Networking Outages & Alerts

Fuller Labs Chassis Replacement (16 October 2007)
New VPN Service Avalability (27 July 2006)
Scheduled Network Maintenance Window and Internet Outage (20 December 2005)
Network Outage for entire WPI and Waltham campus, Mass Academy and Continuing Education (85 Prescott Street) (2 August 2005)
Wireless Changes - WPA changeover (21 July 2005)
Network Outage for Morgan Hall, Daniels Hall, Sanford Riley Hall and Alden Hall (22 February 2005)
Network Outage for Morgan Hall, Daniels Hall, Riley Hall and Alden Hall (22 February 2005)
Emergency Router Software Maintenance (25 January 2005)
Networking, Systems and Services Planned Outages (20 December 2004)
Blocking of unencrypted XDMCP and X11 into campus (7 October 2004)
Wireless Network Encryption Key Change (6 August 2004)
Planned Network Outage (6 August 2004)
Planned Network Outage (13 April 2004)
Planned Network and Power outage for the Fuller Labs Computer Room (16 February 2004)
Planned power outage affecting networking (17 October 2003)
Blocked services on WPI Network (11 August 2003)
Wireless network encryption key change (7 August 2003)
Network and Phone Outage in Goddard Hall (5 August 2003)
Network and Phone Outage in Boynton Hall (25 July 2003)
Planned Fuller Labs Computer Room Power Outage (16 May 2003)
Network Equipment Replacement (31 March 2003)
Network Attack (25 January 2003)
Planned Network Outage (2 December 2002)
Planned Network Backbone Outage (10 October 2002)
Planned Network and Telephone outage for Daniels Hall (4 September 2002)
Wireless Encryption Key Change (22 July 2002)
Planned Network and Power outage for the Fuller Labs Computer Room (26 June 2002)
Nimda Virus causing Network Congestion (18 September 2001)
Fuller Labs Computer Room Power Outage (10 August 2001)

Fuller Labs Chassis Replacement

Posted 16 October 2007 by Network Operations

When?	Thursday, October 18, 2007 starting at 7:15 pm through 9:00 pm
How long?	Approximately 2 hours
Why?	The network chassis in Fuller labs are eight years old and are beginning to fail. The new chassis will continue to provide a stable network environment for our faculty, researchers and students in the building.
Groups Affected	All faculty, staff, and students with wired or wireless devices that connect to the WPI network in the Fuller Labs
Impact	Faculty, staff, and students with wired or wireless devices that connect to the WPI network in the Fuller Labs building will lose network connectivity during this time.
Questions	Contact Network Operations and Security by calling x6666 or email netops@wpi.edu or contact the Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu

Details
NetOps will be replacing the network chassis in Fuller Labs on Thursday, October 18, 2007 starting at 7:15 pm through 9:00 pm. The network chassis in Fuller labs are eight years old and are beginning to fail. The new chassis will continue to provide a stable network environment for our faculty, researchers and students in the building. Wired and wireless networked devices in all offices and labs will lose connectivity at this time. The WPI Server Room located in Fuller Labs will not be affected.

New VPN Service Avalability

Posted 27 July 2006 by Network Operations

When?	Wednesday, August 2, 2006
How long?	The old VPN will be upgraded to the new system Wednesday, August 2, 2006.
Why?	Network Operations and Security will be upgrading the current VPN service. The new VPN will support clientless secure access on the following platforms: Windows 2000 with Service patch 4, Windows XP with Service Pack 2, Fedora Core Linux, Gentoo Linux, Ubuntu Linux and Mac OS 10.4 Advance instructions on how to access and setup the new VPN can be found at: http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/CCC/Netops/VPN/ by following the ‘advance instructions’ link.
Groups Affected	All faculty, staff, and students
Impact	Starting Wednesday August 2, 2006 we will replace the current VPN service. The current clients for Faculty and Staff will work until August 9, 2006, after that time they will no longer be supported. The student VPN client will stop working on August 2, 2006.
Questions	Contact Network Operations and Security by calling x6666 or email netops@wpi.edu or contact the Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu.

Details
Network Operations and Security will be upgrading the current VPN service. The new VPN will support clientless secure access on the following platforms: Windows 2000 with Service patch 4, Windows XP with Service Pack 2, Fedora Core Linux, Gentoo Linux, Ubuntu Linux and Mac OS 10.4
Advance instructions on how to access and setup the new VPN can be found at: http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/CCC/Netops/VPN/ by following the ‘advance instructions’ link.

