Minimum Recommended System Configurations -November 2009

Summary: This document is directed at providing guidance for systems suitability for faculty and staff university
work. It aids departmental and workgroup computing support staff when recommending the purchase of faculty and staff laptop, desktop, and server computers.

Objectives:

take full advantage of the Campus computing and network environment
improve interoperability among computing platforms
work with campus resources from off campus when possible
encourage hardware acquisitions which remain usable for at least three year life cycles.

Note: Mimimum for our purposes does not mean marginal. The specicifations listed below are for computers that will be quite adequate for most users for at least four years.

These are general purpose configurations. Research activities often require specialized configurations.
We make recommendations which represent the minimum configuration which meets the above objectives, but recognize that in some departments other solutions better meet local needs.
We recommend Windows XP Professional or Windows 7 [11] for university use. "Home" versions are not recommended for use on University equipment. Windows NT and Windows 98 are no longer supported.
Windows 7/Vista is supported in some, but not all, environments. Much software used for academic purposes needs upgrading to function under newer versions of Windows. Research before purchase is a must! Check with your local computing support office for recommendations. Some older hardware and software may have to be replaced in order to work with current versions of Windows. Windows Home editions are not recommended for University systems. Run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor.

Laptop/Notebook computer considerations:

Transfer of information:
transferring information between your Laptop/Notebook and your UCI networked environment can be as easy as buying a USB flash drive (aka thumb drive, pen drive), or it may require the set-up of the laptop as networked. Preparing your laptop for wireless networking is strongly recommended.
Expandability:
Laptop/Notebooks should be expandable - both memory (RAM) and device attachment (slots/ports). Operating systems, applications and external devices tend to demand ever-increasing system resources, so expandability is important to ensure that they remain usable during a three-year life cycle.
Desktop docking and display:
Sometimes it might be best to purchase a mobile workstation with desktop docking ability. In this case, an inexpensive display might be suitable for the mobile workstation while a large, full-color screen and dock stay in the office. Alternatively, a mini-dock which provides only a subset of additional interface ports may be enough. NACS and AdCom Services have some experience with these options and are available to offer advice.

We try to keep this document up to date, but prices and capabilities change rapidly.
A desktop PC workstation around $1000 (incl. monitor) will usually meet the goal of remaining fully usable over a four-year life cycle.

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Hardware Recommendations

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System Class [1]	Intel Desktop	Intel Notebook	Mac Desktop [10]	Mac Notebook	Servers
CPU	Core 2 Duo [3a] or AMD64 X2 [3]	Core 2 Duo [3a]	2.0GHz Core 2 Duo	2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo [3a], [9]	Server requirements vary greatly, depending on: application # of users expected lifetime of server uptime requirements future applications Because servers are often expected to serve a large number of clients for several years, expandability is often a key requirement. Check with your software vendor about recommended system configurations, and consult with other users with similar needs before purchasing servers. Also consider storage space (rackmount), power supply/UPS, RAID configuration.
Memory [4] [4a, b]	2+ GB	2+ GB	2+ GB	2+ GB
Disk [5]	80 GB or more	80 GB or more	80 GB or more	80 GB or more
Optical	DVD±RW
Monitor [6]	19" LCD or larger	[9]	19" LCD or larger	[9]
Network [7] [8]	10/100/1000 BaseT	10/100/1000 BaseT and wireless ethernet (802.11b/g/n)	10/100/1000 BaseT	10/100/1000 BaseT and wireless ethernet (802.11b/g/n)
Backup	Purchase an external hard drive, or use institutionally available backup over the network
Graphics processor	To support the Windows 7 Aero interface, the graphics processor should support WDDM and DirectX 9.0. 128 Mb graphics memory.
Ports	All desktops and laptops should haveat least two USB 2.0 ports easily accessible. IEEE 1394, sometimes known as FireWire or i.Link, is another type of port that may be useful.

[1] Several system manufacturers offer all-in-one configurations. These configurations may be desirable for situations in which desk/office space is at a premium, or for energy savings.

[2] New Intel processor designs also include a Processor Number, which indicates processor features other than clock speed. Not all Core 2s are created equal! See http://www.intel.com/products/processor%5Fnumber/

[3] AMD64 processor lines include Opterons– servers and workstations, Athlon 64 X2– desktops and notebooks, and Turion 64 X2 mobile technology – notebooks. "X2" are dual-core processors.

