Support Priorities

Incoming requests will be prioritized according to the following:

Top Priority - Emergencies

1. System failure on multi-user systems
   
2. System failure on desktop systems
   
3. Patching of high-risk security holes.
4. Printer problems.

Non-Emergency Work

1. Requests which can be taken care of in a minute or two.
2. Account administration.
3. Set up of new systems.
4. System updates deemed important by the analysts.
5. Work which benefits many researchers (e.g. "upgrade Maple on spruce").
6. Work which removes an obstacle to progress of one or more researchers (e.g. "I can't compile the program on which my thesis depends without libfoo.so, and I can't find libfoo").

The first item on the list above has a corollary: any non-emergency request, no matter how important to a researcher or group, may be deferred or even dropped if it takes too much time. The researchers involved will be consulted before such a decision is made.