The University of Sheffield
Corporate Information and Computing Services

Support to Local System Administrators

Description of Service

Technical support and advice for departmental computer system administrators, and security monitoring of locally administered systems.

Client Groups/Eligibility for Services

All departments and Local System Administrators (LSAs) of departmental computer systems not provided and maintained by CiCS.

Provider Responsibility

  1. To provide advice on the setting up of departmental computer systems.
  2. To provide advice on the maintenance of such systems.
  3. To warn the LSA in the event that a computer system is found to pose a risk to the University network and/or systems.
  4. To disconnect from the University network any machine which, in the opinion of CiCS staff, continues to pose a risk to the University network and/or systems.
  5. To provide time-limited support in the event of problems with the local system which cannot be resolved by the LSA. The length and nature of such support will be determined at the time of the incident.
  6. To administer the Campus Sun Support contract, and the Campus SGI contract.

User Responsibility

  1. Departments are required to inform CiCS of all locally administered systems.
  2. The department to provide one or more local system administrators who will undertake all aspects of the setup and maintenance of the local system(s).
  3. The department to inform CiCS Liaison service of the identity of the LSA, and to report any changes in representation.
  4. The department to ensure that the LSA has sufficient knowledge and training to administer the computer system, particularly with regard to security.
  5. The LSA to install any security updates required to maintain the integrity of the University's network and systems.
  6. The LSA to install any other updates which may be advisable for the security of the local system.
  7. The LSA to complete a firewall exemption form for any services which require breaches in the University firewall.
  8. The LSA to co-operate with CiCS in the event of a security breach.

Availability of Service

During core service hours. Advice and support will be given by arrangement with the LSA concerned.

Service Statistics/Outputs

None.

Service Measures

Initial investigation of user requests will be within one week.

Dependencies

External software suppliers for security updates.

Feedback and Monitoring

Through Liaison Service.

Benchmarking

See Section 7 of the Introduction.

Exclusions

There is currently no formal support for Linux and Macintosh servers.

Location of Service

Charges

Software costs may be passed on.

Failure Response

Initial response to receipt of notification of departmental computer system failure will be within 2 working days.