[3a] "Core" refers to the newer lines of Intel CPU chips. Most new sytems contain "Core 2 Duo" CPUs. As of this writing, Core i7 quad-core processors have appeared in high-end desktops. Intel CPUs have varying capabilities regarding multimedia and/or power consumption. Read more about Intel's CPU line.

[4] Pay particular attention to that maximum configurable amount of RAM and the slot configuration. Aviod configurations where increasing RAM requires discarding existing modules. If budget is a concern, consider purchasing systems less RAM and buying additional memory from a 3rd-party manufacturer.

[4a] Some models use system RAM as shared video RAM to reduce cost or weight. If you have a shared VRAM configuration, 3 GB is recommended.

[4b] Windows 7 and Vista have 2 Gb of RAM as the recommended minimum for 32-bit versions. 64-bit versions should have at least 4Gb. As 64-bit operating systems will become increasingly popular over the coming years, ensure that your new pc can support 4Gb of RAM for maximum upgradeability.

[5] Hard disk upgrades are often reasonably priced. Some users may require more disk space. It is not unusual to need 250 Gb or more, especially if you store many graphics files. USB flash drives are usually used to for transfer of files in lieu of floppies..

[6] For laptops, suitable screen sizes often depend on how the computer will be used. Monitors should be capable of 1024x768 (XGA) resolution or better.

[7] Laptops should have, a wireless network card, a network card and a modem. Network cards should be 10BaseT / 100BaseT / 1000BaseT auto-configuring Ethernet. Many current wireless cards support the emerging 802.11n standard as well.

[8] Modems are used less frequently than before, and generally included with laptops.

[9] Laptops serve a variety of needs. For example an "ultra mobile" lightweight laptop may have a 12" screen, a 60Gb, hard drive and a 1.2 Ghz processor. A "desktop replacement" is likely to have a 15 or 17" screen, an 120Gb drive, and as much RAM as a desktop system. Consider the user's needs.

[10] a Mac Mini may be acceptable for light-duty administrative work.

[11] Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 7 Business, and Windows 7 Ultimate are the recommended editions of Windows 7 for University computers. Windows 7 Enterprise is available only to departments enrolled in the UC-MCCA leasing program or purchasers of Software Assurance.

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Software Recommendations

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Operating System:

Windows: Microsoft Windows 7, or Windows XP Professional (Home Editions may be acceptable if you'll be keeping your computer at home. ) Windows Vista is acceptible if you already have it, but Windows 7 is preferred over Vista.

Mac: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) for Intel-based Macs, 10.5 for others

Linux: RedHat Enterprise Linux 5, or other currently supported variants, such as CentOS-5.

For all operating systems, you should regularly apply the most recent security patches.

Productivity Software:

Win/Mac: Microsoft's Office suite (Office 2007, Office 2003, Office 2008, Office 2004, Office v.X) is widely used.
Note: Office 2007 documents saved in "compatibility mode" are compatible with prior versions of Office.
Note: Word Perfect (6.0 or later) is an acceptable alternative within some departments, but MS-Word is the preferred document format for sharing documents between departments. Some units have reported positive experiences with the OpenOffice.org suite.

Email:

All: Webmail

Windows: Thunderbird, Microsoft Outlook 2003 Outlook 2007, Outlook Express
Macintosh: Mail (included with O/S), Microsoft Entourage

Many departments utilize centralized Email; please check with your Computer Support Coordinator

Internet Tools:

Win/Mac:
: Browsers: Mozilla Firefox 3.53 or later, Safari 4.x, Internet Explorer 7.x (with latest patches) or later.
Supported Web Browsers
Note: Due to security concerns, the use of Internet Explorer for general browsing is discouraged.(July, 2004)
: Telnet: puTTY, SecureCRT SSH Tectia, dataComet; File Transfers: WinSCP, dataComet (Mac), sftp (bundled with Linux). The use of standard, unencrypted FTP is discouraged for security reasons.; Zip Utility: many are acceptable, Windows XP and Vista have basic zip/unzip functionality built-in.

Dial-up Connectivity: Deprecated - as of 2007, most users have broadband service.

Campus dialup: Lifeline Modem Service

File Exchange Format:

Text: ASCII, MS-Word (.doc) , RTF

Graphics: TIFF, GIF, JPEG, PNG image formats

Video: MPEG, QuickTime

Mail: MIME

Archives: BinHex, Stuffit (Mac); ZIP, Auto-extract (PC)

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About this document
This document was prepared by the Office of Information Technology in coordination with UCI Computing Support Coordinators(CSCs)