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University of Montana Network Outage In Missoula, Butte, Dillon and Helena Scheduled for Jan. 14-16.

A major computer network outage is scheduled for this weekend at the campuses of The University of Montana in Missoula, Butte, Dillon and Helena. The outage will temporarily interrupt some University services, including Web sites, campus computers, Internet access, e-mail, and electronic Griz Card services.

The outage is required to move the core campus network into newly remodeled facilities in the basement of the UM Social Science Building in Missoula. The move will begin at 7 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, and continue through Monday, Jan. 16. University offices are closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Ray Ford, associate vice president for Information Technology, describes the scheduled event as a "once-in-a-lifetime" outage.

"The relocation requires us to power down all equipment, disconnect and move all electrical service, disconnect and move hundreds of wires and fibers, move the equipment, reconnect electrical service, reconnect hundreds of wires and fibers, then carefully power equipment back up," Ford said. "This is clearly not a task to be done frequently. In fact, this is the first major remodeling and relocation of the network facility in the 30-plus years since the network really started."

Interruptions involving central campus services will be limited to Saturday. Though campus telephone service generally will not be affected, in-state long distance phone service will be out for a few minutes Saturday morning. From 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, off-campus access to University Web sites will be limited to temporary pages, Griz Card services will be unavailable and external Internet and network access will be out. These central services will be restored by 5 p.m. Saturday, but some outages will extend into Sunday and Monday as network connections to various buildings on campus are rewired.

"Our new space will provide a better physical environment — power, air conditioning and security — that will result in a more secure and robust network," Ford said. "So although moving all the connections and equipment is a lot of work and will cause a major temporary disruption, it is well worth the effort in the long run."

For more information, visit the Information Technology Office online at http://www.umt.edu/it/avpit/coremove.htm.

Contact: Ray Ford, associate vice president for Information Technology, (406) 243-2964, [email protected]; Adrian Irish, Web services manager, Information Technology Office, (406) 243-6375, [email protected].

http://news.umt.edu/index.asp?sec=1&too=100&eve=8&dat=1/12/2006&npa=1022

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