Scheduled Network Maintenance Window and Internet Outage

Posted 20 December 2005 by Network Operations

When?	Tuesday, December 27, 2005
How long?	Tuesday, December 27, 2005 starting at 8:00 AM through 3:00 PM
Why?	Network Operations and Security will be upgrading network switching and routing software throughout the network. We will also be performing maintenance on WPI’s Internet connection. During this time access to the internet from on campus and access to the WPI network from off campus will be unavailable.
Groups Affected	All faculty, staff, and students
Impact	All access to the internet will be unavailable from on campus locations and all access to the WPI network from off campus will be unavailable during this time frame. Network access in campus buildings will also be disrupted while we upgrade the network switching and routing software in each building – this disruption should last approximately 3 minutes for each building.
Questions	Contact Network Operations and Security by calling x6666 or email netops@wpi.edu or contact the Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu

Details
Network Operations and Security will be upgrading network switching and routing software throughout the network as well as performing maintenance on WPI’s Internet connection. During this time access to the internet from on campus and access to the WPI network from off campus will be unavailable. Network access in campus buildings will also be disrupted while we upgrade the network switching and routing software in each building - this disruption should last approximately 3 minutes for each building.

Network Outage for entire WPI and Waltham campus, Mass Academy and Continuing Education (85 Prescott Street)

Posted 2 August 2005 by Network Operations

When?	August 13, 2005 starting at 4:00 AM through 4:00 PM
How long?	Approximately 12 hours
Why?	Network access will not be available due to upgrades to the WPI Backbone Chassis.
Groups Affected	All WPI Staff, Faculty and Students
Impact	Networking throughout WPI will be unavailable.
Questions	Contact NetOps at x6666 or netops@wpi.edu or the WPI helpdesk at x5888 or helpdesk@wpi.edu

Details
Network Access will be unavailable August 13 starting at 4:00 AM through 4:00 PM. During this time NetOps will be replacing the WPI backbone chassis that routes all network traffic throughout campus. The following Network services will be unavailable during this time:

Internet Access / WWW (from on and off campus)

Wireless Network

Banner

UNIX login

Windows ADMIN and STUDENT domain login

ATAR Login

VPN Login

Email Access (no email will be lost during this time)

MyWPI access

Library network services

Toaster / home directory access

Proxy Services

Network Printing

WPI Waltham campus will not have Internet access

IP based telephony (85 Prescott Street and 157 West Street)

If you have any questions please contact NetOps at x6666 or netops@wpi.edu or the WPI helpdesk at x5888 or helpdesk@wpi.edu.

Wireless Changes - WPA changeover

Posted 21 July 2005 by Network Operations

When?	Friday, August 5, 2005
How long?	Indefinitely
Why?	To address significant security vulnerabilities in the WEP encryption scheme used on the WPI wireless network.
Groups Affected	All users of the on campus wireless network.
Impact	The encryption scheme currently used on the WPI wireless network will be changing from WEP to WPA. This change will impact all users of the WPI wireless network. If the change is not made on the wireless device by August 5, 2005, the wireless network will not be available for use by that device.
Questions	Please contact Network Operations at netops@wpi.edu or x6666 or the CCC Helpdesk at helpdesk@wpi.edu or x5888 for any questions of further assistance.

Details
Since its original deployment, the WEP encryption algorithm employed in WiFi networks has been found to have serious security flaws which attackers can use to gain unauthorized access. To mitigate these problems without requiring wholesale equipment replacement, the WPA standard has been released.
It is compatible with standard WEP only hardware, but addresses all known security vulnerabilities.

With the release of Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, support for WPA is now widespread enough for WPI to make the transition. The new WPA protected network is currently available in parallel with the WEP network under a new SSID of "WPI-Wireless". The WEP network will be left in place until August 5, 2005 in order to give users adequate time to make the transition.

The wireless information page has been updated to reflect this change. It includes the necessary certificate files and directions for Windows XP Service Pack 2 and OS X version 10.4. Linux directions will be released soon, depending on the results of testing and software support.

NetOps has also been working with academic and department system administrators to test and implement this change.

The wireless directions can be found at

http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/CCC/Netops/Wireless/

Please contact Network Operations at netops@wpi.edu or x6666 or the CCC Helpdesk at helpdesk@wpi.edu or x5888 for any questions of further assistance.

