Journal: Foreign Equipment and the Vistua Network System, policy

Users wishing to use Foreign equipment (defined as equipment not provided or administered by official Vistua Network Administration) with The Vistua Network are advised to carefully read this document, it contains some new policies and reiterates and interprets existing policies as they relate to this topic. This document is normative, not informative and overrides the November 2008 memo "User Peripherals and Software". No other document is overridden by this document except where indicated.

The use of Foreign equipment with The Vistua Network System is permitted provided that

1. The equipment does not interfere with the proper operation of The Network, or harm it in any way, or cause inconvenience to other users
2. The equipment is not used to circumvent requirements of the Acceptable Use Policy or any other policy or Administrative directive.
3. The equipment is well maintained and competently administered by YOU.
4. The equipment does not provide remote access in any way. This means that you may NOT allow remote logins to this equipment by anyone for any reason. (the AUP (section 3.1.2) has been updated with this requirement)

This is permitted subject to the understanding that official Vistua Network Administration provides help and support on a discretionary basis and that no guarantee of compatibility is made, you are ultimately responsible for your equipment and for ensuring that it meets the above terms and that it has physical and technical compatibility. Furthermore Administration has no responsibility to administer your equipment for you (but every responsibility to protect The Network from your equipment should this, regrettably, be necessary.)

You are strongly advised to consult Administration if you are unsure of the suitability of your equipment. While Foreign devices are ipso facto outside of our remit however, we will attempt to help you. You are in particular advised against buying new equipment for use with The Network until you have consulted us.

All VNS technologies are open, standards-compliant and entirely UNIX oriented and are sometimes incompatible with Microsoft Windows. Furthermore, Microsoft Windows systems are now strictly prohibited from interacting with other nodes on the Vistua LAN without express administrative permission, in the absence of such permission they will not be able to access printers, shared files and most other vistua.net related services (please see administration for the full definition of "vistua.net related service"). No Windows system is permitted to connect to the Vistua LAN at all unless it is fully updated and has reputable third-party (non-Microsoft) antivirus and anti-malware software installed.

All parts of the General Disclaimer and Terms (GDT) and Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) remain in full force.

This applies to all types of Foreign equipment, including peripherals and complete systems.

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News & Notes is the a journal of The Vistua Network Administration and the factuality of this content is guaranteed. From time-to-time, this content may contain normative statements or set policy.