IRIX hardware support options

After the SGI warranty period has elapsed, you have two options for hardware service if you do not choose to get an on-site service contract from SGI (such a contract is recommended for high-end systems):

SGI SelfCare contract
No contract

SGI Selfcare

This option is recommended for desktop systems where downtime must be limited to 1-2 days with fixed maintenance costs are desired. The contract provides replacement parts through overnight service. The estimated price range for such a contract from the July, 2002 quote is around $144-$658/year. Contact us for more recent quotes. Unfortunately, SGI SelfCare is not available for high-end systems, including Reality Stations, Crimson, and Onyx. On-site service contracts are available for these systems at the cost of $10,000 and up.

With SelfCare, Facilities arranges the contract with SGI and adds the system to our July-July master contract. The owner pays in advance for one year service. If for some reason you cancel, a prorated refund will be issued. If you have a time period in which your SGI is not under SGI support, SGI reserves the right to inspect your system before allowing you to add it to support.

Service requests can be made by contacting help@cs.cmu.edu. The Facilities hardware staff will identify the problem and call SGI for the replacement part. SGI will ship the replacement part. Facilities will replace the part, then return the bad part to SGI.

No contract

This is basically a best-effort service provided by Facilities in which replacement parts are from whatever is in stock. These parts come from retired SGIs, and are not new parts. If you need parts which we do not have, or request new parts, the owner must provide a charge number for all part exchanges or purchases. . Replacement parts for SGI systems tend to be relatively expensive. For desktop systems, one repair per year typically exceeds the cost of a 1 year SGI maintenance contract. Costs are unpredictable for high-end SGI systems. Downtime periods can last 1-2 weeks for problem isolation and replacement The owner also has the option to solicit SGI Field Service for "per-call" repair. The cost of this service is unknown. Replacement parts through SGI are usually more expensive than 3rd party suppliers.