Network Outage for Morgan Hall, Daniels Hall, Sanford Riley Hall and Alden Hall

Posted 22 February 2005 by Network Operations

When?	March 9, 2005 starting at 5:00 AM through 7:00 PM
How long?	Approximately 14 hours
Why?	Network access will not be available in Morgan Hall, Daniels Hall, Sanford Riley Hall and Alden Hall due to relocation of electrical service.
Groups Affected	Staff, Faculty and Students located in Morgan Hall, Daniels Hall, Riley Hall and Alden Hall
Impact	Networking in in Morgan Hall, Daniels Hall, Sanford Riley Hall and Alden Hall will be unavailable.
Questions	Contact Network Operations by calling X6666 or via email netops@wpi.edu

Details
All Network Access in in Morgan Hall, Daniels Hall, Sanford Riley Hall and Alden Hall will be unavailable due to electrical services being moved. The outage will start on March 9, 2005 at 5:00 am and last approximately 14 hours.

Network Outage for Morgan Hall, Daniels Hall, Riley Hall and Alden Hall

Posted 22 February 2005 by Network Operations

When?	March 4, 2005 starting at 5:00 AM through 9:00 AM
How long?	Approximately 4 hours
Why?	Network access will not be available in Morgan Hall, Daniels Hall, Riley Hall and Alden Hall due to relocation of electrical service.
Groups Affected	Staff, Faculty and Students located in Morgan Hall, Daniels Hall, Riley Hall and Alden Hall
Impact	All Network Access in in Morgan Hall, Daniels Hall, Riley Hall and Alden Hall will be unavailable.
Questions	Contact Network Operation by calling x6666 or e-mail netops@wpi.edu

Details
All Network Access in in Morgan Hall, Daniels Hall, Riley Hall and Alden Hall will be unavailable due to electrical services being moved. The outage will start on March 4, 2005 at 5:00 am and last approximately 4 hours.

Emergency Router Software Maintenance

Posted 25 January 2005 by Network Operations

When?	Wednesday, January 26, 2005 starting at 5:30 PM through 6:00 PM
How long?	Approximately 30 Minutes
Why?	Emergency Router Software Maintenance
Groups Affected	The WPI Community will not have Internet access during this time
Impact	There will be no Internet connectivity to or from campus at this time
Questions	Contact Network Operations by calling X6666 or via email netops@wpi.edu

Details
Network Operations will be performing Emergency Router Software Maintenance Wednesday, January 26, 2005 starting at 5:30 PM and ending at approximately 6:00 PM. The WPI community will be without Internet access during this time.

Networking, Systems and Services Planned Outages

Posted 20 December 2004 by CCC Helpdesk

When?	12/27/2004, 01/03/2005, and 01/08/2005
How long?	Varied - see items listed below
Why?	Systems Maintenance & Upgrades
Groups Affected	Faculty, Students and Staff
Impact	There will be a number of systems and services outages during the winter recess. Monday, December 27, 2004, starting at Midnight and lasting 24 hours: -------------------------------------------- * All Networking Services will be unavailable for short periods of time intermittently throughout the 24 hour period. * All Windows services (ADMIN & STUDENT domain login & Exchange access) will be unavailable as work is being done on the servers * myWPI will be unavailable for use and systems maintenance will be performed. Monday, 01/03/2005 (10:00 am - Noon): ------------------------------------- * Upgrade to the new http://users.wpi.edu web server resulting in intermittent access. Saturday, 01/08/2005 (Midnight - 8:00 AM: ----------------------------------------- * Primary WPI Mail server upgrade. In order to improve mail server functionality, the current server is being upgraded with larger, faster disks and a new operating system.
Questions	Contact the Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu

Details
There will be a number of systems and services outages during the winter recess.

Monday, December 27, 2004:
* All Networking Services will be unavailable for short (about 15 minute) intervals throughout the 24-hour period.
* All Windows services (ADMIN & STUDENT domain login & Exchange access) will be unavailable as work is being done on the servers
* myWPI will be unavailable for use and systems maintenance will be performed.

Monday, 01/03/2005:
* Upgrade to the new http://users.wpi.edu web server (10:00 am - Noon), resulting in intermittent access.

Saturday, 01/08/2005:
* WPI's Primary E-mail server will be upgraded.
- In order to improve mail server functionality, the current server is being upgraded with larger, faster disks and a new operating system.
- The upgrade will begin at midnight and should take about 8 hours to complete.
- No email will be delivered during this time. This includes mail from WPI addresses to other WPI addresses and mail coming onto and leaving campus.
- Mail will be queued up and delivered over the course of the next day once the server is back up.
- Internal Exchange email will continue to be delivered.
- Details:
* The current mail server disks (five 36GB 10,000RPM U320 SCSI disks) are being replaced with 72GB 15,000RPM U320 SCSI disks.
* The operating system is being upgraded from Red Hat Linux 7.3 to Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Server 3.0.

