Topics Map > Campus Network

Campus Recurring Outage Windows

In an effort to provide longer advance notice to campus, and to ensure our ability to get needed windows the Campus Network Services group is scheduling major outage windows three times a year for the foreseeable future. These recurring windows will make it simpler for users to schedule their critical activities to avoid this network maintenance window. All outage windows are from Sunday Midnight to Sunday 8AM local time.


Note:

  • We have a weekly window from Midnight until 8AM Sunday for less intrusive work.
  • In extremely unusual circumstances we may still need to schedule maintenance outside of these windows.

Campus Long Term Recurring Outage Windows

These windows are from midnight to 8AM on Sunday mornings.

  • Winter - First Sunday after Jan 3rd.
  • Spring - First Sunday after Memorial day is observed. Memorial day is traditionally May 30th but is observed the last Monday of May.
  • Summer - Requested as needed.
  • Fall - Sunday 15 days before labor day. Labor day is the first Monday of September.

The Campus Network

The campus network consists of any fiber, equipment or cabling that moves network traffic. This consists mostly of the the following:

  • The core equipment, located in the fiber aggregation supernodes and nodes on campus.
  • The radials and access switches, a few thousand switches, mostly Cisco Catalyst 4500X, 3850, 3750G/E/X, 3650 and 3560 models. The radial switch stacks serve buildings, and the access switch stacks attach to them and provide attachments to end users and local servers.
  • Various switches in the platform data center.

What we do in these windows

Mostly the windows are used for upgrades to the operating system code on the switches. Vendors provide new features, patches for bugs and fixes for security problems. In order to benefit from these changes we need to reload the operating system software. Additionally we upgrade hardware, add new devices that affect campus as a whole and perform other maintenance that has a significance risk of affecting campus within these windows.


Campus Network Engineering is commited to taking reasonable steps to keep the campus community informed of what we are going to do in each window. Not all windows are used. If you have any questions feel free to contact the NOC and ask if anything is currently planned. Note that plans can and do change at the last minute.

Do we use all of the window?

In general no, but we cannot predict how a particular upgrade will go, and so we reserve a window larger than what we expect to need.

How does campus network engineering attempt to minimize the impact?

The general process is as follows:

  • We place the code in the lab and observe its performance.
  • If the code proves stable for a minimum of a week, we place it into limited production, usually on switches used by both campus and network services.
  • If that code proves stable for a minimum of two weeks, we stage the code onto the switches that need it, and schedule them to reload in the window.
  • The switches are reloaded in a specific sequence to minimize the impact.
    • Routed customers should see no outage until the switch they are attached to is reloaded. Platform customers that require greater stability should contact the system administrator for the machine they are using about getting redundant connections.
    • Customers on cross campus VLANs will see a slightly longer outage, since they do not have the ability to use the redundancy built into the campus network. They will see outages at various points as the switches that carry their VLAN reload.
    • If you are unsure of how your network is setup, you can contact your system administrator or LAN administrator. LAN admins can contact the DoIT NOC.

Upcoming Dates for Y+10 Years

  • 2024
    • Winter:  Sun Jan 7th
    • Spring:  Sun June 2nd
    • Fall:       Sun Aug 18th
  • 2025
    • Winter:  Sun Jan 5th
    • Spring:  Sun June 1st
    • Fall:       Sun Aug 17th
  • 2026
    • Winter:  Sun Jan 4th
    • Spring:  Sun May 31st
    • Fall:       Sun Aug 23th
  • 2027
    • Winter:  Sun Jan 10th
    • Spring:  Sun June 6th
    • Fall:       Sun Aug 22th
  • 2028
    • Winter:  Sun Jan 9th
    • Spring:  Sun June 4th
    • Fall:       Sun Aug 20th
  • 2029
    • Winter:  Sun Jan 7th
    • Spring:  Sun June 3rd
    • Fall:       Sun Aug 19th
  • 2030
    • Winter:  Sun Jan 6th
    • Spring:  Sun June 2nd
    • Fall:       Sun Aug 18th
  • 2031
    • Winter:  Sun Jan 5th
    • Spring:  Sun June 1st
    • Fall:       Sun Aug 17th
  • 2032
    • Winter:  Sun Jan 4th
    • Spring:  Sun June 6th
    • Fall:       Sun Aug 22th
  • 2033
    • Winter:  Sun Jan 9th
    • Spring:  Sun June 5th
    • Fall:       Sun Aug 21th
  • 2034
    • Winter:  Sun Jan 8th
    • Spring:  Sun June 4th
    • Fall:       Sun Aug 20th

Keywords:
outage window upgrade network backbone scheduled maintenance triannual 
Doc ID:
5520
Owned by:
Mark K. in Network Services
Created:
2007-03-11
Updated:
2023-12-01
Sites:
DoIT Help Desk, Network Services, Systems & Network Control Center