System Maintenance

System maintenance is critical to keeping systems running smoothly and preventing unplanned disruptions.  ITS handles maintenance in the following ways:

Tuesday Morning Downtimes

Tuesday mornings between 5:00 and 7:00 am, ITS backs up core systems databases.  This disrupts main systems including WesPortal and Moodle.  Additionally, ITS attempts to complete other maintenance tasks that fit into that window as needed.

Quarterly Maintenance

Four times a year, October (fall break), January, March (spring break), and July, ITS performs major systems maintenance on one or more Saturdays.  The nature of the maintenance varies as does the amount of disruption.  ITS will announce the affected systems approximately 2 weeks prior via a community email, Facebook, Twitter and status notifications on the main login page.  Should a scheduled maintenance become extended, additional information is provided to the community via Twitter and Facebook, using email only if needed.

Individual Systems

Occasionally, an update will occur during business hours when the disruption is minimal and the benefits of doing so outweigh those of completing an update in off hours.  In these cases, affected users are notified.  Examples of this kind of maintenance include EMS and Cascade.