IT disruption due to electrical maintenance
Wed, 01 Jul 2015 14:51:00 BST
There will be an extended interruption to the majority of IT systems from 4.00pm on Friday 24 July through to approximately 4.00pm on Sunday 26July.
The reason for this is that every two years essential maintenance has to be carried out on the high-voltage electrical supplies on campus which means that power has to be turned off to a number of buildings (see list of buildings at the end of this notice) for a period of time.
On previous occasions it has been possible (through deployment of a temporary generator) to continue to deliver IT services while this work has taken place. For a number of reasons it is not possible to do so on this particular occasion which means that IT systems have to been powered off prior to the work starting and brought back into service after the work has been completed.
Whilst we realise that loss of access to IT systems over such a long period is not ideal, this provides a crucial opportunity for our colleagues in Estates and Facilities to determine the scope of modifications to the power infrastructure in Central Services Building (CSB) that will allow connection of Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) and standby generator to the University’s main data centre in CSB in the near future.
Permanent connection of a suitable UPS and generator into the main data centre will significantly enhance the University’s ability to withstand unexpected power loss, as happened on 30 October 2014. It will also allow Computing and Library Services to make further improvements to the design of IT systems that will bring us much closer to having a first-class IT infrastructure capable of delivering the 99% IT system availability as defined in the University IT Strategy.
Whilst all buildings other than those listed below will continue to have power, all colleagues do need to be aware that there will be no access to any IT systems other than email, SharePoint and the University main web services between the dates and times stated above.
From initial consultation with a number of stakeholders and timing of previous maintenance works, Estates and Facilities has identified these dates as being the least problematic, but if you are aware of any activities taking place within your School or Service that are likely to be adversely affected by this work, it is imperative that we are made aware as a matter of urgency.
It would be much appreciated if colleagues would circulate this information within their respective areas and feedback any queries or problems by Friday 3 July at the latest.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require further information.
Joanna Radley
Data Centre, Infrastructure & Network Services Manager
The buildings affected by this work will be:
Student Central
Central Services Building (including the University’s main data centre)
Technology
Creative Arts
Harold Wilson
Journalism and Media
West Building Lecture Theatres
West Building
St Paul’s Hall
Researcher Hub
Chemical Engineering
Science
Ramsden
Milton
