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Information Services

Please note that the JANET and EaStMAN networks, through which QMU connects to the UK academic network and the outside world, have a regularly scheduled at risk period of 7am to 9am every Tuesday. Scheduled work on the EaStMAN network is routinely listed at the University of Edinburgh's Information Services Department service alerts page.

In addition QMU has an at risk period every Friday between 7am and 9am. During this time servers may be updated, rebooted or otherwise affected by routine maintenance. Work scheduled outside this at risk period, or which has a particularly high impact, will be listed below.

Current Service Alerts

Nature of Work Affecting Start of
Event
Estimated
Finish
Further Information
Replacement of Spare Firewall Access to the Internet for all users and incoming internet traffic. Friday 10/02/2012
07:00pm
Friday 10/02/2012
09:00am
The university firewall is a redundant pair, one standby and one active. The replacement unit will be put in to the cluster and then will become the master.

Previous Service Alerts

Upgrade to Firewall Software Access to the Internet for all users and incoming internet traffic. Friday 20/01/2012
07:00pm
Friday 20/01/2012
09:00am
The university firewall is a redundant pair, one standby and one active. To reduce downtime the standby will be up graded first and then when ready will be made active. This will reduce downtime to a minimum and traffic should be not be intterupted. However the connection to the internet should be considered at risk for the whole of the period.
Upgrade to SPSS Licence Manager Internal Access to SPSS Friday 13/01/2012
07:00pm
Friday 13/01/2012
09:00am
Software upgrade to the SPSS Licence Manager. Whilst no issues are expected after 09:00, users should be prepared for possible disruption to SPSS.
Upgrade to Terminal Management Software ThinClient Devices Friday 13/01/2012
07:00pm
Friday 13/01/2012
09:00am
Software upgrade to the Terminal Management Software. Disruption will be kept to a minimum during this time.
Change to firewall rules Firewall vpn tunnels for subtv Friday 13/01/2012
07:00pm
Friday 13/01/2012
09:00am
Changes to the VPN tunnel rules are talking place after an external provider configuration change. Internet access should not be affected but should be considered at risk during the change.
Scheduled maintenance of Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) All systems Friday 06/01/2012
07:00pm
Friday 06/01/2012
09:00am
Routine maintenance will take place on the UPS to ensure optimum performance. Whilst no issues are expected users should be prepared for some disruption to services.
Urgent maintenance of Email Server Student email Thursday 08/12/2011
10:00pm
Friday 09/12/2011
9:00am
Essential maintenance will take place tonight from 10:00pm to resolve on-going issues. Postgraduate students will be unable to access email during this time and all other students should be prepared for some disruption. Incoming email will be queued until the work is complete.
Reboot of Rep01 - Business Objects server Access to Business Objects Friday 11/11/2011
07:00am
Friday 11/11/2011
9:00am
After a forced reboot at the End of October some file system corruption has occurred. To fix this the disk must be checked whilst off line. This will happen after a reboot of the server. This may take some time during which the server will be unavailable.
Changes to Switches Network Access via pcs, terminals & phones Friday 11/11/2011
7:00am
Friday 11/11/2011
9:00am
Changes are to be made to Spanning tree on some of the access switches in the academic Building. This will force the more powerful switches to become the Root bridges. This shouldnt affect normal operations but is being done during the at risk period as a precaution.
Changes to network card on webct-serv Access to Webct only - learn.qmu.ac.uk Friday 4/11/2011
07:00am
Friday 4/11/2011
9:00am
After the reboot of the webct server on Tuesday the network interface card has set it self to a slower speed. The changes tomorrow will force the card to run at a higher speed.
Changes to Switches Network Access via pcs, terminals & phones Friday 4/11/2011
7:00am
Friday 4/11/2011
9:00am
Changes are to be made to Spanning tree on some of the access switches in the academic Building. This will force the more powerful switches to become the Root bridges. This shouldnt affect normal operations but is being done during the at risk period as a precaution.
Changes to Wireless Network On 1st Floor Academic Building Wireless Network & Potentially the halls networks. Friday 28/10/2011
07:00am
Friday 28/10/2011
9:00am
The wireless network is being divded into to four seperate networks. At the same time the IP address space is being quadrupled. this will take place over the next couple of weeks.