Thank you for you understanding and cooperation as we work on our systems

Blocking of unencrypted XDMCP and X11 into campus

Posted 7 October 2004 by Network Operations

When?	Starting October 7, 2004
How long?	Until further notice
Why?	Security Issue regarding X11 configurations
Groups Affected	Faculty, Staff and Students
Impact	The Following services will be impacted by this outage: - Unencrypted X11 connections from off-campus - Unencrypted XDMCP connections from off-campus - X11 applications accessed directly via the above methods
Questions	Contact the Network Operations by calling x6666 or emailing netops@wpi.edu or contact the CCC Helpdesk at x5888 or emailing helpdesk@wpi.edu

Details
Due to increasing concerns about X11 security on campus, Network
Operations will be blocking port 177 and 6000 from off-campus until
further notice. Impact should be minimal since widespread use of SSH now allows for X11 traffic to move security around the network.

Those that use services like Xwin32 from their home computers are advised to use the WPI VPN to connect to campus or use PuTTy to tunnel the traffic via SSH to maintain functionality.

The ports being blocked are used for XDMCP and X11 only which are port 177/tcp and port 6000/tcp respectively.

Please address any questions to the WPI Network Operations or Helpdesk:

Ext. 6666 / (508)831-6666 / netops@wpi.edu
Ext. 5888 / (508)831-5888 / helpdesk@wpi.edu

Wireless Network Encryption Key Change

Posted 6 August 2004 by Network Operations

When?	Monday, August 16, 2004 at 5:00 pm
How long?	Permanent
Why?	Encryption Keys are changed on a yearly basis to prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to the WPI network
Groups Affected	All users of the WPI wireless Network
Impact	Users of the WPI Wireless Network who do not update their encryption keys will no longer work on the WPI Wireless Network after Monday, August 16, 2004 at 5:00 pm
Questions	Contact Network Operations by calling x6666 or e-mail netops@wpi.edu, or contact the Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu.

Details
This is the annual wireless encryption key change to aid in securing the wireless network at WPI. All users of the wireless network will need to modify their encryption key or they will no longer have access to the WPI wireless Network. The new encryption key can be found at http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/CCC/Netops/Wireless/ and clicking the ‘Encryption Keys’ link.

Planned Network Outage

Posted 6 August 2004 by Network Operations

When?	August 14, 2004 from 6:30 am until 3:00 pm
How long?	8.5 hours
Why?	Plant Services planned electrical shutdown
Groups Affected	Entire WPI Community
Impact	Internet and Local Network access in all WPI facilities on the Main, Southboro, Mass Academy, and Bioengineering Institute campuses will be unavailable. All network services will unavailable.
Questions	Contact Network Operations by calling x6666 or e-mail netops@wpi.edu, or contact the Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu.

Details
Due to a planned Plant Services electrical shutdown of Stratton Hall,
Boynton Hall, Project Center, Washburn Reactor Facility & the Power House on Saturday, August 14th from 6:30 am to 3:00 pm, the entire WPI network will be unavailable.

Internal and external network connectivity in all WPI facilities on
the Main, Southboro, Mass Academy, and Bioengineering
Institute (BEI) campuses will be unavailable.

The following network services will be unavailable:

E-mail (No email will be lost, just unavailable during this time frame)
Usenet News
World Wide Web (www.wpi.edu / users.wpi.edu)
Administrative (Admin) PC LAN
Academic PC LAN
MyWPI
Library Services
Proxy Services
Banner / Oracle database
Mcteer
CCC UNIX services and cluster (ccc.wpi.edu)
Toaster/Home directories
Alumni Services
CCC Printing

Planned Network Outage

Posted 13 April 2004 by Network Operations

When?	April 17, 2004 from 6:00 am until 8:00 am
How long?	Approximately 2 hours
Why?	Plant Services planned electrical shutdown
Groups Affected	Entire WPI Community
Impact	Internet and Local Network access in all WPI facilities on the Main, Waltham, Southboro, Mass Academy, and Bioengineering Institute campuses will be unavailable. All network services will unavailable.
Questions	Contact Network Operations by calling x6666 or e-mail netops@wpi.edu, or contact the Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu

Details
Due to a planned Plant Services electrical shutdown of
Stratton Hall, Boynton Hall, Project Center, & the Power House on Saturday, April 17th from 6 AM to 8 AM, the WPI network will be unavailable.

Internal and external network connectivity in all WPI facilities on the Main, Waltham, Southboro, Mass Academy, and Bioengineering Institute (BEI) campuses will be unavailable.

