Scheduled Maintenance Window for April 2, 2009, from 6 pm to 9 pm.

This work has been completed.

During the April 2 maintenance window, we will

(1) Install the latest Security and Performance Updates from Microsoft on the file server named “Charlie” and the Cognos 8 server.  The process will take approximately 30 minutes, which includes a reboot and testing.  During this patching process, visitors who attempt to connect to “Charlie” or the Cognos 8 portal server may get a “Server Unavailable” error.

(2) Remove outdated Matlab license services on the server named “Odin”.  The server named “Odin” currently hosts an outdated version of the Matlab license server, which duplicates newer functionality in our other Matlab license servers.  The removal process will take approximately 2 minutes.  During and after the process, Matlab software version 2007b or older that specifically try to connect to “Odin” will get an error saying that the license server cannot be contacted.  There should be very few Matlab installations connecting to “Odin”, but if the above error does occur, a new license file pointing to the newer servers can be emailed to such users.

(3) Open connections on the servers that host the websites and email mailing lists for “claremont.edu” addresses, “hmc.edu” websites, incoming email to HMC addresses, the Cascade content management system, and the Sakai collaborative and learning environment.  These new connections are being made directly to the new backup server so that all of the above services and data will be backed up on the new server.   The process will take about 30 minutes, and we will perform testing immediately after to ensure that the backup connection is established and working.  The entire process will be transparent to end users.  The only exception is that there will be a brief 2 second period for Sakai visitors where they may get a “Page Not Found” or connection error.  However, all Sakai pages and services will be restored after this 2 second period.
Update added on 3/30/2009 at 4:20 pm: No denial of services will occur during the maintenance window for Sakai.  Incoming email to Sakai may be delayed, but will be delivered once the maintenance work has been performed.

(4) Redirect the web address www.humsoc.hmc.edu so that visitors are taken directly to the newer Humanities & Social Sciences website and no longer see a notification that the website location has moved.  The switchover process will take approximately 6 minutes, which includes testing.  During this switchover, visitors to the web address www.humsoc.hmc.edu may get a “Server Not Found” or “DNS error”.

(5) Reboot the server that provides domain name services for the Claremont.edu, City of Claremont, and Claremont School District network addresses.  The reboot process should take about 5 minutes, and we will perform testing immediately after to ensure that the server is back up properly.  During the reboot, visitors who attempt to visit a website or server with an address ending in “claremont.edu” may get a "Server Not Found" or “DNS error”. 

(6) Reset the spam email filtering whitelist on the email server so that invalid whitelist entries are cleared out and the chance of false positives is reduced.  The process will take approximately 1 minute, during which incoming emails to HMC email addresses will be queued up and not immediately delivered.   After the process is completed, the queued emails will be delivered and arrive immediately.
 If you believe that these changes may interfere with an important event or deadline, please let us know as soon as possible, preferably no later than 5 pm next Wednesday so that the maintenance can be rescheduled.

We will treat the first five weeks as a pilot, so please send us your valuable comments and feedback.

Thank you, and please feel free to write, call, or visit with questions or comments.

CIS Help Desk
helpdesk@hmc.edu
x77777