Service Availability
Because disruptions in network, voice mail, or electrical power can
be frustrating, Information Systems strives always to:
- Conduct preventative maintenance to avoid unexpected service disruptions.
- Maintain monitoring tools to alert Information Systems staff to
problems.
- Resolve any unanticipated disruptions as quickly as possible.
- Minimize the inconvenience caused by required computing maintenance.
- Keep you informed about anticipated or unanticipated disruptions.
Why may services be disrupted?
- Installation and testing of new services for students, faculty,
and staff.
- Installation of hardware and software upgrades that Wake Forest
needs in order to maintain support from the manufacturer.
- Hardware or software may fail unexpectedly or may fail bucause
of power outages.
- Construction projects can sever network cables or may require
temporary outages.
- Viruses such as worms that overload the servers.
When are services unavailable?
- Each Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon EST. This time is
reserved for maintenance and upgrades that may affect anywhere from
a few to nearly all computing services.
- Other times as needed. Sometimes planned maintenance cannot
be completed during the Saturday morning maintenance period. When
this is necessary, Information Systems will provide notification
about the service disruption.
- Unexpectedly. Hardware failure, power outages, viruses
or other problems can disrupt services without notice. When this
happens,
an Information Systems staff crisis response team is activated
to restore services as quickly as possible.
How is systems maintenance scheduled?
- Because Wake Forest is an active campus, with events and activities
going on nearly all the time, choosing the best time
for computing maintenance rarely means choosing the ideal
time. Given that challenge, Information Systems always works to
choose the option that will cause the least disruption to campus
activities.
How can you find out?
- Email messages from Information Systems. Often these
messages have important information about service disruptions.
- The Information Systems status line. Call 758-HELP
and select option 1 for up-to-date information and periodic
updates.
- WIN Announcements. Use this especially
for information about WIN services that may be temporarily unavailable.
- Signs posted in buildings around campus about scheduled power
outages.
- Voice mail messages from the University News Service. These will be sent if a major service disruption prevents access
to email.
- The Information Systems status page at www.wfu.edu/technology/status AND the announcements on student.wfu.edu
- Channel 2 announcements.
Experience a disruption?
- Check the Information Systems status line at 758-HELP, option
1, to see if an Information Systems is already working on the
problem.
- Report the problem to the Help Desk
if no information
is on the status line. Your report can help pinpoint and troubleshoot
a problem.
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