Please note that this report pertains to activity during September 2011.
We planned an upgrade of Alfresco on 27 September 2011, during the weekly Tuesday morning (07:00-09:00) timeslot, and while this upgrade from v3.2.1.2 to v3.4.4 went smoothly, the system went offline at 12:15. We logged a top priority (Sev 1) call with our support providers and the system was restored to normal by 21:50 on 28/09/2011.
Screens have been installed on all floors of the WTB atrium and are using the new digital signage system. Similarly, a new screen in the Garland cafe is advertising relevant forthcoming events such as the CLSPA AGM. We are testing customisation of screens on each floor, presenting division-specific content on the corresponding floor. New silent PCs for the existing MSI and JBC screens have been ordered.
We are evaluating replacement projectors to upgrade other CLS meetings rooms.
There are no issues to report. Current projects include RAM upgrades, implementation of Univa Grid Engine and Unicloud, changes to GPFS to simplify deployment networking, cross-mounting cluster, LMF and Nemo GPFS filesystems and migration of the PostGres server to a virtual machine.
There are no issues to report regarding the Apple Mac service.
Our Windows 7 migration project is progressing division by division. We have completed migration for CAHId, SLSL&T, MMB, CSI, and are progressing migrations for GRE, BCDD, MRC and for support staff. Our parallel activity introducing Windows terminal servers for divisions has completed one for BCDD and support staff, MAJF group should be completed by Q3 2011 and the Finance server is currently being tested.
There are no issues to report.
Jonathan Monk's update from 27 September 2011 is included here. It reads:
"As you are aware the University has been working towards moving the email system from the current GroupWise system to Microsoft's Office 365 platform. We had hoped that we would be able to achieve this late summer or early autumn but a number of technical limitations both internally and externally have add risk to the proposed timescale.
We have decided, given the reliance on email, to schedule the transition to before the start of semester 2 in January. There is still a lot of work to do to ensure that the transition is smooth so I will keep you updated with major developments. In addition, ICS provide a blog containing useful information regarding the project available via http://blog.dundee.ac.uk/dundeemail/"
There are no issues to report. Current projects include plans to upgrade the Network's Server and User Access switches later in the year, Network Admission Control for end user devices and improved security for all instrument/acquisition machines, moving away from the private IP addresses with Network Address Translation to native global IP addresses and investigating 10 Gigabit Ethernet switching solutions.
As part of our Windows 7 project, we have also developed a new password management tool to support the requirement for a new directory, LIFESCI-AD, as well as to help synchronise password changes between UoD and Life Sciences passwords. The best way to change your password is via the Life Sciences Directory website at: https://directory.lifesci.dundee.ac.uk/password/change
There are no issues to report.
There are no issues to report.
On Tuesday 27 September 2011 we had a number of issues relating to fileserver access. These were resolved by 08:40.
There are no issues to report.
The new Life Sciences Computing website uses this system and we welcome feedback on the design and content. We have integrated the IT support forms and ticket listings into the new website, so that you can report new requests and also follow our progress on your support tickets.
Information in the new website is public by default but there are confidential areas where you need to login, using your Life Sciences password, before you can view this information. Note that the IT reports are now also public, so will be visible when you are off-site without requiring login.
IT incidents and notices of planned maintenance will be posted to the home page, and are also copied to our new Twitter account, @lifescicomp, so please follow us if you want to be kept informed of issues.
