[Note - this is a downtime during “business hours”.]

We will be shutting down KHENSU, our main Windows File Server, on Wednesday afternoon, August 23, at 3pm. This outage is to install some critical updates on all its disks and operating system.

While this affects all our CAT supported Windows users in MCECS, please note that the outage will particularly impact departmental offices in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, we need to do this during “business hours” due to the critical nature of the updates - if there are any problems, we want to be able to work with Dell immediately. The work could take up to 3 hours (but if all goes well, it should be much shorter).

This downtime will not affect any of our Linux systems.

The dates for electrical work that involves building-wide power outages have been set. The start times for the work haven’t been locked down yet but we are expecting a start time of around 8pm and extending into the wee hours of the morning. The data center and other UPS backed up areas are expected to stay up - barring a major emergency encountered during the work. CAT staff will be on hand in case of emergencies.  

Tuesday night - 8/29/2017

FAB/EB power outages as new EPO (Emergency Power Off) controls on the building power feeds are installed and tested.

Wednesday night - 8/30/2017

FAB/EB power outages as the annual generator tests are performed with PGE and other vendors.

Thursday night - 8/31/2017

Reserved just in case the work from the previous night may require further testing. After the Wednesday night work is over, we will announce if the Thursday downtime is no longer needed.

Selected MCECS faculty and staff members are starting to receive new computers that come with CAT supplied Tier 1/2 Windows 10 loads. Transitioning from Windows 7 can pose a culture shock for some users.

We have compiled a list of frequently asked questions about our Windows 10 environment in this document:

https://goo.gl/2jNFk4

Since going down to a single VPN solution in MCECS (OpenVPN), we have had a few instances where some users:

1. Have trouble getting OpenVPN to work on their specific system

2. Have issues using OpenVPN from some locations where OpenVPN may be blocked (such as PCC’s Willow Creek campus)

Having diverse VPN options is a good thing. While we are working on setting up a second VPN system in MCECS, we have also been working with OIT to configure their Cisco AnyConnect VPN service to access protected MCECS resources as well. You can now use this VPN to access the following MCECS resources:

• Remote Desktop to Windows computers that you have access to

• Access file shares/folders (on khensu, UNIX/Linux home directories, stashes)

• Print using the msprint print server

• SSH into computers that are on private addresses (such as ECE’s eve/walle/mo, the CS Particle lab)