We offer Clausthal University of Technology employees support with the procurement and installation of various devices and their integration into the TU network: We have framework agreements with various providers for the procurement of PC/Mac hardware and are developing a central device management system to simplify the administration of devices by the IT officers of the institutes and facilities. In addition, we provide employees with a variety of software products; here too, the computer center has central campus/framework contracts. Finally, we offer leasing contracts for printers and multifunctional devices for the input and output of data.

Nowadays, a desktop PC or notebook is a natural part of a workplace. If required, we can professionally select and set up the necessary hardware to ensure the best possible functionality in the TU Clausthal network. This includes the basic setup of the operating system and some of the services we operate (e-mail, network drives, printers) for the users of the respective computers.

We offer some preconfigured standard systems from framework agreements for procurement. Please request the current catalog by e-mail

Microsoft Windows is the most widely used operating system on campus and is installed by us: The university has concluded a campus agreement via the computer center, which means that the operating system is available and usable in various versions still supported by the manufacturer.

As part of a hardware procurement, the correct licensing of the operating system is ensured, and we also support the migration of old hardware from Windows 7 to Windows 10 within a defined framework. Please send us an e-mail to request this - the delivery of any hardware without a ticket/appointment or promise of processing slows down the process unnecessarily and leads to additional work due to coordination effort from inquiries.

Not all requirements specifically from the scientific sector can be covered by these standard systems, but the models we offer already provide a number of selectable options to improve performance for scientific use. If you require additional components, please also contact our support team by e-mail: we will be happy to arrange an appointment for a telephone call or a personal consultation to discuss the available services.

Operation in the Windows domain offers you many advantages and is the standard: printers and network drives can be centrally managed and configured and automatically connected for an entire institute. Devices that are managed by the domain are centrally supplied with group policies that minimize telemetry data transmission to Microsoft. Operation in the domain also offers the advantage that a user only has to log on to the computer once and then has access to network drives and printers without having to enter any further user names or passwords.

Finally, operation in the domain offers participation in central device management in the data center's service portal, which gives IT officers in the institutes and facilities in particular an overview of the hardware located and operated in their building.

A computer that is in the domain does not necessarily have to have a "roaming profile": We have repeatedly received critical comments on this, and the manufacturer Microsoft also seems to be abandoning the concept of roaming profiles.

The data center now primarily offers operation in the domain with a local user profile. Settings and local file storage such as the desktop or "My Documents" remain on the computer used and do not need to be synchronized, but are not stored in a central backup and are not available to other users or for access from other computers. Data must then be stored centrally on a user's personal home drive (usually integrated as M:\), on an institute share or in the TUCloud in order to be accessible from other computers or users or to be centrally backed up.

All central storage locations offer background snapshots and backups of files at different intervals, so that recently lost or damaged files can usually be restored if errors occur. Folder redirection and roaming profiles have thus been relegated to the background; if you would like more information on this or would like advice for your institution on the most flexible way of handling data in your everyday life, please send us a corresponding request by e-mail to support@rz.tu-clausthal.de. We will be happy to enter into a constructive dialog with you to find the most stable solution for your environment.

In addition to the operating system, various applications and programs are part of the everyday use of a PC workstation. We support you by always installing a basic set of software and providing you with additional products via the "campus software" applications using a license server or campus-wide installation keys.

As standard, we install a standard/common version of Microsoft Office from the campus contract as well as equipping your computer with up-to-date anti-virus software, a PDF reader, the Firefox browser, the 7-zip unpacker and the VLC media player.

Clausthal University of Technology's computer center procures and manages various software products as part of the campus software concept. Due to different license agreements, there are differences regarding the availability and use of the various applications. For example, some applications can only be used on the computers on the TU Clausthal intranet or there is a limited number of licenses. Other programs can also be used by employees and students on private devices for private purposes.

Licenses can be issued either by sending a request to support@rz.tu-clausthal.de or by specifying and using the license server provided. The installation files for most products are available via the campus software release on the file server of the computer center. Since large amounts of data are sometimes moved during installation, it is recommended to copy the corresponding directories to a local data carrier first in order to avoid installation via WLAN or VPN.

You can still find explanations of the available products on the old web pages of the RZ, but in future you will also find them in the Wiki at doku.tu-clausthal.de. In individual cases, please send an e-mail to the RZ support to find out how you can use the software.

Common products such as Adobe Acrobat Pro or MS Visio can be procured at a discount from state or federal framework agreements. Please submit an informal request to the support team and specify the product and your intended use scenario (e.g. single workstation in a business room/professor/employee or use in a course in a PC pool).

Other software in the form of single-user versions is generally procured independently by the institutions and institutes of Clausthal University of Technology. In the context of software coordination, however, an inquiry to the Computer Center is always helpful in order to be able to assess the need for a product or - if available - to be able to reuse licenses from returns.

Clausthal University of Technology has concluded a framework agreement for the leasing of printers via the computer center. Every TU Clausthal institution/institute can lease devices of various sizes and prices through the Computing Center. The Computing Center then invoices the services internally, but acts solely as the contractor vis-à-vis the supplier.

Internal billing is carried out individually for each printer: by centrally recording the device model and the print volume (updated daily), the invoices can be created automatically via batch processing and sent by e-mail. The financial accounting department then receives a debit note from the data center - for this purpose, a cost center must be specified when ordering a printer via the data center.
It is part of the contract that meter readings are sent to the supplier at least once a month. No exceptions can be made here and it is essential that the devices are connected to the network. This is also necessary for the automatic ordering of toner etc., and the printer can automatically call a service technician in the event of a serious error. For all "minor" errors, please contact the data center first - if necessary, we will then refer you to the supplier's support team.

An overview of the available models is provided in a printer brochure, which you can obtain by sending an informal e-mail to our support team and download from the campus network in the box on the right.

We offer institutes and their employees the opportunity to dispose of hardware that is no longer required for business purposes. The hard disk/SSD is removed from the computer and destroyed in accordance with data protection regulations. The rest of the device is taken to an electrical recycling center and disposed of professionally.

If you are interested in buying used hardware, our employees will also be happy to advise you by preparing a residual value appraisal - on the basis of this appraisal, it will then be possible to take over a device that is no longer needed for business purposes but is still functional (purchase), excluding any warranty, after any existing support contracts with manufacturers have expired and taking into account any residual book value (Department 1).

Please inform us before you hand in hardware for scrapping and attach a note with your name and the destination of the scrapping to the device!