SOMIS News & Updates:

Zimbra users may use the webmail site (Zimbra - log in with your PennKey) with full functionality. We expect to have restored all clients including mobile phones by tomorrow morning.
Many machines at the School of Medicine have been compromised by a new type of virus that presents itself as an actual anti-virus product while a user is browsing the internet. If you experience anything remotely similar to this virus description, or are concerned about any suspicious activity on your computer, please contact your LSP immediately. For more information, please visit the following link.
Zimbra users are reporting an increase in spear-phishing attempts. Penn computer administrators will NEVER ask you for your password at any time via any medium. For more information about phishing, please see the following link.

Home > Supported Products > Hardware

Hardware

New Computer Purchases

University recommendations for new computer purchases can be found here. This information can be used as a guideline for new purchases. Your LSP is also an invaluable resource for choosing the hardware and operating system that is best for you and should be included in this process.

The Computer Connection, the computer store owned and operated by the University, offers academic pricing on many hardware and software products.

Supported Products

School of Medicine Information Services provides support for Enterprise-grade Apple, Dell and Lenovo products through our network of distributed Local Support Providers (LSPs).

SOMIS strongly recommends replacing computers on a 4-year cycle.

The table below outlines the minimum configuration from three years ago. These machines will be supported by SOMIS until July 2011. SOMIS will not officially endorse supporting any system that does not meet these current minimum standards.

Current minimum configurations supported until July 2011 ONLY:

	Windows OS	Mac OS
Processor	2.13 GHz Core 2 Duo E6400	2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo T7300
Memory (RAM)	2 GB	2 GB
Hard Disk	160 GB	160 GB
Monitor & VRAM	17-inch LCD, 128 MB discrete video card
Support Period	Until July, 2011	Until July, 2011
Operating System	Windows XP SP2	MAC OS 10.4.x

Accessories

SOMIS recommends the following webcams:

Windows OS: Logitech QuickCam Webcam Pro 9000, Microsoft Life cam vx-1000
Mac OS: Logitech QuickCam Vision Pro 119, iSight built-in camera

SOMIS specifically does not support the following:

Windows Vista
Windows 2000 or earlier
Any consumer or Home versions of Windows OS
Macintosh OS 9 or Classic
Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Laptop
MP3 Players
Chat Clients (ICQ, AIM, etc.)
Ethernet Hubs, splitters, or routers
Consumer-based wireless
All Biomedical equipment such as microscopes, plate readers, sequencers, etc. However, we will act as a liason between supported labs and vendors for computers that run biomedical equipment and are under a support contract with the vendor.