News
Update 10:20am - Library and IT issues
Update 10:20 AM : UEA Notice
UEA Network Status – 10.00am Thursday 16th December 2010
Considerable progress has now been made to restore network services. A special current service web page is now available at: http://www.uea.ac.uk/is/news/currentservicestatus/networkproblems1412
We would ask people to check this web page before contacting the IT Helpdesk to report problems.
On 14th and 15th December there was a significant and wide spread disruption to the network and telephone system at UEA.
The problems first manifested themselves very shortly before midnight on 13th December and network staff worked through the night to seek a resolution. The problem appeared to be with the main network core that controls all network traffic for UEA. We believed that the problem had been resolved at 04:00 on 14th December but unfortunately saw a degradation of the network as usage grew during the early morning.
During the day on 14th December we tried to fix the problem with the main network core and changes were made during the day that initially improved the situation but we continued to observe a gradual degradation in service. During the 14th December network and telephone services were working intermittently.
Towards the end of the day on 14th December the decision was taken to stop trying to fix the main network core and instead build a temporary replacement network core using spare parts and reconfiguring the working parts of the existing network infrastructure. This was a very large and complex undertaking however we are pleased to report that a replacement solution was possible. During the afternoon and evening of 15th December, staff within the Network and Systems teams worked to bring the replacement service on line, this involved reconfiguration of a number of key servers.
The temporary solution that we have put in place is far less sophisticated than the main network core and network traffic on campus may well be slower but we hope that this will not be disruptive. In order to put this solution in place literally thousands of network ports have been manually reconfigured in a very short time and there may well be some mistakes. We ask for the continued forbearance of the community as we address any problems that are found.
Further work is required to identify and fix the underlying problem with the main core and we are working closely with our suppliers to seek a resolution. Once the main core is fixed and we have confidence in its stability we will need downtime on the network in order to reconnect it.
Faculty IT Support teams have been briefed and will be able to provide advice and support as required. Further updates on progress will be made as appropriate.
We sincerely apologise for the disruption to services and would like to thank all staff and students for their forbearance over the last couple of days.
Jonathan Colam-French
Director of Information Services
UEA
Update 5.20pm: 24 Hour IT Area...
The Library has just confirmed that the 24-hour IT area will be accessible tonight.
Library management have also reiterated that the facility to print directly from a USB memory stick is available there.
However, it should still be noted that UEA Security may have to close the 24-hour IT area, should they lose their CCTV capabilities there.
Update 4:10pm: SSF deadlines...
All deadlines for school in the Social Sciences Faculty have been extended until 5pm on Friday. The Faculty are keeping the situation under review, and if university systems are not working tomorrow, they'll consider extending this further.
Also, check out http://www.facebook.com/#!/ueaofficial for more information from the University.
Update 3.45pm: News for first year NAM students...
If your portfolios are due in tomorrow (Thursday 16th December) at 3pm but you cannot complete them because of a lack of access to Blackboard, then your new deadline to hand your portfolio to your advisor is at 3pm on 6th January and you will not be penalised
Update 2.45pm: We now have some revised deadlines for coursework from DEV
Deadlines for:
Tuesday 14th December - now 3pm Thursday 16th December
Wednesday 15th December - now 3pm Friday 17th December
Thursday 16th December - now 3pm Monday 20th December
Monday 20th December - now 3pm Wednesday 22nd December
Tuesday 21st December - now 3pm Thursday 23rd December
ALL TESTS WILL TAKE PLACE AS ARRANGED - Allowances will be made where revision has been affected by the UEA Portal problems.
We will update with information from other schools as soon as we get it.
Update from 1pm today (Wednesday 15th December):
Again, I’m sure you’re aware that the problems that began yesterday or the day before are mainly persisting today.
The University have let us know that the network is likely to be down for at least the rest of today, but that progress should be made after this.
The Library is still encountering significant problems, but there will be standalone printers available from this afternoon, and students will be able to print directly from memory sticks using these.
In terms of deadlines and exams, we can relay the following:
• All schools in the Faculty of Science have pushed back a series deadlines that were due 14th-17th December, to January 20th. Some pieces of work are excepted from this, including the Individual Project. Again, contact the school office.
• In the Faculty of Health,
o The Year 5 OSCE exam tomorrow is still going ahead, and students should not worry that they can’t print a log book for stations, and are allowed to bring hand-written notes if they can’t print that out.
o The Year 4 OSCE exam next Tuesday is also going ahead, and the timetable for slots has been put up in the school.
o The coursework due for the MSc OT/PT has a 24-hour extension.
o For information on other pieces of coursework, contact your school directly.
• In the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, deadlines have been extended to 3pm this Friday.
We are working hard with the university to confirm the situation in Faculty of Social Sciences and will update the website as soon as we get any information.
The Union of UEA Students