Changes to Wireless Network On 3rd Floor Academic Building Wireless Network & Potentially the halls networks. Friday 21/10/2011
07:00am
Friday 21/10/2011
9:00am
The wireless network is being divded into to four seperate networks. At the same time the IP address space is being quadrupled. this will take place over the next couple of weeks.
Changes to Bluesocket Controller & Network Wireless Network & the halls networks. Friday 21/10/2011
07:00am
Friday 21/10/2011
9:00am
As part of the introduction of IPTV changes have to be made to the controller to make multicast work. This will probably involve a reboot of the controller to take affect and as such the service should be considered at risk durin this period.
Reset of University's Internet Link Internet Connection. Friday 7/10/2011
07:00am
Friday 7/10/2011
9:00am
It has been discovered that the link to the Eastman Router is running at a slower speed than it should. To gain the higher speed setting the link will be disconnected then reconnected. This should take no more than 5 mins to complete. However internet access should be considered at risk for the duration of the at risk period.
Application of patch to Bluesocket Connection Halls & Wireless Network Friday 7/10/2011
07:00am
Friday 7/10/2011
9:00am
At times of peak load the Controller suffers from high CPU usage. Our support provider has supplied a patch that should address this issue. As the bluesocket controllers will reboot after the application of the patch users will have to log in again.
Reset of University's Internet Link Internet Connection. Friday 29/9/2011
07:00am
Friday 29/9/2011
9:00am
It has been discovered that the link to the Eastman Router is running at a slower speed than it should. To gain the higher speed setting the link will be disconnected then reconnected. This should take no more than 5 mins to complete. However internet access should be considered at risk for the duration of the at risk period.
Addition of failover Controller for Wireless and Halls Network. All users of the Halls and Wireless networks. Friday 30/9/2011
07:00am
Friday 30/9/2011
9:00am
The failover controller developed a fault in its power supply which has been fixed. The failover will be switched on and should go into passive mode once it has come up. Their should be no impact on the network but users should take normal steps to protect their data.
Upgrade of Software on Core network Switches. Both core switches - All network based services. Friday 19/8/2011
07:00am
Friday 19/8/2011
9:00am
The software on the core switches has not been upgraded since the move in 2007. Due to the nature of the upgrade their will be a period of time when their will be no access to the University's computer network. This will affect phones , servers, thinclient Email and internet access. It is estimated that the outage will last for 20mins, although the network should be considered at risk for the whole of the period.
Replacement of fibre card in core switch Switch core 2 - access to citrix and other servers. Friday 15/7/2011
07:00am
Sunday 15/7/2011
9:00am
Faulty fibre card is being replaced in core2. This is another replacement card the original replacement was also faulty. Work will carried on the configuration of core 2 to rectify an issue with some of the links to server switches. This may affect connectivity to citrix and other infrastructure servers.
Removal of spanning tree from switch to core uplinks Access to Servers Friday 8/7/2011
07:00am
Friday 8/7/2011
9:00am
Removal of spanning tree from Trunk uplink ports is a recommendation from the network vendor and has been implemented elsewhere in the network with minimal disruption. However access to the servers should be considered as at risk during this period.
Replacment of QMU Eastman POP router & Commissioning of Redundant Links Access to Internet Tuesday 21/6/2011
07:00am
Tuesday 21/6/2011
9:00am
The POP router is the University's connection to the internet, the current router is end of life and so is being replaced. At the same time new redundant links will be comissioned giving additional redundancy in the event of a link going down. This work is being carried out during the Eastman at Risk period. See the Edinburgh University at risk pages for additional information.
Upgrade of Server Switches Access to Staff/Stud Data, Intranet and internet servers Friday 10/6/2011
07:00am
Friday 10/6/2011
9:00am
The Server switch which provides access to key infrastructure & Citrix servers is having its software upgraded. This hasnt been done since the switch was bought in 2005. The upgrade is in two steps and should take less than 20mins to do. Access to these servers will be affected during this period.