The following network services will be unavailable:

E-mail (No email will be lost, just unavailable during this time frame)
Usenet News
World Wide Web (www.wpi.edu / users.wpi.edu)
Administrative (Admin) PC LAN
Academic PC LAN
MyWPI
Library Services
Proxy Services
Banner / Oracle database
Mcteer
CCC UNIX services and cluster (ccc.wpi.edu)
Toaster/Home directories
Alumni Services
CCC Printing
IBM Super Computer and Atar (ME Cluster)

Planned Network and Power outage for the Fuller Labs Computer Room

Posted 16 February 2004 by Network Operations

When?	March 6, 2004 from 6:00 am until 4:00 pm
How long?	10 Hours
Why?	WPI will be installing a backup generator to support the Fuller Labs Server Room
Groups Affected	WPI Main Campus, WPI Waltham Campus, WPI Southboro Campus
Impact	Access to WPI E-mail, news, and web pages will be unavailable. Domain service for both the Academic and Administrative PC LAN will be unavailable. Academic services via MyWPI as well as Library databases will be unavailable. Banner and other Oracle database services will be unavailable. The IBM Super Computer and Atar (ME Cluster) will be unavailable. The CCC Unix cluster will be shut down. Home directories will be offline. Services via alum.wpi.edu will be offline. Internet access to the WPI Waltham and Southboro campus' will be unavailable. Internal and external network access to Fuller labs will be unavailable.
Questions	Contact Network Operations (x6666 or email netops@wpi.edu) or the Helpdesk (x5888 or email helpdesk@wpi.edu)

Details
The following services will be unavailable on March 6, 2004 from 6:00 am until 4:00 pm due to the installation of a backup generator to support the Fuller Labs Computer Room:

E-mail(No email will be lost, just unavailable during this time frame)
News
www.wpi.edu
Administrative (Admin) PC LAN
Academic PC LAN
MyWPI
Library Services
Banner
CCC UNIX services (ccc.wpi.edu)
Mcteer
Toaster/Home directories
Alumni Services
CCC Printing
Proxy Services
Internal and external access to Fuller Labs
WPI Waltham and Southboro campus' will not have Internet access

Planned power outage affecting networking

Posted 17 October 2003 by Network Operations

When?	Saturday October 18, 2003 from 5AM-10AM or 5AM - 6PM
How long?	5 hours or 13 hours, depending on location
Why?	Plant Services planned electrical power outage announced previously.
Groups Affected	Network and Internet users in the affected buildings
Impact	No Internet or network connectivity will be available to the following buildings: Harrington, Alumni Gym, Higgins Labs, Alden, Sanford-Riley, Daniels, Morgan, Campus Center, Goddard, Olin, ATO, Hughes, Jeppson, Counseling Center, PSS, 16 Elbridge, 49 Institute.
Questions	Contact the Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu

Details
Due to the previously announced planned electrical power outage by Plant Services, no network or Internet connectivity will be available to the following facilities at the following times:

Saturday, October 18, 2003 5AM to 10AM:

Harrington Auditorium
Alumni Gym
Higgins Labs
Alden Hall, affecting:
- West Street Counseling Center
- Phi Sigma Sigma House
- 16 Elbridge
- 49 Institute
Sanford-Riley Hall
Daniels Hall (the CBORD system will remain online)
Morgan Hall, affecting:
- Alpha Tau Omega
- Hughes House (Provost)
- Jeppson House (President)
Campus Center

Saturday, October 18, 2003 5AM to 6PM:

Goddard Hall
Olin Hall

Blocked services on WPI Network

Posted 11 August 2003 by Network Operations

When?	Aug. 11, 2003 @ 11:00pm
How long?	Unknown
Why?	To prevent the spread of a new virus
Groups Affected	All Users of Microsoft Exchange, Outlook, Messenger, and other network applications
Impact	Microsoft Messenger service, Microsoft RPC services, Trivial File Transfer Protocol.
Questions	Contact the Netops by e-mailing netops@wpi.edu

Details
A few new viruses, nicknamed 'Blaster', 'MSBlast', 'Nachi' and 'Welchia', have been released and are spreading quickly. In an effort to prevent the spread of this worm until users have the opportunity to patch their systems, TCP and UDP ports 135 and 69 have been temporarily blocked on globally on the WPI network. These ports have already been blocked on the network connections from WPI to the Internet and Internet 2 for several years.

As a result of this block, WPI users will not be able to use certain Microsoft applications which rely on MS-RPC/DCOM networking protocols, such as Microsoft Outlook/Exchange. Users are encouraged to use Outlook Web at this time http://webmail.wpi.edu/.

Users both inside the network and remote VPN users are advised to install all critical updates from the Microsoft Update website to prevent further infection. http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

This vulnerability affects all version of Windows(98, NT, 2000, XP, 2003). Linux and Apple's Mac are not affected.

