8. IT and Computing
The following rules and guidelines apply to anyone who uses the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) IT resources. The resources covered by this document include computer hardware, software, mobile devices, data storage and the video conferencing system. There are other policies and procedures not mentioned below that you are expected to abide by that can be found at the UD Information Technologies security policies and procedures website.
CANR-IT provides these resources primarily for teaching, research or administrative purposes.
8.1 Plan/Purchase
The following are guidelines for ordering new systems including desktop or laptop computers, smart phones and other accessories. The hardware is purchased by CANR-IT and is managed by CANR-IT throughout the hardware life, according to Disposal of University Equipment and Material policies.
8.1.2 Process
Dell and Apple are the preferred vendors for the University. Please refer to the Institutional and Personal computing purchases page for more information.
When a department decides to purchase IT equipment, software, and/or accessories:
Contact CANR-IT through IT help request form or 831-6000 to place the initial request.
The CANR-IT staff will work with the faculty, staff, and graduate student to verify and determine the equipment which best meets their needs.
Once the appropriate equipment is chosen, the faculty, staff, or graduate student will provide CANR-IT with the purpose code to charge the purchase.
Upon receipt, the item(s) are configured and delivered by CANR-IT. (Need to contact for non-standard software packages)
For all equipment purchased through grant funds, CANR-IT needs the initial request at a minimum of 30 days before the grant ends.
Note: Due to copyright laws, CANR IT must have a copy of the licensing agreement and licensing Key for each software.
8.2 Desktop and Laptop Configuration
CANR-IT installs and supports all University-owned computers that are purchased with CANR funds. In addition, CANR-IT maintains software tools that provide automatic updates and patches to the standard configuration, which are designed to enhance the security and performance of the CANR infrastructure.
Computers are configured in compliance with campus security policies.
All University-owned workstations that connected to CANR domain and are supported by CANR-IT must use the standard configuration for the purposes of security and deployment of software.
All computers, prior to being deployed on the UD network, must be verified by the CANR-IT.
All computers should be install as domain computers. Any exceptions must be approved by CANR-IT.
All computers must have the latest service packs, patches, and anti-virus definitions.
All Faculty and staff are granted limited user privileges on their computer by default. Escalated permissions must be approved by CANR-IT. This method will prevent the execution of viruses, worms, adware and so on.
All file sharing and software installations must be coordinated by the CANR-IT.
8.2.1 Used Computer/Devices disposal procedure
All hardware purchased with University of Delaware funds remains the property of the University of Delaware until the disposal (send to surplus) or transfer of ownership.
● If the old computer is of value for use by another staff member in the department, it may be reassigned within the department. IT must follow procedures outlined in the Electronic Data Disposal Procedure document.
● If the old computer has no further use in the college the CANR-IT should dispose of it in accordance with University equipment disposal policies.
● If the old computer has no further use in the college but would be of use to a staff member at home, the transfer of ownership must have the approval of the department head and Ron Nichols at nichols at udel dot edu.
8.2.2 Electronic Medium Destruction
The College of Agriculture requires that before any computer system, phone, tablet, electronic device or electronic media is disposed, recycled or transferred either as surplus property or to another user, the system, media or device must be either:
● properly sanitized of University sensitive/confidential data and software, or
● properly destroyed.
Any official University records must be appropriately retained / disposed of based on the University’s records retention policy prior to erasure or destruction of the system, device or media.
Electronic media must be sanitized following the guidelines in NIST Special Publication 800-88, “Guidelines for Media Sanitization”. The specific procedures and requirements to be followed when cleaning or destroying computer systems, electronic devices and electronic media are found in the Electronic Data Disposal Procedure document.
8.2.3 Electronic Data Sanitization for Departing Faculty/Staff
In the case of departing faculty/staff the Guidelines for Documents Destruction should be followed. Physical media and files on college shares will be retained for 1 year from the departure date. Data to be retained to comply with University retention policies must be labeled with a deletion date, and placed on college file servers. IT staff will remove the data when the deletion date has passed.
• Ownership of Process. The Department Chair in the case of faculty, and Senior Business Administrator in the case of staff, or a designee of either, is to coordinate decisions and actions regarding data or other materials in the individual’s possession.
• The responsible person shall coordinate with IT within one month of departure a plan for sanitization of the individual’s data. University Policies and Retention Schedules should be referenced when making decisions about data.
8.3 Computer Security
All CANR account holders are expected to be familiarize themselves with the University policies and procedures available on the Information Technologies (IT) website and comply with them.
8.3.1 Confidential Data
Users storing confidential or PII data must adhere to the Information Classification standards set by the University. CANR staff must be informed of anyone storing confidential data and will work with the user to implement a plan to secure that data.
