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ACCC Y2K Status
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The Academic Computing and Communications Center has a substantial number
and variety of computer equipment, most of which could be sensitive to the Y2K
computer bug. We are making a significant effort to inventory the problem, install
relevant upgrades, and test the results. We are well along the way, and expect
to have a comfortable January. Note that our efforts deal with our own systems;
they do not include programs or files owned by individual users that reside
on our computers.
Do you have any Y2K questions?
Email the UIC Y2K committee at UIC2000@uic.edu.
If you don’t do email or would just like to talk to a person, call Judith
Grobe Sachs at (312)996-3758. I don’t guarantee to know all the answers,
but I’ll get them for you.
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ADN Computer Network Connectivity
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The routers, switches, hubs, and other backbone equipment of the UIC Academic
Data Network (ADN) have all been upgraded to meet manufacturers' requirements
for Y2K compliance. The routers are date-dependent, but they all obtain their
date setting from a central time server, so it is fairly easy to test them for
Y2K problems. To be sure, we tested the network backbone in August and no problems
of any sort occurred.
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Central UNIX Servers
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Our central UNIX servers spend most of their time delivering email and Web pages, but a host of other applications run on them as well. We have several machines from three different vendors (IBM, Sun, and Hewlett-Packard), so each server has to be investigated separately. Every ACCC UNIX server machine has already had its operating system upgraded or patched according to its vendor's specifications and the major commercial applications running on them (such as SAS) are also up to specs.
We used a testbed environment while testing the UNIX servers, to further protect the integrity of the network and other ACCC computer services.
The central service machines are in public use all the time and could not be tested while in production. We did test each machine, however, one at a time, during August, just to be sure that critical applications such as email and Web service will continue to function. Testing resulted in several hours to several days of downtime per machine. No problems were observed.
After bringing down and testing the other UNIX servers without finding any Y2K problems, we decided to not bring tigger down for general Y2K testing at this time. We did, however, thoroughly test a machine that has similar hardware and exactly the same operating system as tigger. As www.uic.edu, tigger serves the UIC Web home page and many other major UIC departmental and instructional Web pages, and it also provides email service for many UIC faculty and staff members. We decided that bringing tigger down for testing would cause a larger disruption of service now than any minor Y2K problems would cause in January.
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Microcomputers and Labs
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All the servers used for the public labs and for ACCC Server Services have been upgraded, as have all the personal computers in the labs. All hardware, operating systems, and major applications on these machines are, according to the vendors, Y2K compliant. We have set up and completed testing the labs and Server Services, both in a test environment. In this case, because we have a number of identical machines, we did not need any production downtime for testing.
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Departmental Personal Computer Support
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We purchased a site license for Norton2000, a Windows 95/98/NT program for detecting Y2K problems. Copies have been distributed to departmental REACH members, who have been helping their departmental colleagues analyze any problems with machines in departmental offices.
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UICVM VM/CMS Mainframe
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The majority of the remaining use of UICVM was for email; we officially shut off email service to UICVM October 15, 1999. (Email addressed to UICVM email addresses will continue to be forwarded to its recipient's new email address for the foreseeable future, so long as the recipient remains at UIC.)
We plan to move all remaining users and most applications off of UICVM by
January; there shouldn't be much left that can go wrong. Our VM Omega Web site
has up-to-date information on this process:
http://www.uic.edu/depts/accc/vmomega/
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Telecommunications
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Ameritech assures us that the central telephone switch and all associated equipment have been tested and are Y2K ready. We have asked them for a letter confirming this. The equipment is at and belongs to Ameritech, so actual equipment upgrades are in their hands. This equipment does not depend on UIC power supply.
Our internal accounting database for telephone billing and services is Y2K compliant. We are currently replacing the antiquated operator phone database with a completely new system, which should be online in early fall.
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Summary
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The ACCC's Y2K problem seems to be under control, at least in regard to the systems we control. Testing is ongoing, but we don't anticipate any serious further problems. Even if small glitches escape detection, they will be fairly easy to fix once we find them. We fully expect the telephone and computer networks and all major services and applications to continue working, as long as we have electrical power.
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Related Links
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- The Year 2000 Status of ACCC Servers and Services:
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http://www.uic.edu/depts/accc/year2000/
- The ACCC's General Y2K Status Database:
- http://www-notes.cc.uic.edu/depts/adn/year2000.nsf
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