noticeboard.ru.ac.za

During the Tuesday, August 6th maintenance window, maintenance work affecting a number of services will occur, starting at 5:30 PM:

• Proxy servers: this maintenance is described in a separate noticeboard post
• DNS/DHCP/NTP server software updates: software on the two servers which provide the DNS resolution, DHCP and NTP services will be updated. You may notice that network applications respond slower than usual during those times when the DNS server which is your PC's primary DNS resolver is unavailable. DNS queries will be answered by the secondary DNS resolver, but only once the request to your PC's primary DNS resolver has timed-out.
• Firewall software updates: software on the firewalls which connect the Internet to the campus, SEALS and public networks will be updated. As the firewalls operate as a redundant pair, no noticeable outages are expected during this maintenance.
• Distribution router software update: the software on the distribution routers in the west campus sector will be updated. All buildings west of South/Graham St and north of Prince Alfred St will experience a network outage that we expect will last 15 minutes and will cause all network services (including IP telephones) to be unavailable.
• Access switch software updates: the software on access switches in the following buildings will be updated. This will result in a network outage of approximately 5 to 10 minutes causing all network services (including IP telephones) to be unavailable.
  
  • Main Library
  • Physics Building
  • Struben Building
  • Highway Africa Building
  • Biological Sciences Building (Gigabit Ethernet ports only)
  • The Greens (all buildings)
  • Gavin Relly Postgrad Village (all buildings)
  • Guy Butler House
  • Centenary House
  • Victoria Mxenge House
  • Adelaide Tambo House and Annexe
  • Ruth First House
  • Helen Joseph Annexe
  • RATT servers in Struben Data Centre

This maintenance work is being undertaken in the ITSC-approved scheduled maintenance window, and should be completed before midnight. More information about maintenance windows and maintenance periods.

All work except for the proxy servers has now been completed. Any further updates about the proxy server work will be made on the proxy server maintenance notice.