Upgrade of server Switches Access to Staff/Stud Data, Intranet and internet servers Friday 2/6/2011
07:00am
Friday 2/6/2011
9:00am
The Server switch which provides access to key infrastructure servers is having its software upgraded. This hasnt been done since the switch was bought in 2005. The upgrade is in two steps and should take less than 20mins to do.
Replacement of fibre card in core switch Switch core 2 - access to citrix and other servers. Friday 20/5/2011
07:00am
Sunday 20/5/2011
9:00am
Faulty fibre card is being replaced in core2. This is another replacement card the original replacement was also faulty. Work will carried on the configuration of core 2 to rectify an issue with some of the links to server switches. This will affect connectivity to citrix and other infrastructure servers.
Replacement of fibre card in core switchs Switch core 2 Friday 8/4/2011
07:00am
Sunday 8/4/2011
9:00am
Faulty fibre card is being replaced in core2. The LRC area in front of the LRC service desk will be affected as will be the front reception. Their will be no connectivity in this area for about 20 mins.
Troublshooting of connection between dr2-2 (level2) and core switches Level 2 teaching side near student union Friday 1/4/2011
07:00am
Sunday 1/4/2011
9:00am
An problem has occured with the link between the stack of switches serving the lecture theatres on level 2 and core2. As part of the trouble shooting procedures the stack has to be rebooted. This should only affect level 2 teaching side. Their will be no connectivity in this area whilst the work is being carried out.
Addition of VPN Configuration to Firewall Student Union Friday 4/3/2011
07:00am
Sunday 4/3/2011
9:00am
An externa supplier has change how it provides services for the Union. The extra VPN configuration should not affect University or Student Union access.
Repatching of IT labs 1124, 1125, 1126 & 1127 IT labs 1124, 1125, 1126 & 1127 Friday 4/2/2011
07:00am
Sunday 4/2/2011
9:00am
During the summer extra ports were added in these labs. The are now to be patched in at the desk to reduce the dependence on the under the table switches.
Repatching of IT labs 1124, 1125, 1126 & 1127 IT labs 1124, 1125, 1126 & 1127 Friday 28/1/2011
07:00am
Sunday 28/1/2011
9:00am
During the summer extra ports were added in these labs. The are now to be patched in at the desk to reduce the dependence on the under the table switches.
Repatching of IT labs 1124, 1125, 1126 & 1127 IT labs 1124, 1125, 1126 & 1127 Friday 21/1/2011
07:00am
Sunday 21/1/2011
9:00am
During the summer extra ports were added in these labs. The are now to be patched in at the desk to reduce the dependence on the under the table switches.
Repatching of IT labs 1124, 1125, 1126 & 1127 IT labs 1124, 1125, 1126 & 1127 Friday 14/1/2011
07:00am
Sunday 14/1/2011
9:00am
During the summer extra ports were added in these labs. The are now to be patched in at the desk to reduce the dependence on the under the table switches.
Changes to be made to switch stacks dr1-1, dr2-1 and dr2-2 teaching side. All areas served by these switches on level 3 teaching side. Friday 19/11/2010
07:00am
Sunday 19/11/2010
9:00am
Changing are being made to the MLT interface group on the stack of switches. This is a recommended change by the switch maufacturer. This is likely to only affect areas served by this switch stack.
Patching of web server QMU website Friday 19/11/2010
07:00am
Friday 19/11/2010
9:00am
Server patching will necessitate some downtime during "at risk" period Friday 19/11/2010
Changes to be made to switch stacks dr3-1 and dr3-2 admin side. All areas served by these switches on level 3 teaching side. Friday 19/11/2010
07:00am
Sunday 19/11/2010
9:00am
Changing are being made to the MLT interface group on the stack of switches. This is a recommended change by the switch maufacturer. This is likely to only affect areas served by this switch stack.
Changes to be made to ports in cabinets dr0-1 and dr0-6 All areas served by these switches on level 0 teaching side. Friday 19/11/2010
07:00am
Sunday 19/11/2010
9:00am
Spanning tree has been disabled on the ports on these switches. This is not good practice. Spanning tree will be enabled operating in portfast mode to reduce start up times.
