Network Services

In conjunction with the University, the Information Systems department seeks to provide the Law School community with an effective, well managed, and developing network infrastructure, appropriate for its evolving teaching, research, and administrative needs.

If it is necessary to interrupt any network service, prior notification is given via email and interruptions are scheduled to minimize their impact on users.

General Support

  1. Service Level - The IS department strives to ensure a continuously operational network. However, the campus network is an interdependent entity. Failure of a single device can cause widespread problems and service disruption. The IS department does attempt to minimize downtime due to hardware failures. Where technically and economically possible, the IS department will build in redundancy and/or maintain 24 hour, on-site service agreements with our network vendors.
  2. Includes
    • The maintenance, development, and management of the campus Local Area Network (LAN). Work with the main campus to ensure continued, stable access to the Wide Area Network (WAN).
    • Addition/deletion of network accounts. Accounts will be created or deleted within 1-3 days from receipt of request. Requests concerning forgotten passwords or login IDs will be responded to within 4 hours.
    • Monitoring the general availability, performance, and reliability of the Campus network.
  3. Modifications
    • If possible, major changes to the network infrastructure will be scheduled between semesters or during the summer.
    • Other changes, especially those required to rectify problems, will be carried out at the discretion of the IS department. Routine maintenance, often requiring the shutdown & restarting of network services, will occur during the designated period - Thursday & Friday mornings between the hours of 6:00am and 8:30am.

Server Information

  1. Includes
    • Full backups of the Novell NetWare file servers occur weekly with daily incrementals. The cycle of tapes is sufficient to keep 4 weeks worth of data available.
    • Full backup of the email server occurs daily. The cycle of tapes is sufficient to keep 4 weeks worth of data available.
    • Full backup of the data on the Web server occurs daily.
    • Full backup of the Library Catalog (Innovative Interfaces system) occurs daily. The cycle of tapes is sufficient to keep 4 weeks worth of data available.
    • The primary purpose of backup is to enable reconstruction of the data in the event of total failure of the disks, but requests to recover user files that are deleted in error will be processed as soon as possible, and normally within three working days of the request.
  2. Operational Framework
    • Availability of servers and services is carefully monitored by the IS department. Loss of a server is a serious problem and is subject to the escalation procedure (see Section II).
    • Users should report network or email problems to the Help Desk where they will be logged in the problem tracking system.
    • Additional disk resources for staff, faculty, and students may be allocated, dependent on available space, by sending a request to the Help Desk.

Email

  1. Service Level
    • The E-mail service is available 24X7, with the exception of the regular maintenance hours every Thursday and Friday between 6:00 am and 8:30 am.
    • In the event of an email server failure, most Internet and UConn mail systems will hold incoming messages for three to five days before returning them to the sender.
    • If serious problems are observed, IS staff will contact the following people and they in turn will communicate the information to their respective buildings:
      • Chase - Administrative support for the Dean's office
      • Hosmer - Manager of Faculty Support Services
      • Starr - Development Office
      • Knight - Connecticut Urban Legal Initiative
      • Library - Information Systems - Helpdesk
  2. Includes
    • Documentation for the services
    • Access to electronic distribution lists both on campus and in the wide area.
    • Maintaining mail server.
  3. Modifications
    • Major changes to the e-mail infrastructure will only be made during vacations, or in between semesters.
    • Other changes, especially those required to rectify problems, will be carried out at the discretion of the IS department.