Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Network Services Outage

ITS is aware of issues affecting JasperNet network services.  ITS has been monitoring network systems closely since an issue that affected the campus over the weekend.  A network issue identified Wednesday AM has since been resolved, however, ITS is continuing to troubleshoot affected services and is working toward a permanent solution.

Until further notice, please be aware that sporadic issues may develop as ITS continues to work towards a solution.  Updates will be posted via http://itsblog.manhattan.edu as well as Twitter @MC_ITS and Google+

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Jaspernet Services Outage January 24th

At 8am Saturday January 24th ITS began troubleshooting a network outage affecting several Jaspernet Services including email, Banner forms and self service, moodle, the portal and the college's main website.

The outage started at approximately 2:30am on January 24th when a key piece of network hardware failed in RLC.  Our engineers began troubleshooting at 8am and were able to resolve the issue at approximately 2:30pm.

As of that time all Jaspernet services became fully operational.

We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to make our infrastructure more robust and fault tolerant. We will be outlining these efforts in future blog posts.

Web Services Currently Inaccessible

Please note that most Manhattan College web services are currently inaccessible. ITS is investigating, and will provide an update as soon as possible.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Welcome Back

We want to take a minute to welcome everyone back for a new semester.  Please take a minute to read through the following Announcements and Reminders:

ITS New Years Resolutions:
  1. Computer Lab Hygiene. Hand sanitizers are being installed in each of the public facing computer labs to promote good hygiene.
  2. Security is important. Passwords should never be hand-written/visible to the public. In an effort to maximize security and minimize the number of post-it notes with passwords on them, we recently added SSO (Single Sign-On) to Banner Forms.
  3. Google announced and released unlimited storage on Drive for Apps for Education users. Backing up your data is important and now you have unlimited space to do so. Familiarize yourself with Google Drive and sync your data to the Cloud.
  4. Get to know your Google Apps. We’ve created Knowledge Base Articles to help you get to know your Google Apps (Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, etc.).
  5. Add to your professional network. Below are some sites that you might find relevant and interesting:

ITS Intersession Updates:
  1. You can now send us a text to inform us of an issue.  However, we will not be able to reply via text.  We will reply via email or phone call.  Our number is: (240) 670-4ITS.
  2. The TV-setup in the former Leo Cafe has been modified so it can be used for presentations. You can now connect to it via AirPlay or a VGA cable.
  3. We have a new office located on the 5th floor in the O’Malley Library (OMAL 504).
  4. The CD/DVD drives in the classrooms have been mounted to the podiums.
  5. Each public computer lab has been reimaged.
  6. Each Manhattan College employee can purchase one Microsoft Office license for use on a personal computer at a discounted rate (approximately $9.95). For more information, see our Service Catalog or Knowledge Base Article about MS HUP (Microsoft Home Use Program).

Updates you may have missed from from Fall 2014:
  1. PaperCut has been installed in the computer labs, helping us monitor paper usage and promote sustainability.
  2. Over the summer we completed A/V Upgrades in RLC 102, 104, 105, and 107
  3. MGL 305 has undergone renovations
  4. Over the summer, new desktops were installed in RLC 105, MGL 110, and the O’Malley Library.

Reminders:
  1. The best way to get in touch with a Client Services representative is an email to its@manhattan.edu or a phone call to x7973 (718-862-7973).  Note that emails and voicemails for this line go to our ticketing system, so we encourage you to leave a message.
  2. Remember that we will never ask you for your password.  We encourage you all to please reset your computer password to “jasper” prior to dropping it off at Client Services.  If you do not do this prior, please allocate an extra 5 minutes to work with a Client Services representative so that they can assist you in changing your password when working with us.  Upon completion of work on your computer, please allocate another 5 minutes so that a Client Services representative can assist you in changing your password back to its original state.  This is necessary in order to safeguard your password.  Remember that you should never give your password out to anyone under any circumstances.  Note that the same procedure holds true when you are requesting assistance with one of your Manhattan College accounts.
  3. Client Services cannot lend out equipment to students.  If a student needs equipment for a project, they must have a Manhattan College employee sign out equipment on their behalf, and the Manhattan College employee is held responsible for that equipment.
  4. Client Services can provide short-term loaner equipment, such as laptops and projectors by reservation.  However, if equipment is needed long term, it should be purchased through your department.
  5. The Client Services office does not work on personal computers.  We will train employees and students and instruct them on how to fix their computers, but personal computers cannot be dropped off for service.  No personal items should ever be left in any of the Client Services offices.
  6. Please remember to request event setups in advance.  We work with limited resources, so we cannot always complete last minute requests.
  7. Client Services currently has 3 convenient locations: Jasper Basement, RLC 103, and OMAL 504.  Please stop by the location closest to you.  We encourage you to call first to be sure that someone is available as we are continuously in and out of the office assisting the Manhattan College community.
  8. Client Services Hours of Operations can be found here.
  9. Computer Lab Hours can be found here.
  10. Campus-owned computers are purchased with premium hardware support provided by the manufacturer.  ITS will diagnose and determine whether manufacturer hardware support is needed.  For the fastest service, users are also able to contact the manufacturer directly to access hardware support and replacement.
  11. Your feedback helps us improve our service and should be sent to http://manhattan.edu/tellits
  12. Don't forget to add us to your Google+ circles +ITS and follow us on Twitter @MC_ITS
  13. Check out our Blog: http://itsblog.manhattan.edu/
  14. Check out our known issues page: http://itsblog.manhattan.edu/p/known-issues.html

Thank you for your attention.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Jaspernet Wireless Maintenance Friday January 23rd 6am to 8am

ITS will be preforming maintenance of the Jaspernet wireless system on Friday, January 23rd.
There will be sporadic outages of Jaspernet wireless starting at 6am and continuing until 8am.

We do not expect another services to be affected.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Resolved: Digital Signage Content Server Down

Resolved:
Our Digital Signage Service was back up and operational after lunch.


01/20/2015  11:00 am
ITS is aware of a Content Server issue affecting all the new Digital Signage installs on campus.  We are investigating and will provide an update when available.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.


RESOLVED: Authentication System Outage

UPDATE:  1/20/2015 - 10:03AM
The issue affecting JasperNet authentication services has been resolved.  Affected systems included authentication to most JasperNet services including Moodle and login to computer labs.  The duration of the outage lasted from approximately 9:30-10:00AM.


1/20/2015 - 9:50AM
ITS is aware of an issue affecting some JasperNet services during initial authentication.  We are working to resolve the issue with our LDAP directory system and expect a resolution shortly.   Some of the affected services are as follows:
- Moodle
- Computer Lab Login
- Login to some JasperNet services

New Printer in RLC103

We are pleased to announce that we have installed a new printer, an HP LaserJet Enterprise M806, in the RLC103 computer lab:

Friday, January 16, 2015

Smith Hall Wireless Outage

Due to winter break building renovation being completed, wireless access in Smith Hall will be off line for the next few days.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

CD/DVD Drives in Classrooms

In an effort to improve the technology in the classrooms, we have securely mounted the CD/DVD drives as shown below.  In the past, we found that the drive would fall into the podium or be difficult to find.  We have decided to securely mount the drives in a consistent location to minimize these types of issues in the future.

Depending on the type of podium in the room, the mounted drive can be found in the following locations:




Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Banner Maintenance: January 7, 2015, 9:00pm-10:00pm

Administrative Systems Maintenance

Information Technology Services will be performing maintenance to the Banner forms server (INB). This maintenance will require the server to be off line tonight (January 7, 2015) from 9:00pm - 10:00pm.  No other systems will be impacted.

Thank you,

Information Technology Services