Patching of intranet servers Intranet Friday 12/11/2010
07:00am
Friday 12/11/2010
9:00am
Server patching will necessitate some downtime during "at risk" period Friday 12/11/2010
Changes to be made to switch stacks dr2-3, dr1-3 and dr1-4 admin side. All areas served by this switch on level 2 & 1. Friday 12/11/2010
07:00am
Sunday 12/11/2010
9:00am
Changing are being made to the MLT interface group on the stack of switches. This is a recommended change by the switch maufacturer. This is likely to only affect areas served by this switch stack.
Changes to be made to switch stacks dr3-3 and dr3-4 admin side. All areas served by this switch on level 2. Friday 5/11/2010
07:00am
Sunday 5/11/2010
9:00am
Changing are being made to the MLT interface group on the stack of switches. This is a recommended change by the switch maufacturer. This is likely to only affect areas served by this switch stack.
Changes to be made to switch dr2-4 admin side. All areas served by this switch on level 2. Friday 29/10/2010
07:00am
Sunday 29/10/2010
9:00am
Changing are being made to the MLT interface group on the stack of switches. This is a recommended change by the switch maufacturer. This is likely to only affect areas served by this switch stack.
Removal of extra switch in DR1-2 near LRC desk/Control Room Level 1 LRC/Reception Sunday 8/10/2010
07:00am
Sunday 8/10/2010
9:00am
Removal of extra the switch in DR1-2 which is acting as a media converter. Network connectivity will drop briefly as the link is moved across.
Upgrading switches in data cabinet behind reception Level 1 LRC/Reception Sunday 29/8/2010
09:30am
Sunday 29/8/2010
5:00pm
The data switches serving the lrc desk, reception, post grad room and terminals in front of the LRC Desk. These terminals will come back on line during the day as they are patched in. Also affected will be the top two terraces of the atrium but the bottom one will be unaffected. Terminals in the labs 1124 to 1127 will be unaffected.
Updating Staff Terminals Level 1 / Leg 2 Friday 06/8/2010
07:30am
Friday 06/8/2010
9:00am
New firmware and BIOS fix is being applied to the terminals
Updating Staff Terminals Level 1 / Leg 3, Student Services Reception , Job Shop & offices within that area. Friday 30/7/2010
07:30am
Friday 30/7/2010
9:00am
New firmware and BIOS fix is being applied to the terminals
Updating Firmware on Switches Server switch in DR1-1 & halls fanout switch stack Friday 30/7/2010
6:30am
Friday 30/7/2010
9:00am
New firmware is being applied to the switches. This part of the annual maintenance schedule. This will affect a number of servers but affected users should be able to reconnect. Each set of switches will be rebooted twice.
Updating Firmware on Switches 1st floor main building leg 1 and some areas of level 0 - served by dr1-4. Also LRC level 1 served by dr1-1. Friday 23/7/2010
6:45am
Friday 23/7/2010
9:00am
New firmware is being applied to the switches. This part of the annual maintenance schedule.
Website maintenance Corporate web-site Friday 16/07/2010
7:00am
Friday 16/07/2010
9:00am
The website will be offline at times for several minutes
Updating Firmware on Switches 2nd floor main building legs 1 2 & 3 served by data rooms dr2-3 & dr2-4.Also a switch serving ERC servers & a switch in DR2-1. Friday 16/7/2010
7:00am
Friday 16/7/2010
9:00am
New firmware is being applied to the switches. This part of the annual maintenance schedule.
Updating Firmware on Switches 3rd floor main building legs 1 2 & 3 served by data rooms dr3-3 & dr3-4. Friday 9/7/2010
7:00am
Friday 9/7/2010
9:00am
New firmware is being applied to the switches. This part of the annual maintenance schedule.
Dateroom maintenance Level 1 Legs 2 & 3 & FFT served by dr1-4 Friday 09/07/2010
7:00am
Friday 09/07/2010
9:00am
Some network ports in these regions will experience a brief 1-2 minute outage
Dateroom maintenance Level 1 Legs 2 & 3 & FFT served by dr1-4 Friday 02/7/2010
7:00am
Friday 02/7/2010
9:00am
Some network ports in these regions will experience a brief 1-2 minute outage
Updating Firmware on Switches Accommodation Office and school office main building served by dr1-3. Friday 11/6/2010
7:00am
Friday 11/6/2010
9:00am
New firmware is being applied to the switches. This part of the annual maintenance schedule.