To ensure compliance and reduce risk to the college all computers will have software of them to ensure compliance. If confidential data is found IT staff with work with the user to remediate the data.
● Social Security Numbers
● Credit Card Numbers
● Passwords
● Bank Account Numbers
● Driver License Numbers
8.3.2 Windows and Mac Patches
All CANR owned computer that are connected to UD network need to be joining to CANR domain, so that security patches and anti-virus software are up to date automatically. It is a responsibility for CANR-IT to keep patches and antivirus software up to date to all CANR owned computer.
8.3.3 Encryption
All laptops must have disk encryption technologies such as BitLocker or FileVault. Please note that the encryption technologies can protect your data if your laptop is lost or stolen, but does not protect your data when the machine is powered on, or data is sent over the network. Contact CANR for guidelines if transmitting confidential information over the network.
8.3.4 Storing UD Information in the Cloud
Use caution in storing information on Google Apps, Dropbox.com, or any cloud service provider. Consider issues like those outlined below before storing data on any non-UD server:
● Never use your UDel password on non-University login screens.
● The safety of PNPI (personal non-public information such as SSNs, bank account information, etc.)
● The value of your intellectual property to your department and to the University
● Requirements imposed by non-UD owners of intellectual property you are using
● Confidentiality agreements
If you are unsure about how your data is being stored contact IT for guidelines.
8.3.5 Mobile Devices
CANR-IT determined that all devices connecting to university systems required a PIN policy to protect University data from unauthorized access in the event that your mobile device is stolen or lost. More information about mobile devices is available on the University of Delaware IT web site.
Your mobile device(s) will be required to have a 4 digit PIN number in order to sync with University of Delaware Exchange server. This setting will be automatically pushed to your device upon initial configuration. A message will appear on your mobile device asking to confirm your mobile device to be encrypted and that it will need 4 digit PIN number. If you have multiple mobile devices, you have option to use the same or different PIN number. Do not use your University of Delaware PIN number.
Mobile devices purchased with CANR funds will be inventoried in an inventory management system.
8.3.6 Network access
Any device accessing the network in a CANR building needs to meet minimum network security requirements. These include printers, laboratory equipment, wireless routers, cameras, etc….
● For the lifetime of the equipment it needs run a current OS, and be patched.
● Maintain strong passwords for administrator access.
● Maintain a secure configuration as determined by CANR IT in coordination with the network security group.
Devices not meeting a minimum security requirement put the College and the rest of the University at risk. CANR IT need to be aware of devices connected to the network. Anything not meeting these requirements will be removed from the network immediately.
8.3.7 Lost or Stolen Laptop or mobile Devices
If a portable device is lost or stolen, the following steps need to be taken:
● Notify CANR-IT, who can potentially disable, wipe, or locate the device.
● Android device users with access to exchange should also contact the IT help Center or call x6000. A device wipe can be performed remotely and will delete all Exchange (email) information and disable the phone services.
8.4 Storage and Backup
All CANR owned computers contain critical data stored on desktop and laptop (Windows and Mac) computers and need to be backed up so the documents and files can be restored in the event of a system failure, human error or a lost or stolen device. CANR Storage and Backup Systems are safe and secure backup for research, teaching, and extension use. There are currently three options available.
● Agshare (“U drive”) drive provides storage primarily for Windows Desktop and some Windows Laptops.
● CrashPlan is available to laptops and macs that cannot always connect to Agshare to store data and provides backups for those machines.
● We also provide a Linux Cluster storage pool for large data needs for research.
To facilitate this process CANR-IT provides an infrastructure of servers that allows the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to store backup files and share their data files. To provide redundancy for data on Agshare, there are multiple servers that will ensure the same data is continuously replicated amongst those servers, and if one server is down, the user will be directed to another server. There is also an online backup copy of the data off-site that maintains an indefinite version history of those shares.
Crashplan maintains a single backup copy of the data off-site. CrashPlan automatically backups up a file whenever it is modified, or on a set schedule. Retention on this is indefinite.
8.4.1 Backup Recommendations
Music and Video: Due to the large amount of storage space taken up by music and video files, we do not recommend backing up the data unless the data is work related.
The U drive is a private directory to which only the individual user of the account can read and write files and folders. CANR-IT provides a home directory automatically mounted as “U” on your computer. On most desktops the machine is “folder redirected” so the user’s Desktop, Documents and Favorites are stored on the U drive.
● The (S drive) or shared drive, is intended for storing documents and files that are for the use of your group or department and need to be shared depending on who needs access/permissions.
● Shared storage volumes contain any lab related files which faculty, staff and graduate students have read and write access (L Drive). Any private or sensitive data should NEVER be written to this drive.
