Recent problems logging onto UW-Eau Claire computers and Webmail, along with Tuesday’s server issues, are all separate things Computer Networking Services is working on fixing, Interim Director Craig Mey said.
Around noon on Tuesday, a software failure on two switches caused the university network to fail, he said.
This ultimately caused several servers to reboot, including the administrative server, the e-mail server and the print server.
| “We changed the architecture … so (the problem) wouldn’t repeat itself.” Craig May Interim Director |
A new configuration was applied to the switches, and CNS currently is monitoring the network closely.
“We changed the architecture (of the system) to minimize the problem so it wouldn’t repeat itself,” Mey said.
Students logging onto Webmail in mid-August also encountered new procedures and some problems. A Webmail update, which occurs periodically through a contract with Microsoft, changed log-in procedures.
The upgrade increased the functionality of the program, as well as offered a “private computer” or “public computer” option when logging in. Problems arose when Mac users off campus were unable to log in.
Mey said the upgrade only was tested on campus, not off, where the problems occurred.
Due to the off-campus problems, the new log-in feature was dropped from the upgrade, but new functionality features similar to that of Microsoft Outlook remain in the system.
“We’re still problem solving that (Mac problem),” Mey said, “but it shouldn’t be an issue today.”
The upgraded log-in system, which was reverted back, automatically logged students out of their accounts after five to 10 minutes when they chose the “public computer” option.
Senior Adam Gierl said his small problems are resolved now.
“I prefer the ‘old’ version,” he said, “because that let you stay logged in for extended periods of time without having to choose anything for that option.
But the new version has an option to do essentially the same thing – it just takes another click or so.”
Another recent unrelated problem, Mey said, is the slow log-in time on campus computers running on Windows XP.
Microsoft is dealing with the problem, and a solution is being applied to all affected computers, according to a CNS newsletter. The problem is expected to be resolved campus-wide this morning.
Mey said CNS is doing their best to get everything running smoothly.
“You always look internally to see what you can do better,” he said, “and how you can prevent it.”
