Urgent MCLD/ICICS electrical shutdown affecting ECE IT services (Aug 14, 2014 7pm - 10pm)

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Regarding urgent electrical maintenance affecting both the MacLeod and ICICS buildings scheduled for August 14th between 7pm-10pm: as a consequence of this work, almost all ECE IT services will be unavailable on August 14th between 6:30pm-11:30pm.

The ECE IT Support Team will be on-site on August 14th to restore core departmental services (e.g., e-mail, RT, GADS, home directories) once the electrical maintenance is complete. Core service recovery is expected by 11:30pm on August 14th.

How does this affect me?

We strongly advise you power off all computer workstations and adjunct devices (e.g., printers, copiers, scanners) before you leave campus on August 14th. You may power these devices back on at your convenience on August 15th.

During the outage window,

  • Mail service – there will be suspended mail delivery to @ece.ubc.ca addresses (including forwarding), no mail retrieval using webmail or IMAP, and no outgoing mail via mail.ece.ubc.ca. No mail loss is expected as part of this suspension.
  • Mailing lists will not be available
  • Users will not be able to use their access card to enter any space in the MacLeod building.
  • All *.ece.ubc.ca website and web applications will be unavailable. In addition, to personal web pages hosted in your ECE home directory will not be available.
  • Linux workstation using NFS home directories will need to be shutdown before the outage, otherwise it will likely need a reboot once the power is back on.
  • Software requiring communication with a license management server will not be available (e.g. SolidWorks).
  • All login via your ece.ubc.ca account will not be available during the outage

I have systems/servers housed in MacLeod or ICICS in support of my research and/or teaching. What should I be doing to protect these during the outage window?

We advise you to confirm with ICICS administration to determine whether the rooms housing your equipment will be affected by the outage. If your systems/servers will lose power, we recommend you execute a controlled power down prior to 7pm on August 14th.

MacLeod has no back-up generator power. If you keep systems or servers in the MacLeod building, we encourage you to execute a controlled power down of these systems prior to 7pm on August 14th.

What about my systems/servers or workstations in Kaiser?

Kaiser will remain powered during the outage window. However, backbone network connectivity is via MacLeod, and hence workstations and servers in Kaiser will lose network access. Any service requiring network access will remain unreachable during the outage window.

Will any IT services remain available?

The following services are unaffected by the electrical maintenance, and will remain available during the outage window:

  • UBC VPN (both the General and ECE-specific pools)
  • UBC Teamshare
  • UBC Home Drive
  • UBC SISC
  • UBC HRMS
  • UBC Workspace
  • UBC FASmail
  • UBC SAmail
  • UBC EduCloud
  • UBC Virtual Server Services
  • UBC SharePoint
  • UBC CMS (WordPress)

I have questions/concerns. Who may I speak with?

Due to the urgent nature of the electrical maintenance, please visit the IT Support Team in MacLeod 105 by 6pm on August 14th to discuss any concerns you may have. We are happy to answer your questions, and assist you where possible.