Updating Firmware on POE Switches The Wireless network on level 2 Friday 28/5/2010
7:00am
Friday 28/5/2010
9:00am
New firmware is being applied to the POE switches which power the wireless access points.
Updating Firmware on POE Switches The Wireless network on levels 0 & 1 Friday 21/5/2010
7:00am
Friday 21/5/2010
9:00am
New firmware is being applied to the POE switches which power the wireless access points.
RECORDS1(Student Records System)Reboot Staff and student use of ISIS, QM:u Portal, Management reporting using student records' data Tuesday 5/4/2010 - 17:15 Tuesday 5/4/2010 -17:45 (max) The student records' system is experiencing a performance issue which requires further investigation.
Staff-Data Reboot Staff logon to Thin Client both remotely and on campus, Staff logon to PC's on campus Friday 26/03/2010 - 7:00am Friday 26/03/2010 - 7:05am approx The Staff-Data server requires a reboot to allow removal of a Shared Drive. During the reboot Staff will be unable to access their Home Directory (My Documents, Z: drive) and therefore will be unable to log on to Thin Client or PC's on campus. Other services such as Web-Mail are unaffected. Students will not be affected by this work.
Changes to Bluesocket Controller The halls of Residences & Wireless network Friday 12/3/2010
7:00am
Friday 12/3/2010
9:00am
Upgrade of Bluesocket operating system
Changes to Core Switches Network Access for all devices. Friday 5/3/2010
7:00am
Friday 5/3/2010
9:00am
Addition of enhanced logging on core switches. This should not affect access to internet and any other resources.
Changes to switches dr1-4 Network Access for all devices Connected to this cabinet mainly IS, CAP, finance and estates. Friday 5/3/2010
7:00am
Friday 5/3/2010
9:00am
Configuration changes to links to core switches will lead to brief network outages, all network services should be considered at risk during this period.
Changes to switches on teaching side Network Access for all devices Connected to cabinets on the teaching side. Friday 19/2/2010
7:00am
Friday 19/2/2010
9:00am
Configuration changes to links to core switches may lead to brief network outages, all network services should be considered at risk during this period.
Changes to switches dr1-4 Network Access for all devices Connected to this cabinet mainly IS, CAP, finance and estates. Friday 19/2/2010
7:00am
Friday 19/2/2010
9:00am
Configuration changes to links to core switches will lead to brief network outages, all network services should be considered at risk during this period.
Wireless configuration changes for security and coverage improvements Access to the wireless network across campus including Eduroam Friday
19/02/2010
7:00am
Friday
19/02/2010
9:00am
Configuration changes to improve coverage. All areas of the wireless network will experience brief outages during the maintance period.
Changes to switches dr1-4 Network Access for all devices Connected to this cabinet mainly IS, CAP, finance and estates. Friday 4/2/2010 - 7:00am Friday 4/2/2010 - 9:00am Configuration changes to links to core switches will lead to brief network outages, all network services should be considered at risk during this period.
Wireless configuration changes for security and coverage improvements Access to the wireless network across campus including Eduroam Friday
29/01/2010
7:00am
Friday
29/01/2010
9:00am
Configuration changes to improve security and coverage. All areas of the wireless network will experience brief outages during the maintance period.
Changes to switches in Students Union & sports building Network Access for some devices Connected to the Student union data cabinet. Friday 11/12/2009 - 7:00am Friday 11/12/2009 - 9:00am Several security features will be changed on the switches as a result of issues with some devices. There may be some brief network intruptions during these changes however all network services should be considered at risk during this period.
Changes to switches in DR1-2. Network Access for LRC, terraces, rapid access and reception. Friday 22/1/2010 - 7:00am Friday 22/1/2010 - 9:00am Configuration changes to improve security & reliabilty after the network outage on the 1/12/09. Network access will be affected for sort periods during the work.
