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Information for Nebula Clients

For Managers and Technicians

IT Connect > Software and Hardware > Nebula > For Managers and Technicians

Communication Tools

You can subscribe to one or more email lists which will keep you informed about what is happening:

Ordering Computers

In order to help you better manage your IT costs, we have worked out a process for you to order your own computers from CDW-G using eProcurement and the Nebula configuration options. Details are found on the Ordering Computers in Nebula page.

Account Creation for New Nebula Users

A UW NetID is a unique personal identification name for using UW online resources. Once a UW NetID is established, computing support staff can enable other services (such as Nebula) based upon it.

For more detailed information about UW NetID, see Accounts and Passwords . Once a new person has a UW NetID, go to the Service Request form to submit a request for a new Nebula account.

If you have questions about any of these procedures, please send email to
nebula@u.washington.edu

Nebula Training Room

The Nebula Training Room is available for use by any Nebula client.

Looking at Your Billing Details and Hardware Information

View billing details.
Technology Equipment and Services Bill: Admin Bill Viewer

Enter the appropriate budget and click Go to view:

  • Recurring tab: monthly computer charges; Exchange accounts
  • Non-recurring tab: consulting service charges

For an Excel spreadsheet of your monthly Nebula charges, please email nebula@uw.edu and specify your budget(s) and which report(s) you are interested in: computer charges or support charges.

View your tickets.

The TSE for consulting hours includes the ticket number. Look up any ticket on which you are a Requestor or a CC: by logging in with your UW NetID credentials here:

https://rt.cac.washington.edu/SelfService

If you need access to the ticket, email us the ticket numbers.

View and change computer information

Log into the myNebula pages at https://support.nebula.washington.edu/myNebula/Default.aspx using nebula2\yournetid and your Nebula password to view and, in some cases, edit:

  • Computer Name
  • OS Type
  • Budget (editable)
  • PCA Codes for Task, Option, Project (editable)
  • Primary user (editable)
  • Managed by (editable)
  • Last User
  • Last Login (by Last User)
  • Warranty End
View Staff Reports
Send an email requesting a list of your active accounts; include your Nebula department or your budget number. For account removals or changes, use the Nebula Account Request Form

Tips on Working with Vendors

Deciding to buy a specialized system (hardware or software) is a daunting process. Answers to questions lead to even more questions. Here are a few to get your thoughts going in the right direction. Remember: Sales people often "exaggerate" system capabilities.

First steps

Know what you need, and what you want

Deciding what you need, what you want, and what you don't want before talking with a vendor is essential. It's easy to get caught up in a discussion of a product's wonderful features, and lose track of its inability to let you customize its reports, or whether it's compatible with your existing hardware or software.

Only then, review products and interview vendors

Once you know what you want, Nebula Support can help you interview potential vendors to discover your best fit. We are happy to handle the more complicated "back end" questions of data storage and security, software updates, and authentication.

Questions for YOU

1. What do you want to accomplish?
Be specific in your end goals.
Include all results (reports, products, etc.).
What features are mandatory; which are desirable?
Do you need everything right away? Can some aspects of the system wait until an upgrade?
2. What are you currently doing?
What needs to be accomplished?
How are you doing it now?
What do you want to change? Improve?
3. What are your current resources?
Hardware, current software.
Personnel, available knowledgeable experts.

Questions for Vendors

Please see the linked page for questions targeted towards vendors. You can email them the link, if you wish.

If you have questions or suggestions, please forward them to nebula@uw.edu.

Grant Proposal Software in Nebula

As of March 2006, Nebula is providing automated installation of software that is required by Grants.gov, an electronic storefront for interaction between research grant applicants and many federal agencies.

Software available

PureEdge Viewer is used to access, complete, and submit applications electronically and securely via Grants.gov.

CutePDF and GhostScript allow applicants to convert proposal documents to Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). This format is requred by many agencies, including the National Institutes of Health.

All of these products are free, and may be assigned via the normal Nebula software package assignment process.

More information

For more detailed information about the federal research grants submission process at UW, please see the Office of Sponsored Programs web site.

Software Licensing in Nebula

Nebula offers a mix of software as part of its standard build. It also permits additional packages to be installed after proper testing and preparation for delivery using Nebula's software referencing system.

The software mix available in Nebula has a variety of licensing terms. This page is intended to spell out those arrangements for Nebula users, and detail license tracking and purchasing responsibilities.

Operating system

Referenced Nebula computers are purchased with a Microsoft operating system (currently Windows 7). When computers are replaced, users have the option of deleting all operating system software from the previous computer for use on the new computer, or purchasing new operating system software for the new computer. The Nebula program tracks total licenses purchased for use in the program.

Standard application suite

Nebula computers come with licensed copies of the following software:

Nebula computers come with copies of the following software, which has licensing terms permitting distribution to Nebula clients:

Other applications

Users of all other applications in Nebula are responsible for obtaining legal licenses to use those applications. Users also are responsible for maintaining records of their licenses.

In the event that an application distributed as an optional package in Nebula requires upgrading, all users of that package in Nebula must upgrade the software. Nebula will not support packaging of multiple versions of the same software title.

Users considering optional software should contact the University Bookstore or the software vendor for academic pricing if possible. Many software vendors sell licenses for academic users at reduced prices.

Rates for Nebula Managed Desktop Service

New rates for the Nebula Managed Desktop Service went into effect on July 1, 2011. The rate for the consulting service remained at $113.80 per hour, while the monthly charge per computer rose slightly to $42.24 per month. These rates will appear on the bill you receive in August.

These rates are the product of a comprehensive evaluation of the Managed Desktop Service conducted earlier this year by a broadly representative team of key UW stakeholders. More information is available via the links below. If you have any questions, please email us. Thank you for your continued support of the Managed Desktop Service.

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