Kansas State University

search

IT News

Category: Infrastructure

Oracle database upgrade scheduled for Dec. 19

Posted on by Division of Information

K-State’s Oracle database will be upgraded from 6 a.m. – 12 p.m. Saturday, December 19. During the upgrade, K-Staters can not change or reset passwords, search the people directory, or create an eID.

The upgrade will allow K-State to stay current and ensure that security patches continue to get applied to our databases running in Amazon Web Services.

Impacted systems include eProfile, identity management services and support, the People Directory, Grouper, and more. Backend support tools will be unavailable. The status of the upgrade will be shared on the IT Status page.

Update on infrastructure improvements and cloud migrations

Posted on by Division of Information

As part of the IT Strategic Plan that includes a cloud-first strategy and modernizing the data center, K-State continues to make progress on both fronts. Some of our accomplishments over the past six months include:

  • Retiring the HP Cluster, which allows for continued migrations to the cloud.
  • Partnering with K-State Polytechnic on the CommVault backup system.
  • Upgrading the cloud databases for KSIS, HRIS, and Undergraduate. Admissions Application system, uAchieve DARS (Degree Auditing Reporting System), CTAM (supports GoArmyEd), and JobApp (online student job portal for Information Technology).
  • Using AWS AppStream for KSIS, HRIS, and uAchieve DARS.
  • Migrating Fjord to improve security and resiliency.

As of July 23, 2020, only 333 virtual machines remain in the Hale Library Data Center. Upcoming projects include removal of unused/retired equipment and the following in progress migrations or upgrades:

  • Teval (K-State course evaluations).
  • EIS (Global Campus’s course search).
  • ExpanSIS (Institute for Academic Alliances’s course management system).
  • SGA Elections (K-State Student Governing Association’s online voting system).
  • K-State Web Pages.
  • Identity Management.
  • Telecom (K-State telecommunication billing system).
  • ImageNow (K-State’s document management system).
  • Multiple behind-the-scenes services.

Recently, IT staff were asked about the benefits of moving to the cloud and resounding positives centered around cost optimization, reducing the footprint of the on-premise data center, increased opportunities for growth and professional development, and increased interaction with IT staff from across campus.