Wireless network encryption key change

Posted 7 August 2003 by Network Operations

When?	Monday, August 11th 2003
How long?	Permanent
Why?	Encryption keys must be changed on a regular basis to prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to WPI networks
Groups Affected	All users of the WPI wireless network
Impact	Users of the wireless network who do not update their encryption keys will no longer work on the WPI wireless network after August 11th 2003.
Questions	Contact NetOps at x6666 or email netops@wpi.edu or Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu

Details
This is the annual encryption key change to aid in securing the wireless networking at WPI. All users of the wireless network will have to modify their encryption key or they will no longer have access to the wireless network. The new encryption key can be found at: https://www.wpi.edu/Admin/Netops/Keys/

Network and Phone Outage in Goddard Hall

Posted 5 August 2003 by Network Operations

When?	Friday and Saturday, August 8-9, 2003
How long?	Friday 5 PM through Saturday 5PM
Why?	NetOps will be moving/replacing the copper and fiber lines to Goddard Hall
Groups Affected	Goddard Hall
Impact	Networking and Telephone Services will be offline
Questions	Contact NetOps at x6666 or email netops@wpi.edu or Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu

Details
NetOps will be moving/replacing the copper and fiber lines to Goddard Hall. Goddard Hall will be without networking and telephone access from 5:00 PM on Friday, August 8 through 5:00 PM on Saturday, August 9.

Network and Phone Outage in Boynton Hall

Posted 25 July 2003 by Network Operations

When?	Saturday , August 2, 2003
How long?	6:00 AM through 8:00 PM
Why?	NetOps will be moving/replacing the copper and fiber lines to Boynton Hall
Groups Affected	Boynton Hall
Impact	Networking and Telephone Services will be offline
Questions	Contact NetOps at x6666 or email at netops@wpi.edu or Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu

Details
NetOps will be moving/replacing the copper and fiber lines to Boynton Hall to accomidate the new steam pipe infrastructure. Boynton Hall will be without networking and telephone access from 6:00 AM through 8:00 PM.

Planned Fuller Labs Computer Room Power Outage

Posted 16 May 2003 by Network Operations

When?	Wednesday, May 21, 2003; 6:30 am - 8:30 am
How long?	Approximately 2 hours
Why?	Re-balance power phases and install additional power for new file server
Groups Affected	WPI Main Campus, WPI Waltham Campus, WPI Southboro Campus
Impact	Access to WPI E-mail, UseNet News, and WPI web pages will be unavailable. Domain services for both the Academic and Administrative PC LAN will be unavailable. Academic services via MyWPI as well as Library databases will be unavailable. Banner and other Oracle database services will be unavailable. The CCC Unix cluster will be shut down. Home directories and other file shares from Toaster will be offline. Services via alum.wpi.edu will be offline. Also, external Internet access to and from Fuller labs will be unavailable. This will affect the ADP and CCC public labs as well as the Computer Science Dept., Academic Technology Center, the WPI Waltham and Metrowest campuses, and access to the WPI VPN.
Questions	Contact Network Operations (x6666 or email netops@wpi.edu) or the Helpdesk (x5888 or email helpdesk@wpi.edu).

Details
On Wednesday, May 21, 2003, from approximately 6:30 AM to 8:30 AM, the following services will be unavailable during power upgrades in the Fuller Labs Computer Room:

E-mail
UseNet News
www.wpi.edu and users.wpi.edu
Administrative PC LAN
Academic PC LAN
MyWPI
Library Services
Banner & Oracle
CCC UNIX services
Toaster/Home directories
Alumni Services
CCC Printing
External Internet access from Fuller Labs
WPI VPN

Network Equipment Replacement

Posted 31 March 2003 by Network Operations

When?	Tuesday, April 1, 7am - 9am
How long?	Approximately 2 hours
Why?	Hardware failure
Groups Affected	Theta Chi, Alpha Tau Omega, Hughes House, Jeppson House
Impact	No network connectivity will be availble to the following locations: TC, ATO, Hughes House (Provost), Jeppson House (President).
Questions	Contact Network Operations by calling x6666 or e-mail netops@wpi.edu

Details
The connections to the WPI network from TC, ATO, Hughes House (Provost), and Jeppson House (President) will be unavailable for approximately two hours while a faulty piece of equipment is replaced. The work is expected to be completed between the hours of 7am and 9am and should take approximately two hours.

Network Attack

Posted 25 January 2003 by Network Operations

When?	Saturday moring, 12:00 midnight until 9:00am
How long?	approximately 9 hours
Why?	Internet-wide MS SQL Server Worm attack
Groups Affected	Entire Internet
Impact	The network connectivity on- and off-campus was unstable during this time.
Questions	Contact Network Operations by calling 508-831-6666 or e-mail netops@wpi.edu, or contact the CCC Helpdesk by calling 508-831-5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu.

