This document covers the policy regarding the connection of computers
to the University of Florida Department of Astronomy computing
network. It covers computers managed by the Astronomy System Staff,
self-managed computers, special policies in regards to the
Instrumentation Lab, software policy, enforcement, and incident
response.
The Department of Astronomy provides network access for instructional
and research use by the faculty, staff, and students working within
the unit. All users taking advantage of these resources must comply
with the University of
Florida Acceptable Use Policy.
Although the department provides computer workstations for use, users
are allowed to bring in their own computer equipment, such as personal
owned laptops. This policy applies to all computing & networking
devices connected to the Astronomy network, regardless of ownership.
By using any device connected to the department network, the user
agrees to the terms of this policy.
Access to this resource is a privilege, and may be terminated
if used in violation of these policies.
Liability
Neither the University of Florida, nor the Department of Astronomy
system staff will be held liable for any damages or loss of
productivity resulting from network access, revocation of network
access, and/or confiscation of equipment as part of an investigation
or inquiry. The user of the device may be liable for any damages
and/or reported to authorities including the University Security Team,
the University Police and/or Student Honor Court, resulting from
illegal use of the department network.
Software Licensing
All users of university owned computing equipment must comply with the
terms of software licenses in accordance with state law and university
policy.
The University of Florida has negotiated site licenses for various
products including Microsoft Office, McAfee Virus Protection, and
others. Additionally, the University of Florida has purchased bulk
licenses for products such as Adobe Acrobat, thus making them
available at a reduced rate. Most of the software products are
available from the University of
Florida Soda Shop. If you need to order software from the Soda
Shop, the system staff will place your order; send an email request to
admin at astro.ufl.edu.
Just because a user may have the software media on CD-ROM, they
should not assume that they have a license, or right, to use the
software. If in doubt, please contact the Astronomy System Staff at
admin at astro.ufl.edu.
A Note About Microsoft
The University of Florida has entered into a site license with
Microsoft. The site license covers the Microsoft Office product and
upgrades to Microsoft Windows. It does not cover any other Microsoft
product.
The campus agreement also covers use on home computers for all staff
members. This includes faculty and graduate assistants that receive a
paycheck from the University of Florida. While you are on the
University Payroll, you may use products that are covered by the
agreement on your home computer. Faculty that are on nine
month appointments may use the software throughout the course of the
year.
Products not covered include: Visio,
Frontpage, Project, and Virtual PC. Users
of these products need to purchase adequate licenses to cover their
use.
The campus agreement has been signed for a three-year period, expiring
on October 17, 2007. For more information on the campus agreement,
please visit the Campus Site License
Agreement Web-site.
Computers Managed by Astronomy System Staff
System staff manage computers running Solaris, Linux, Windows, and
Macintosh operating systems. Departmental system staff will maintain
operating system patches and anti-virus definitions for devices they
manage. Application of patches and software updates may be performed
as part of a regularly scheduled process, such as Windows Update.
In the event that a computer managed by the system staff has suffered
system software corruption, been infected with a virus, or otherwise
become disabled or unusable, the system staff will provide a best
effort at protecting the data integrity of the machine while
maintaining network connectivity. However, under some circumstances
it may be necessary to remove the device from the network and re-image
the unit; in the event that the device must be re-imaged, a backup of
the data will be made prior to the re-imaging, and restored once the
device has had the operating system restored and all patches
applied.
Computers Managed by Others
Computers managed by others, or self-managed devices, include
personally owned machines including laptops, and machines that are
owned by the department but managed by the primary user instead of the
departmental system staff. The department system staff typically do
not have administrative access on these devices. Operators of these
self-managed devices must comply with the University of
Florida Security Policy. All self-managed devices must be
registered with the system staff before they can connect to the
Astronomy network. To register a device, send an email to admin
at astro.ufl.edu.
In agreement to the University of Florida Security Policy, the
operator who manages a self-managed device will maintain security
patches and updates on the device, or risk losing network access.
Because system staff lack administrative access to these self-managed
devices, there is limited help that they can provide in resolving
technical problems with these devices. Although the system staff will
make their best attempt at helping to troubleshoot a self-managed
device that is "acting up," the system staff may not be able to
resolve the problem.
System staff are not responsible for installing and maintaining
software on self-managed devices, although the system staff may choose
to help users with software installation and configuration if they
have free time. For example, system staff have been known to assist
users with configuring their personal laptops, however the system
staff are not responsible for performing these duties.
Any self-managed device that causes a disruption of the department
network will be removed from the network until the cause of the
disruption has been corrected; the system staff will make attempts to
notify the primary user after the machine has been disconnected from
the network.
Any notification that the system staff receive from the University
Security Team about a self-managed device that has disrupted the
campus network, or is engaged in illegal activity, may result in the
device being permanently banned from the department network.
Because computers managed by the system staff need to be
connected to the network in order to get security updates, users
should never unplug a departmental computer in order to connect their
own device to the network. Any user caught unplugging departmental
computers may have their network access suspended.
Exceptions: Some machines are co-managed by the system staff
and the primary user. Under these unique circumstances, the policy
regarding Computers Managed by Astronomy System Staff
applies.
Instrumentation Lab
Although the instrumentation lab is connected to the Astronomy
network, they have special needs which this policy will attempt to
address.
Most of the machines within the instrumentation lab are self-managed
machines, and as such the policy regarding Computers
Managed by Others applies with the following exceptions:
Private Non-Routed Network - The instrumentation lab has a
private, non-routed, network with an IP address range of
192.168.111.0/24. Any machine that is restricted to this IP address
range and can not access the internet at large is exempt from the
policy requiring the machine be registered with the system staff.
Firewall - Due to the requirements of the instrumentation
lab, a firewall has been established which blocks all incoming traffic
to machines physically residing within the lab. The department system
staff manage and maintain the firewall, and will update the firewall
rules to allow external collaborators access to instrumentation lab
equipment. Currently, access is granted through the firewall via the
Astronomy VPN managed by Network Services, and from
all other hosts residing on the Astronomy network.
Software Patches - Due to the intricacies and interaction of
certain software packages, such as embedded compilers which require
Windows NT 4.0, when certain operating system patches may adversely
affect the operation of a device, those instrumentation lab computers
are exempt from the requirement regarding software patches.
However, all devices which can be patched, should be
patched.
If a device residing within the instrumentation lab is managed by the
department system staff, it will be treated like all other computers managed by astronomy system staff. If the
machine is re-imaged by instrumentation lab staff, then the device
will no longer be treated like a department managed device, and this
policy will apply.
Devices residing within the instrumentation lab that are
disruptive to the departmental network will be isolated from the rest
of the department through rule changes on the firewall, thus allowing
those devices to continue communicating with other devices residing
inside of the instrumentation lab. Devices residing within the
instrumentation lab that are disruptive to the outside network, both
the University of Florida network and the internet at large, will be
removed from the network, and notification will be sent to the device
manager.
Enforcement & Incident Response
The Department of Astronomy provides access to network resources for
various different research groups. To prevent misuse from disrupting
operations and affecting other users, system staff or another
designated agent, may disconnect and/or confiscate any device suspected
of violating this policy, state and federal law, and/or the University
of Florida Acceptable Use Policy.
Modification of Terms
The University of Florida and/or the Department of Astronomy may
change the terms of this agreement at its discretion. Major changes
to this policy will be announced and posted on the Astronomy IT Web-Site. It is the
computer users responsibility to stay informed of any changes to this
agreement.