July 2021

Date: Wednesday, July 28, 2021 (09:30-11:30)

Who is affected:
All users of the CS department computing.

What is happening:
A single node of our file server cluster will be shutdown for the
replacement of a defective DIMM.

Why is it happening:
Hardware monitoring has indicated that a DIMM in one of the file server
cluster nodes is in a pre-failure mode and likely to fail soon. So as to
avoid an unplanned failure that may threaten the stability of the node, we
are scheduling this outage to replace the failing DIMM preemptively.

We do not anticipate any outages, but you may find that some connections
(especially CIFS/SMB) may need to be reestablished.

We will post updates to the status page: http://www.csstaff.org
as necessary.

If this downtime will cause you undue hardship, please contact
csstaff@cs.princeton.edu immediately, so we can discuss options to reduce
any negative impact. Your patience is appreciated.

Sincerely,
CS Staff
_______________________________________________
downtime mailing list
downtime@lists.cs.princeton.edu
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UPDATE: 10:30 AM – The upgrade is progressing as expected, but some minor issues have arisen. At this time, SMB/CIFS connections to the cluster are not functioning. We are working to correct the issue and will update this post when it is done.

UPDATE: 11:45 AM – We have found a workaround for the SMB/CIFS connection issue. SMB/CIFS connections should be working normally again and we will continue troubleshooting the backend issue later this week. At this time, the planned upgrade is complete.

Date: Monday, August 9, 2021 (05:00-12:00)

Who is affected:
All users of the CS department computing.

What is happening:
We are upgrading our storage operating system, which requires for CS
storage to be rebooted. All services that depend upon access to storage
might be unavailable for some periods during this window, including –
cycle servers, ionic cluster, web content, home directories, CIFS, etc.

Why is it happening:
Our current operating system has reached end-of-life status and needs an
upgrade.

Bear in mind that, while we do not anticipate any extended service outages,
you may find that there are momentary interruptions and some connections
(especially CIFS/SMB connections) may need to be reestablished.

We will post updates to the status page: http://www.csstaff.org
as necessary.

If this downtime will cause you undue hardship, please contact
csstaff@cs.princeton.edu immediately, so we can discuss options to reduce
any negative impact. Your patience is appreciated.

Sincerely,
CS Staff