Banner Database Hardware refresh July 13 – 14.

After ten months of planning and testing ITS is ready to perform our long awaited Banner system hardware refresh. Like many things we do behind the scenes in RLC the end user impact should be as small as possible, and aside from some downtime to move the database to its new home our goal is that the negative impact on the Manhattan College Community is minimal if not non-existent.

Why is ITS doing this?

Simply put, it is time to replace some old hardware that is fast approaching end of life. We tend to replace servers on a three to five year cycle. After three to five years the reliability of server hardware begins to significantly diminish while the cost to own and operate can rise with respect to service costs, power consumption, and the lost hours of productivity we need to maintain aging hardware.

Why is this good for the college?

Aside from our critical Banner system being on newer more reliable hardware several opportunities were available to us during this refresh that were not in our previous generation. We have moved most of our Banner systems and other servers to a virtualized platform. This has led to cost savings hardware, power and cooling in the server room as well as being more centrally monitored and managed. We are also transitioning our databases to Red Hat Linux which helps us consolidate our expertise for more efficient troubleshooting.

What do I need to do?

If you or your office use the Banner System we will be contacting you. ITS will be compiling testing procedures for all departments to ensure that after the upgrade is completed everything you do will “Just Work.”  We will need help compiling these lists and running through testing but we will not inconvenience you more than we absolutely have to.

If there are any issues at any time that ITS may not know about or that you feel are not being properly addressed please do not hesitate to contact us by emailing bannerhelpdesk@manhattan.edu.  This will create a helpdesk ticket as well as forward directly to several ITS administrators.  

For those very few things that don’t just work, we will be providing heavily augmented support for the two weeks after the upgrade. Some of you may be familiar with our “Banner Hotline” that we have used in the past after upgrades to route users directly to Level 3 support for Banner issues. We will again use this system so that if something is not working properly you have direct access to the ITS personnel who will be troubleshooting your issue.

Thank you in advance for all of the time and hard work that will go into this major initiative and as always we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Working Time Line

5/16/2013 (Thursday): Announcement to campus community.

5/20/2013 (Monday): Announcement to campus community. Direct email to functional offices.  Testing procedures compiled.

5/24/2013 (Friday): Planned Oracle minor patch to production database to patch to the same level as new database.

6/3/2013 (Monday): Testing information distributed to user community.

7/1/2013 (Monday): Final testing results reported to ITS.

7/8/2013 (Monday): Final decision to confirm upgrade of database

7/12/2013 (Friday): Last day working on “old” database

7/13/2013-7/14/2013 (Saturday/Sunday): Database upgrade - Banner UNAVAILABLE

7/15/2013 (Monday): Banner Hotline Active - Priority support for database upgrade issues.  Hotline to remain active until all report issues resolved.

7/15/2013 - 7/19/2013 (Monday Through Friday) One to two hour Banner outages may be scheduled to apply late breaking patches.

7/20/2013-7/21/2013 - Reserved time to apply patches if necessary.

Sending Attachments Via Google Drive

You can now attach files to your emails via Google Drive.  The beauty of Google Drive is that it allows for easy collaboration.  There is no longer a need to worry about edits getting lost due to multiple editors working on a passed around file.  With Google Drive multiple editors can work on the same exact document at the same exact time and all edits are tracked.  You can even see your colleague typing as you do!

Another benefit of Google Drive attachments is that your attachment size limit goes from 25MB (traditional attachment) to 10GB (Google Drive attachment).

Google Drive also gives access control.  Only users that you grant access to can see the file.  So your email can be forwarded, but unless you grant access or your collaborator does, the file can not be accessed.

As part of the Google Drive attachment function, before sending the email, the attachments will be scanned to see if the people to which you are sending the file have access or not.  You will then get a warning if they do not have access and you will be asked if you wish to grant access or not.  For more information on how to send an attachment via Google Drive please click here.

http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2480713

Leo and Mahan Networks ONLINE

Physical Plant was able to quickly restore power to the ITS network equipment in Leo.  All networking and internet access to Leo and Mahan should be back to normal.  If you are experiencing any further issues please contact Client Services at x7875.

Leo and Mahan Networks OFFLINE due to power issue

ITS is currently troubleshooting a network issue affecting the LEO and Mahan buildings.  Network equipment is offline in these buildings due to a power issue.  ITS is working with the physical plant department to restore power to network equipment in the affected locations.

Updates will be posted as more information is available.

Spring 2013 Technology Showcase Survey

Whether or not you attended the Technology Showcase this year, we would really appreciate your feedback.  We will be planning future Showcases and want to make them as valuable an experience as possible to you.  Please take a few minutes to take this brief survey.  Click here for the survey.

Network Outage Resolved

The issue that our Internet Service Provider had earlier this afternoon has been resolved.  If you are still having network related issues, please email its@manhattan.edu or call x7973 so that we can assist you.

Network Outage

Due to an issue that our Internet Service Provider is having we are currently experiencing a network outage.  This outage affects our connection to the internet.  Internal services such as Banner, Moodle, and MyMC should not be affected.  We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.