Hardware & Software Standards

• CN Workstation Classifications
• Networked Printing
• Software & Licensing
• Non-Community Network Applications
• Planning for the Future

CN Workstation Classifications:

In order to work with current software standards, it is important that workstations comply with vendor-recommended minimum hardware specifications. For this reason, the Community Network has defined hardware & software classifications for machines on Community Network service.

The Community Network has two classifications for workstations on CN service: Minimum and Recommended. These classifications are a combination of recommended hardware and available software licensed and provided by CN. Our standards are based on general hardware recommendations, and may not be sufficient for all uses of an individual software program. If your department has questions on whether a machine can support a particular task or program, we encourage you to contact your IT Manager's support team for specific answers.

Please note: Machines that do not meet or exceed the Minimum Community Network classification listed below are not eligible for CN service, but may be serviced as a special project.

Laptops and Tablet PC’s with CN-approved applications are eligible for CN contract service. See your IT Manager for details.

PC Recommended Standards

Macintosh Recommended Standards

Networked Printing

The Community Network has standardized on IP enabled printers, including HP and IKON provided devices for network printing.  Community Network staff can assist you in determining your network printing requirements and whether your current departmental printers meet Community Network standards.

Software & Licensing

Software included in a Community Network full service account

(FY 2011-2012)

• Microsoft Products
• Microsoft Office 2007/2010: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, Publisher, OneNote
• Microsoft Office Macintosh Edition 2008/2011: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Entourage/Outlook

Other Licensed Products

• Banner/AppWorx/Nolij
• Cisco VPN Client
• Datawarehouse
• Modular Messaging
• Current Antivirus Client

Also see the OSUware software contents located at the OSUWare Site and the OSU Software and License program information located at: https://tss.oregonstate.edu/softdist

New Versions of CN-supported software

The Community Network strives to stay current with new versions of supported applications and maintains licensing compliance for those applications. We usually purchase several "test" licenses of new applications, evaluate the stability of these products, and measure demand for them within our customer base.

We will update and release new CN-supported applications when we are capable of providing a system-wide support structure, and there is demand by at least 50% of our customers. If you have licenses to a newer version of a currently offered CN product, please check with your IT Manager to see how to best make use of these licenses. If you are interested in moving to a newer version of a CN application before an officially supported CN upgrade, please contact your IT Manager for information.

Older versions of current CN software

In order to provide the highest level of service to our customers, the Community Network typically supports the current version and one previous version of software titles. It is important that our customers use versions of software that we are currently trained to support, and that have no known security issues.

Any applications outside the ones currently being offered by the Community Network will be supported as best they can as special projects. Please be aware that many older products will cause conflicts with software currently offered by the Community Network. Licensing for older versions of software may be coordinated with your IT Manager.

Please note: Your department is responsible for purchasing and/or maintaining software licenses for applications not currently listed as CN-provided applications.

Licensing Monitoring & Compliance

The software industry periodically audits Colleges and Universities for compliance with their licensing agreements. These audits are attempts to try to deal with some of the rampant software piracy that can occur in an academic environment, and because the auditors are quite willing to assess legal penalties for violations, these audits should be taken very seriously.

While the Community Network provides licenses to its customers for many widely-used software programs on campus, many of the less widely-used programs our customers run must be licensed independently (either through the department, or through a separate third-pary vendor).

Since it is very important that all software used on campus be legal, we recommend that each department conduct an audit of their software licenses annually. If you have questions on proper audit procedures, or license compliance, please contact your IT Manager.

Microsoft Campus License Agreement

The Community Network enrolls all customers in the Microsoft Campus License Agreement. This provides licenses for the Microsoft operating system (Windows XP or 7) and Microsoft Office for all University-owned computers in your department.  Please see your IT Manager for additional details.

Microsoft License Agreement Information-Appendix 1

Non-Community Network Applications

Support for software programs that are required for use on campus (i.e. Banner, Datawarehouse, Advance), will be facilitated by the Community Network. In most cases, installation will be performed by your Community Network support team, and normal support will be provided by the support unit providing that service to campus.

While it is our best intent to help departments with special needs, we are not set up to be experts in every program a department might need to be available. We present a cross section of programs that we have determined will address the daily needs of a majority of our customers. Support of non-CN programs can be arranged for a special project charge.

Planning for the Future:

Technology Replacement Cycles

Technology Replacement Cycles

Because the computing industry changes so quickly, we highly recommend that our customers address hardware & software obsolescence in three ways:

1. Customers should budget for the replacement of approximately 1/3^rd of their computing equipment each year.
2. Replacement workstations should meet or exceed the current Recommended PC Standard for the Community Network.
3. Customers should purchase hardware & software from vendors who are committed to (and have a history of) evolving their products to function correctly with the current version of the Windows and Apple operating systems and who have a reliable support reputation in the technology industry.   We strongly recommend purchasing computers from vendors listed on the OSU Buy Orange website. 

We encourage you to visit with your CN support team before ordering computer equipment so that we can assist you in choosing configurations that maximize performance and minimize cost.