HumTech Hardware Support Policy

  • Hardware Support Policy

    Our Hardware Support Policy is intended to achieve several goals:

    • Make reasonable “end-of-life” arrangement for aging computer equipment which should be disconnected from the Humanities network.
    • Provide a guarantee of expert support for a limited pool of standard hardware configurations.
    • Provide an avenue to support for non-standard configurations

    HumTech staff are trained to troubleshoot hardware problems on a limited number of computer configurations. We also maintain “disk images” for a limited number of hardware configurations. This leads to more efficient troubleshooting, a deeper pool of knowledge shared among our technical support staff, and more predictability of issues relating to hardware such as life-cycle, compatibility with software, and compatibility with networking equipment.

    Humanities Faculty, Graduate Students and Staff have the following support options:

    A. Full support (standard configurations)

    1. All university owned computers that were purchased as part of a HumTech computer program will be fully supported for up to five years.
    2. All newly purchased computers that are owned by the university and are standard configurations will be fully supported for up to five years.

    B. Limited Support (supported non-standard configurations).

    1. All newly purchased computers that are owned by the university and are approved non-standard configurations will have limited support for up to five years.

    C. Not supported. HumTech does not support the following categories of computers:

    1. University owned computers that are more than five years old.
    2. New computers that are not standard configurations or supported non-standard configurations, whether owned by the university or personally.

    Definitions:
    Full Support has the following features:

    • HumTech staff are trained to troubleshoot problems with the hardware; we are informed about warranties and procedures for repair under warranty;
    • We have access to and maintain pristine disk images containing standard software;
    • We maintain and can provide documentation regarding this hardware in the Humnet environment;
    • We are committed to resolve issues in an efficient and timely manner.

    Limited Support has the following features:

    • HumTech staff are trained to troubleshoot problems with the hardware but may not have specific knowledge regarding the particular hardware.
    • HumTech can provide standard software for installation on these computers.
    • We can provide general information about connecting systems to the network.
    • Time to work on problems with these machines will be limited.
    • We do not maintain information about warranties or procedures for repair under warranty.
    • When you request support, we will expect that you have taken a self-help approach and already read pertinent documentation, attempted to resolve problems yourself, and contacted the hardware vendor if appropriate.

    Not supported: HumTech staff are not permitted to spend time working on unsupported computers, except in emergency situations where the computer poses a threat to the integrity of the humnet network. HumTech staff are asked to carefully limit the amount of time they spend answering questions regarding unsupported systems. Owners of unsupported computers are of course welcome to read any documentation we may have available.

    Computer: This hardware policy is intended to cover both laptops and desktops, but not cell phones, tablets, and other handheld devices.

    Standard Configuration: Every year, HumTech issues a list of standard configurations: PC desktop, laptop, Mac desktop, and laptop.

    Supported non-standard configurations: We understand that sometimes it is necessary to veer away from the recommended standard configuration. In such cases, we request that you check with us regarding the computer configuration you have in mind. We will check for compatibility with the network, known support difficulties etc, and let you know whether we can place the proposed configuration on the list of supported non-standard configurations. We do not, however, keep hardware image files for supported non-standard configurations.