Desktop files to be "redirected" rather than "roamed"

Now that we are getting settled on the new server, I'll be making a slight change to how desktop files are stored on the network for faculty members.

Currently desktop files are "roamed" between computers when you log in and log off.  What this means is that anything that is stored on your desktop gets copied across the network every time you log on or log off.  If you have a lot of data on your desktop, this can really slow down your log in or log out times.  Additionally, this can create problems if you are logging into multiple computers in different locations.   If you log in to 2 machines at once and change your desktop settings on each one, the last one you log off of will "win" and overwrite the desktop changes on the other.

We'll be switching a network storage called "redirection" for the desktop instead.  This is the same method already used by your "My Documents" folder.  Basically it means that this folder will live on the network, instead of living on your local machine.  Since it always stays on the network, it won't have to be copied back and forth between your computer and the network each time you log on and off.  If you are logged in to two computers at the same time, changes you make on one, will immediately be reflected on the other, since the two desktops will point to the same location on the network.  

This may create a delay the next time you log in for the first time as your desktop files are copied to the new "redirected" location.  But after that, it should speed up log in and log off times and will eventually allow us to disable roaming for faculty users completely.  

Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions about this change or run into any problems.

Update shortcuts for REAGAN

If you have shortcuts on your desktop (or in other places)--they may need to be updated to point to REAGAN. You can do this by right clicking on the shortcut and choosing properties.  Then change anywhere you see GRANT to be REAGAN (there should be 2 spots).  Alternately, you can just delete the shortcut and recreate it.  Feel free to contact me if you have trouble or of this doesn't work.

Migration to REAGAN from GRANT complete

As of 1:53am :-), I believe that the migration to REAGAN from GRANT is basically complete.  All of the data and permissions have been copied, new shares have been created on REAGAN, and the existing shares on GRANT have been disabled.  I've updated to login scripts to map drives from REAGAN and changed group policies so that all folder redirection should now be to REAGAN. 

You will need to restart your computer for things to work normally.  There are probably a few places I haven't thought of that will need to be edited to work with the new server.  So if anything doesn't work, please contact me and let me know right away. 

There were a very few problems with data migration (mostly caused by open files) and I'll be contacting affected users directly (don't worry we still have all the old data available on GRANT). 

I'm looking forward to enjoying our new server (you'll notice we have a LOT more free space on it!).  In the future I'll be taking GRANT offline to try to determine what's causing the problems with it.  If we can get GRANT working more reliably it will become a backup/load balancing server.

Migration to REAGAN from GRANT

Data migration has begun. Please contact me if you are working with network files at the school during this period.

4/13/11 Update on Wireless Services

This evening I discovered that wireless services were still affected by problems we had earlier today.  After fighting with the wireless for a bit, I've decided to revert our wireless authentication system to WPA2-PSK rather than the more secure WPA2-Enterprise we were testing with.  You should be able to access the wireless now using the old key.  My apologies for this aborted initiative--we won't try implementing this again unless it is well tested.

4/13/2011 Internet Outage (Restored)

On 4/13/2011 at 9:53am, I became aware of an Internet outage at WWVA.  After reviewing the logs, I suspect that the outage began 20-45 minutes before that time.  I arrived at the school at 11:38am (sorry I was giving a test at the University at 10) and was able to restore Internet connectivity by 11:53am.    The outage appears to be caused by a failure of our Internet gateway/filter applicance.  The outage was site wide and affected both wired and wireless devices attempting to access the Internet.  The outage was not related to recent changes to our internal Wireless netowrk.  I am reviewing the logs for more details as to the cause of this failure.  I apologize for the outage and will continue to monitor the applicance and look for ways to improve stability in our Internet connection.  Thanks!

I'm afraid that the changes made to the WWVA wireless that I announced in Faculty meeting previously had unintended consequences for students trying to connect to the wireless from outside computers. I'm really sorry about that and would have definitely waited on the changes had I realized this was going to be the case.


However, I now have a guide for Windows 7 for connecting to the wireless and I'm working on guides for other devices. This guide also discusses some of the reasons we are making this change.

Connecting to WWVA-WIFI with Windows 7

If you are having trouble connecting you own computers, please contact me and I'll try to get them going right away. Computers that are members of the WWVA domain (network) should automatically join the network--and computers with cables providing Internet will be unaffected.
I will be available Tuesday afternoon to help students connect their devices and should also have guides for other platforms (Mac/Linux) and devices (iPhone/Android/Blackberry) available soon.
 
Thanks for your patience with this transition and again I apologize for the problems and poor communication.