Changes to Bluesocket Controller. The halls of Residences & Wireless network Friday 11/12/2009 - 7:00am Friday 11/12/2009 - 9:00am Configuration changes to improve security & enable multicast on the halls networks. Will need a reboot of the controller.
Changes to switches in Students Union & sports building Network Access for all devices Connected to the Student union data cabinet. Friday 11/12/2009 - 7:00am Friday 11/12/2009 - 9:00am Several security features will be changed on the switches to prevent unauthorised network access. There may be some brief network intruptions during these changes however all network services should be considered at risk during this period.
Staff and Student File Servers Access to Staff and Student File servers Friday 27/11/2009 - 7:00am Friday 27/11/2009 - 9:00am Both Staff and Student File servers need to be rebooted to allow for direct connection to new SAN Switch and renaming of drive letters - downtime is expected to be less than 5 minutes per server but will affect users who try to log on during that period.
Staff-Data Downtime Staff logon to Thin Client both remotely and on campus, Staff logon to PC's on campus Saturday 21/11/2009 - 9:00am Sunday 22/11/2009 - 5:00pm Maintenance on Storage Area Network and migration of Staff Home Directories to new SAN. During the maintenance window Staff will be unable to access their Home Directory (My Documents, Z: drive) and therefore will be unable to log on to Thin Client or PC's on campus. Other services such as Web-Mail are unaffected. Students will not be affected by this work.
Changes to Core Switches Network Access for all devices. Friday 27/11/2009 - 7:00am Friday 27/11/2009 - 9:00am Addition of enhanced logging on core switches. This should not affect access to internet and any other resources.
Switch configuration Changes for Security improvements Network Access for all devices Connected to the data cabinet dr1-2 - close to LRC issue desk. Friday 12/11/2009 - 7:00am Friday 12/11/2009 - 9:00am Several security features will be changed on the switches to prevent unauthorised network access. There may be some brief network intruptions during these changes however all network services should be considered at risk during this period.
Switch configuration Changes for Security improvements Network Access for all devices Connected to the data cabinet dr1-2 - close to LRC issue desk. Friday 6/11/2009 - 7:00am Friday 6/11/2009 - 9:00am A security feature will be enabled on the switches to prevent unauthorised network access. Normal network services should be unaffected by this.
Configuration changes to firewall & Core switches No Affect Friday the 6th - 7:00am Friday the 6th - 9:00am Changes are being carried out to the core network & University Firewalls to enable Multicast traffic. The network should not be affected by the changes however all network services should be considered at risk during this period.
Server Updates Access to all mapped drives (Z: My Documents etc) and a variety of other services Friday 30/10/2009 - 7:00am Friday 30/10/2009 - 9:00am Servers which run core infrastructure services will be updated with Critical Operating System updates, this includes file and print servers, access to all infrastructure services should be considered at risk during this period.
Configuration changes to firewall & Core switches No Affect Friday the 23rd - 7:00am Friday the 23rd - 9:00am Changes are being carried out to the core network & University Firewalls to enable Multicast traffic. The network should not be affected by this changes however all network services should be considered at risk during this period.
Up grade of switches in Blocks H & J Internet connectivity for block H & J Friday the 16th - 6:30am Friday the 16th - 7:00am Each stack will be rebooted once leading to a brief loss of connection. Users may have to log back in to the bluesocket Controller.
Up grade of switches in Blocks F & G Internet connectivity for block f & G Friday the 9th - 6:30am Friday the 9th - 7:00am Each stack will be rebooted once leading to a brief loss of connection. Users may have to log back in to the bluesocket Controller.
Up grade of switches in Blocks D & E Internet connectivity for block D & E Friday the 2nd - 6:30am Friday the 2nd - 7:00am Each stack will be rebooted once leading to a brief loss of connection. Users may have to log back in to the bluesocket Controller.
Dual-homing switches in dr1-2 LRC front desk, reception, security booth, LRC terminals level 1 and the first 2 terraces in the LRC. Friday the 2nd - 7:00am Friday the 2nd - 9:00am This is a continuation of work carried out during the summer. Its likely that the connection will drop briefly, so users may have to log back in again. This work will improve the redundancy of the cabinet.
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