Policy

In order to provide a stable and high-performance server environment, DiscoverIT needs to perform regularly maintenance on the servers and the software running on them. Occasionally this requires DiscoverIT services to be brought offline. Outside of emergency situations, DiscoverIT plans for two different kinds of regular server maintenance.

Monthly Server Maintenance

Impacts

• Virtual Servers
• Web and Database Hosting
• Email, Calendar, and Mail Lists
• Document Storage
• Printing and Scanning

Sometimes other services may be included in this maintenance, like the phone system or network changes, but we will avoid including services that may impact research computing.

Schedule

DiscoverIT plans to perform Monthly Server Maintenance on the Wednesday following the second Tuesday each month, in order to be aligned with Microsoft's patching schedule.

Research Maintenance

Impacts

• Research Computing
• Research Storage

Sometimes other services may be included in this maintenance, like network changes that may impact research computing.

Schedule

When the need for a Research Maintenance window arises, DiscoverIT will pick a date approximately 3 weeks out.

Rescheduling

If the scheduled day for a maintenance interferes with important work, DiscoverIT will try to find a less disruptive time provided that enough notice is given. If a request to change a maintenance window does not arrive with at least 2 weeks notice, we may not be able to reschedule to accommodate the request.