special tools and services are available to the desktop computing environment, many of which area available across all platforms including student, academic/research and administrative computing. Some of these include: antivirus protection and patches to secure computers, backup of workstation system software and/or personal data (TSM), access to many different kinds of free and charged software via PSR, as well as email, calendaring, file sharing, and printing. The bridge between the desktop computing environment and the centralized resources is the campus network.

Support

Users of all hardware and software platforms have a consistent requirement for support. Support venues include OIT’s Help Desk and Desktop Computing Support groups as well as resident consultants such as RCC’s, SCAD, and DCS program members.

All members of the University community are encouraged to seek assistance from OIT's Help Desk as a first line of support. As necessary, the Help Desk will consult with secondary tiers of support within OIT in order to provide users with additional information or assistance with Desktop Computing problems. One secondary tier within OIT is the Desktop Computing Support group, which dispatches personnel to provide assistance in University offices, classrooms and dormitory rooms.  Alternatively, users can seek assistance for more immediate or more specialized issues by turning to resident consultants.  For the students this program is known as RCC. For faculty and staff this program is known as SCAD/DCS.