Spring is a time for relaxation, fun, and frivolity - if you're a student. For Engineering Technology Services staff, it is the perfect time to perform systems maintenance and upgrades. During spring break Engineering Technology Services will be performing upgrades and updates almost every day. This helps keep us up-to-date with security and patching guidelines outlined within the ISCR and in line with industry best practices. It will also help to bring about speed and feature enhancements for other services. A college wide communication will be going out this week in regards to the downtime and scheduling. Here, you can find a little bit more information in regards to what work will be completed and the expected benefits.
Please Note: Twice daily user-restoreable file snapshots (a.k.a. shadow copies/previous versions) are disabled until work is completed next week on Home0, Home1, and Home2.
Sunday 3/10
11PM-2AM College of Engineering Pulse VPN Upgrade to Version 9: This upgrade brings with it many enhancements and security updates, especially on the client side. Some of the most notable benefits: full macOS 10.14 support, Windows 10 1809 support, and the potential for smb v2/v3 file browsing through the web portal. At first use after the upgrade, the Pulse VPN client will perform an upgrade.
Monday 3/11
5PM-7PM Bomgar Remote Support Upgrade: This upgrade brings a couple security fixes as well as a bug fix to help make the client agent more stable.
11:30PM-1:30AM Home0 (last names A-G) File Server Performance and Stability Changes: In response to an Infrastructure Incident and vendor recommendations, ETS will be making changes to the disk configuration for its Windows clustered storage services. We will be moving to higher performance thick provisioned disks. These disks will also be smaller in overall size. During this window, individuals with a last name beginning with A-G will not have access to their U:\ drive.
Tuesday 3/12
5AM-6AM DataCenter Switch Updates: Code updates will be applied to DataCenter management switching infrastructure at the SOCC in order to patch against security vulnerabilities. No customer interruption is expected.
9AM-2PM Code42 CrashPlan Upgrades and Move: The College of Engineering's Code42 CrashPlan server will be moved to its final location with the State of Ohio Computer Center. This will also provide it with an upgrade to 10Gb redundant networking. The Code42 CrashPlan software will receive a minor upgrade for bug/security fixes. Also, DUO two-factor authentication will be mandated for web console access on the CrashPlan server.
10AM-5PM Scott Lab Networking Updates: The building network in Scott Lab will be modified to bring it in line with ETS network design and best practices. No customer interruption is expected.
11:30PM-1:30AM Home1 (last names H-O) File Server Performance and Stability Changes: In response to an Infrastructure Incident and vendor recommendations, ETS will be making changes to the disk configuration for its Windows clustered storage services. We will be moving to higher performance thick provisioned disks. These disks will also be smaller in overall size. During this window, individuals with a last name beginning with H-O will not have access to their U:\ drive.
Wednesday 3/13
11AM-12PM Windows Store for Education Deployment: In order to facilitate deployment of applications that are ONLY available via the Microsoft Store, e.g. Microsoft To-Do, ETS will be deploying the Microsoft Store for Education to many of its faculty and staff desktops and laptops. Documentation on accessing the store can be found here.
1PM-2PM Enhanced Asset Management Suite Deployment: To get better business analytics and information on the computers within the College of Engineering, ETS will be deploying the Enhanced Asset Management Suite agent and service. This will give us insights into warranty entitlements, Windows 10 readiness, and more.
2PM-3PM Ninite Deployment: To provide faster automated service to our customers needing 3rd party patches, e.g. Adobe Flash Player, ETS will be deploying the Ninite Agent. It will automatically install security and minor version updates to many common third party plugins and products. A full product list can be found here.
7PM-1AM DataCenter Switch & Router Updates: Access, aggregation, and routing layer devices located at the SOCC will receive code updates to patch against security vulnerabilities as well as to provide bug fixes. ESL customers with servers at the SOCC will not be able to access these devices for about 20 to 30 minutes during this window. This change is being rescheduled.
Thursday 3/14
5PM-7PM Linux Security Updates for CSE Servers: The latest security patches will be applied to servers running Linux distributions that service faculty, staff, and students of the Computer Science Department.
5PM-8PM Configuration Manager Updates: The software ETS uses to deploy patches, applications, and image Microsoft Windows computers will be upgrade to version 1810. This provides a bug fix in regards to patching the Windows 10 1709 operating system.
5PM-10PM Dreese Network Update: The latest revision of switch, router, and firewall software will be applied to network devices servicing the Computer Science department. This update is expected to provide numerous security enhancements. CSE customers will not have network connectivity during this window.
5PM-10PM CSE PaperCut Upgrade: The latest version of PaperCut print-job accounting software will be installed. Release 18.3 fixes minor bugs in regards to email-to-print and refund workflows. It also adds support for more types of printers and printer drivers.
10PM-11PM Bevis Network Update: The latest revision of switch, router, and firewall software will be applied to network devices servicing the Biomedical Engineering Department. This update is expected to provide numerous security enhancements. BME customers will not have network connectivity during this window.
11:30PM-1:30AM Home2 (last names P-Z) File Server Performance and Stability Changes: In response to an infrastructure Incident and vendor recommendations, ETS will be making changes to the disk configuration for its Windows clustered storage services. We will be moving to higher performance thick provisioned disks. These disks will also be smaller in overall size. During this window, individuals with a last name beginning with P-Z will not have access to their U:\ drive.
We hope you find this information helpful in regards to ETS planned spring break activities. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us at: etshelp@osu.edu, ETS Portal, or follow us on Twitter @OhioStateETS