Details
An Internet-wide attack on MS SQL Servers started Saturday morning at midnight and has caused unstable network connectivity on- and off-campus until Saturday at 9am, at which time network stability was restored. Netops is actively scanning for infected computers on-campus, and will shut off network connections to infected computers until they can be cleaned.

Slashdot reports:

http://slashdot.org/articles/03/01/25/1245206.shtml?tid=109

Posted by pudge on Saturday January 25, @07:43AM
from the no-man-will-know-the-day-or-the-hour dept.

defile writes "Since about midnight EST almost every host on the internet has been receiving a 376 byte UDP payload on port ms-sql-m (1434) from a random infected server. Reports of some hosts receiving 10 per minute or more. internetpulse.net is reporting UUNet and Internap are being hit very hard. This is the cause of major connectivity problems being experienced worldwide. It is believed this worm leverages a vulnerability published in June 2002. Several core routers have taken to blocking port 1434 outright. If you run Microsoft SQL Server, make sure the public internet can't access it. If you manage a gateway, consider dropping UDP packets sent to port 1434." bani adds "This has effectively disabled 5 of the 13 root nameservers."

Planned Network Outage

Posted 2 December 2002 by Network Operations

When?	5pm December 17th
How long?	Approx. 10 Minutes
Why?	Swap out Gigabit Board in Backbone Chassis
Groups Affected	All
Impact	Toaster, unix servers, and NT servers will all be unavailible
Questions	Contact Network Operations at x6666 or Helpdesk at x5888

Details
The network core in Fuller Labs is being updated to newer equipment. During this time, a number of services will be unavailible, including all home directories, any files shared off of an affected system, and email. The systems affected are:

toaster
delphi.admin
petra.admin
salsa.admin
admnt1.admin
galaxy.academic
argus.academic
wpi1 through wpi10
ccc1 through ccc10
atar.wpi.edu

Planned Network Backbone Outage

Posted 10 October 2002 by Network Operations

When?	Thursday, October 17, starting at 10:00 PM
How long?	Approximately 1 Hour
Why?	Network equipment upgrade
Groups Affected	Entire WPI community
Impact	No network connectivity will be available between buildings on campus, to the Internet, or to network servers, such as e-mail, the ADMIN domain, the ACADEMIC domain, Banner, or the web during the upgrade.
Questions	Contact Network Operations by calling 508-831-5115 or 508-831-6110 or by e-mail to netops@wpi.edu

Details
WPI Network Operations will be performing an upgrade of the main network backbone router in order to support IP multicast services in preparation for WPI's new Internet2 Access Grid Node. The upgrade will commence on Thursday, October 17, at 10:00 PM, and should not last more than one hour.

Planned Network and Telephone outage for Daniels Hall

Posted 4 September 2002 by Network Operations

When?	From 7:00 PM Friday 9/6/2002 through Saturday 9/7/2002
How long?	Approximately 24 hours
Why?	Relocation of the Daniels Network and Telephone infrastructure
Groups Affected
Impact	Telephone and Network service to Daniels Hall will be unavailable. This includes fax machines and modems.
Questions	Contact Network Operations (netops@wpi.edu)or the Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu

Details
A physical relocation of the Networking/Telecom closet is being performed. This requires removing the old cabling and replacing it in the new closet. Any system that runs over the telephone lines (modems, phone, fax, point-of-sale) will be unavailable.
Network access will also be disabled. This effects both dorm rooms and academic facilities in Daniels Hall. Students are urged to utilize public labs to complete any required work.

Wireless Encryption Key Change

Posted 22 July 2002 by Network Operations

When?	Monday, July 29
How long?	1 year
Why?	Standing security policy
Groups Affected	Computers and PDA's on the WPI Wireless Network
Impact	All wireless-enabled computers will need to have their wireless keys changed to the new codes to maintain their access to the wireless network. Failure to change the keys will cause loss of connectivity.
Questions	Contact the Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu

Details
For the new encryption keys, please access

http://www.wpi.edu/Admin/Netops/wireless.html

and follow the link to the encryption keys.

Due to security concerning the wireless network, the Access keys must be changed on a regular basis. This prevents unauthorized access due to "leaked" or old keys. Since wireless network traffic has a much higher chance of compromise than the main WPI campus network, it is recommended that the WPI community also use the WPI VPN services to further encrypt traffic.

