Internet Connectivity Update - August 15, 2018 9.00pm

I am pleased to report that at this time just about everything is up, connected to the internet and running. The main part of campus has been up since around 10.00am today. All the dorms were taken off-line and the access points and network switches in the dorms were updated and reconfigured. Again the good news is that most of them are now up and connected. 

We are still working on it tonight and expect the only thing to be down in the morning to be a couple of dorms that need new equipment, which should be here tomorrow.

We are still seeing some errors, but the config changes and updates have made the network connections stable. We can now turn our attention to fixing the remaining errors.

I want you to know who it is when I say, We are.... The people who have been working until the wee hours and then coming back after are few hours sleep are those in the Network Services group. These people understand how central to our mission it is to have technology operating and ready to do business. They have worked very hard and with great expertise to remedy this problem. University networks have an interesting characteristic. We make significant changes over the summer to avoid major disruptions during the academic year. However, the first time these changes get tested with any load is when the students start returning! Most times there are no significant problems. And then there are the other times...

Thank you again for bearing with us during these past couple of days.

Internet Connectivity Update - August 15, 2018 at 11.00am

Harding's internet connectivity is not operational. The problem, the root problem, is deeply buried somewhere. However, we now have some positive leads to follow.

We are going to be turning off the wireless access points in the dorms. A lot of loops (the term I heard is Mac Flapping) are occurring and it seems to be coming from the access points in the dorms. After they are shut down, we are going to upgrade the access points and switches in the dorms. Just to confound this issue, one of our switch manufacturers distributed a bad patch for their switches. We will have to undo that in the process.

This also means that there will be no wireless connectivity in the dorms - right when freshman are moving in! Dormnet assistants will be in the freshman dorms during this time to help those moving in to be set up as best we can.

We are hoping that with the dorms offline, the rest of the campus will be able to operate effectively. We are aware of what is happening around campus at this time of the year and will be doing all we can to make sure you can all take care of business.

We all want to know how long this is going to take. I really wish I could give you a definite time when everything will be back and running just like it was last week. However, that is not possible at this stage. We are really striving to get it up as soon as possible and in the meantime have as much up and running as possible.

Recently we have moved to a full VoIP phone system. Our old switch was on its 'last legs' and we needed to move. However, this means our phones are also on our data networks. That is why your desk phone is not working when the internet connectivity is down. It also means that the main campus number is not available. We will be putting a message on our web page shortly telling people how to contact us, especially some of the key offices on campus such as Admissions and Public Safety.

That is the latest. I will let you know more as I know more.

Thank you all again for your kind and understanding messages, and prayers at this time.