8.4.2 Option #1: “U Drive”
The recommended option for Windows Desktop for users to back up their UD files is to keep all university related files on the agshare network drive (“U” drive), which is located on a CANR server and can be accessed from your office desktop, a home computer, or remotely from your laptop. Files on the agshare network drive (“U” drive) are backed up 3-times a day (morning, noon, and evening). Also appropriate user rights are designated for each of the users so they can access the appropriate network resources (U drive).
8.4.3 Option #2: “CrashPlan”
The second option is to have a CANR-IT staff configure “CrashPlan” to work with your laptop/desktop for Windows or Mac. CrashPlan is a backup solution used to automatically backup all critical data stored on your computer (desktop or laptop) that are kept in your “Documents” folder, your Desktop folders and your favorites (default setting). Other folders can be added as needed to “CrashPlan” by CANR-IT staff. The data can be restored in the event of accidental deletion, if the computer is lost, stolen, or if it’s infected by a virus.
8.4.4 Research Storage
For research storage pricing information, consult CANR-IT via submitting an IT-help request form. The pricing is dependent on how large your storage needs are and how many redundant and backup copies you need. The following configurations are available.
Option Primary Storage Redundant (High Availability) Backup
1 x
2 x x
3 x x
4 x x x
● Example: If a Faculty member needs 2TB of redundant storage and a backup copy (option 4), you need a total of 6TB of hard-drives to ensure data redundancy and backup. However if you don’t need backup, but need just 2TB of highly-available storage (option 2), you will be charged for 4TB of hard-drives.
If you don’t know or aren’t sure which type storage you need, faculty and staff should contact CANR-IT and consult prior to considering a larger research storage plan.
8.4.5 Restoration procedures
The backup system is primarily for the restoration of files in a disaster recovery situation, personnel error or other. If you need a file or folder restored on your computer, please submit an IT help request.
Files stored on the local hard drive, desktop, laptop etc. that do not have a backup cannot be restored by CANR-IT once they are damaged or deleted.
If you don’t have a backup system on your computer, we strongly encouraged to submit an IT help request as soon as possible. A CANR IT staff member will then meet with you to review your options and set up the most appropriate backup system.
8.5 Computer Lab and Classroom
The computer lab 004 Townsend Hall (TNS) and computer classrooms 006, 007 (TNS) are frequently reserved for general use only when a class is not scheduled to meet in the room. The computer labs are closed during official university holidays and during general maintenance or system rebuilds. The schedule will be posted in advance on CANR-IT page.
8.5.1 Printing Fee Plan
The printing fee plan applies to all members of the campus community (students, staff, and faculty) who have a valid UD ID card and print in a computer site.
Important Note: Everyone who has a valid UD ID card has a FLEX account associated with his/her card whether or not he/she has ever initiated use of the FLEX account. The printing fee and policies can be found at the following link.
8.5.2 Computer Usage
Please use computers responsibly and in accordance with University of Delaware policy for Responsible computing: http://www.udel.edu/it/security/policies/respcomputing_staff.html#_Computing_Resources_Acceptable_Use_
8.5.3 Computer Classroom Reservation Request
Faculty, Staff and Students can reserve the computer lab for College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) related activities through the computer lab request form. This request is for one-time use only. Hours and Scheduling can be found at the following link http://sites.udel.edu/canrccit/Note: Hours subject to change if necessary.
8.5.4 Software Installation in Computer Lab and Classrooms
In order for software to be installed in the 006, 007 classrooms and the 004 computer lab, TNS faculty follow and are aware of the following procedures and processes:
All software required for computer classrooms TNS 006, 007 and computer lab TNS 004 must be requested via submitting an IT help request. Please note due to copyright laws CANR IT must have a copy of the licensing agreement and licensing Key for each software. There will be no exceptions to the licensing agreement requirement.
Faculty should contact CANR IT and consult prior to considering using or purchasing software to make sure of hardware compatibility.
CANR IT will install, and test the installation of the software on a computer designated as a testing computer. Faculty will be notified during the 3 day trial and asked to test the software to ensure that it will work properly for the class.
If the application testing is successful it will be installed in classrooms 006, 007 TNS and the 004 TNS computer lab.
CANR IT will not clear the list of requested software between fall, winter and spring semesters, unless the license expired. Any software requested will be available until May 30th. If Faculty needs new software to be installed for spring and winter semester, they need to request via submitting an IT help request.
If Faculty needs more than the default installation of an application, they have to request it as well (e.g. R software data file, GIS data file, Winest Cost data file, etc.).
Software will not be installed in classrooms “mid-semester,” due to the disruption it causes for the other courses.
Resources provided by Central-IT
The Central-IT provides a wide range of information technology resources and services to the University community to support teaching, research and service. The divisions are:
● Academic Technology Services (ATS)
● Client Support & Services
● Management Information services
● Network & System Services
● University Media Services (UMS)
● Web Development