Planned Network and Power outage for the Fuller Labs Computer Room

Posted 26 June 2002 by Network Operations

When?	5pm on July 3rd to Noon to July 5th
How long?	Approx. 43 hours
Why?	Power and Network upgrades to the Fuller Labs Server Room
Groups Affected	WPI Main Campus, WPI Waltham Campus, WPI Southboro Campus
Impact	Access to WPI E-mail, news, and web pages will be unavailable. Domain services for both the Academic and Administrative PC LAN will be unavailable. Academic services via MyWPI as well as Library databases will be unavailable. Banner and other Oracle database services will be unavailable. The CCC Unix cluster will be shut down. Home directories will be offline. Services via alum.wpi.edu will be offline. Also, external Internet access to and from Fuller labs will be unavailable for a 2 hours on July 4th. This will affect the ADP and CCC public labs as well as the Computer Science Dept.
Questions	Contact Network Operations (x5115 or email netops@wpi.edu) or the Helpdesk (x5888 or email helpdesk@wpi.edu).

Details
The following services will be off line from July 3 at 5:00 PM until July 5 at 12:00 PM:

E-mail
News
www.wpi.edu
Administrative PC LAN
Academic PC LAN
MyWPI
Library Services
Banner
CCC UNIX services
Toaster/Home directories
Alumni Services
CCC Printing
External Internet access from Fuller Labs (2 hours on July 4)

Nimda Virus causing Network Congestion

Posted 18 September 2001 by Network Operations

When?
How long?	Undetermined
Why?
Groups Affected
Impact	Campus Wide
Questions	Networking questions can be forwarded to Network Operations at x6063 or e-mailed to netops@wpi.edu. Questions concerning the nimda virus can be forwared to the Helpdesk by calling x5888 or e-mail helpdesk@wpi.edu

Details
Today, starting at 10:00am this morning, WPI has been
experiencing network difficulties. These difficulties
are being caused by a virus called "nimda". This virus
is spread by email attachments, open Windows shares,
and web requests.

Once infected, the computer begins to search for open
shares or vulnerable web servers on other computers.
The large quantities of traffic this produces is the
cause of the problems today.

McAfee has an updated .dat file which may remove the
virus, if you have McAfee installed. The file may be
found at:

http://vil.nai.com/vil/virusSummary.asp?virus_k=99209

The Computer Shop is working on a solution for infected
PCs which are not running McAfee.

NetOps will be taking measures to restore reliable
connectivity to academic and administrative systems.
Any computer infected with this virus will be taken
off the network until the virus can be cleaned. If
you have any further questions please e-mail me back
at netops@wpi.edu or you can contact the helpdesk
at helpdesk@wpi.edu.

Sean

--
------------------------------------------------------------
Sean Michael O'Connor soconnor@wpi.edu
Manager of Network Operations (508) 831-5115
College Computer Center (508) 831-5483 (fax)
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
100 Institute Rd
Worcester MA 01609

Fuller Labs Computer Room Power Outage

Posted 10 August 2001 by

When?	Tuesday, August 14, 2001 from 5:00 PM until 10:00 PM
How long?	5 hours (Approximate downtime)
Why?	The electrical system within the room will be upgraded to meet current fire code requirements.
Groups Affected
Impact	- There will be limited network connectivity on the WPI network - Login access to the Admin, UNIX, HP, and IBM servers will be unavailable during the outage - Access to Banner, including Banner Client and ODBC access, web access to Online registration, Web for Employees, and Banner Web will be unavailable. - All Computer Science Servers - E-mail access via Unix and Exchange servers will be unavailable, Exchange users will not be able to send or receive e-mail through the Exchange server during the outage. - Access to the CDC and Work Orders systems will be unavailable. - Anyone logged in to Elwood or the Admin Domain when the outage begins will be automatically logged off. Users will need to log back in, once the systems are again available for login. - Off-campus web access to web pages will be unavailable - Modem access will be unavailable
Questions	Contact Sean O'Connor by e-mail to soconnor@wpi.edu

Details
This message is to inform the WPI Community that the CCC computer room will be unavailable on Tuesday, August 14, 2001 from 5:00 PM until 10:00PM. During this time the electrical system within the room will be upgraded to meet current fire code requirements.

During this time the network in Fuller Labs as well as all administrative systems (Elwood, Admin, Career Development Center BrassRing system, Work Orders system), Unix Systems (ccc, grover, ernie, bert, wpi, emdall, cpu), the Computer Science Servers, the WPI web servers, the IBM Super Computer, MyWPI, the Endeavor System (Library database server) and the CCC modem bank will not be available. We will keep these systems on the computer rooms UPS (battery backup system) as long as possible before shutting them down.

During this time all incoming e-mail will be queued - no e-mail will be lost.

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Last modified: Feb 25, 2005, 16:37 EST