OIT News and Initiatives

Read Our Latest Articles

North Classroom Data Center Testing

Testing failover capabilities and processes

Jul 26, 2023

Data Center Testing newsletter


Data Center Testing

OIT, in collaboration with the IT Leaders of our schools and colleges, will be simulating a data center outage to test, verify and remediate our planned failover capabilities. Planned failover testing of the North Classroom Data Center is on Sunday, July 30th. This is an estimated 8-hour testing window from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm to evaluate system backup processes and remediate any issues that present. To test these processes, we will be simulating a network outage, but no power or devices will actually be turned off.

Technical Details

OIT will be simulating the failover by virtually suspending one of the network connections into the data center. OIT and some of our campus partners will be stationed on both campuses for our maintenance window. Our goal is to complete the exercise before 3pm. OIT will be monitoring all systems for impact, and several of our campus partners will be assisting in testing their systems.

As we seek to increase reliability across our three hosted data-centers, our goal is to test & verify failover capabilities of our campus IT services on a semi-annual basis. We are starting with the North Classroom and will be targeting the CU Anschutz data center for testing in December 2023. 

What to Expect

Based on prior outage events, we anticipate several systems may be impacted during this time including multi-factor authentication (Duo). While you may not experience any service outages, for planning purposes, please assume all services will be unavailable during this window. Services that could be impacted may include (and not be limited to) Authentication, Login to Portal, Canvas Access, VPN, Duo. 

We are advising if anyone needs to conduct business on Sunday, July 30th, to save your work to your desktop and prepare to work offline over the duration of the testing window. Once the test has been concluded, files can be re-uploaded or submitted to the proper university system or location. 

If you typically VPN into CU Denver, please use the CU Anschutz VPN instead. You can find directions on our website here. 

No impact to our Anschutz Campus Partners (UCHealth, CU Medicine, CHC) or our Denver Campus Partners (AHEC, MSUD, CCD) is expected.  
 

Q&A Webinar  

We will also be hosting a webinar Data Center Q&A on July 27th from 12:00 pm to 12:45 pm with our IT experts to answer any questions or concerns that may arise before the testing date and anyone from the university is welcome to attend. 

Webinar Details

Topic: Data Center Testing Q&A
Date: Thursday, July 27, 2023
Time: 12:00 pm to 12:45 pm 
Location: Virtual Webinar Recording
RECORDING COMING SOON

  • ArtificiaI Intelligence Opportunities, Risks and Dangers

    Jun 15, 2023
    Primary security concerns with AI at the university include attackers deliberately injecting false information to compromise the integrity of data in machine learning mode and uploading data into AI where is may remain permanently without appropriate university approved protections and security controls.
    Full story

  • New Easy Way to Report Phishing Messages

    Jun 15, 2023
    The Information Security and IT Compliance (ISIC) team has implemented a new report phishing process in Microsoft Outlook making it easier to report phishing attempts with just a few clicks.
    Full story

  • AV Equipment and Support Services Now Available During the Room Reservation Process

    Jan 30, 2023 by April Barr
    The AV Equipment and Support service is now available to request as a part of a room reservation in the EMS Room Scheduling System Web App to make event reservations easier! Learn more...
    Full story

  • State of Campus Wi-Fi

    Jan 30, 2023 by Jamie Price
    The Wi-Fi upgrades taking place on the CU Anschutz and CU Denver campuses will prepare the university for future growth in technology. You’ll see our work in progress street signs in front of buildings where work is occurring!
    Full story

  • Tech Tuesday Lunch and Learns with Microsoft

    Jan 30, 2023
    Learn new Microsoft skills, expand your knowledge of applications, or simply elevate your day-to-day work. These lunchtime, instructor-led courses are free for staff, faculty and students.
    Full story

  • Cybersecurity Awareness Month a Success

    Nov 15, 2022 by Melissa Koons
    October was Cybersecurity Awareness Month and the Office of Information Technology (OIT) and the Office of Security and Compliance (OSC) partnered with security and compliance departments across the university to deliver a month of cybersecurity content. This included webinars, news articles, and sharing best practices information. Each week during the month of October featured a cybersecurity threat prevention tool and explained why they are helpful. While Cybersecurity Awareness Month is over, cybersecurity is a conversation and practice that is relevant every day. Visit the OIT website for more information, FAQs, and resources so that you can take measures to keep your information safe.
    Full story

  • Available Tools and Software from OIT

    Nov 15, 2022
    OIT has been reworking our tools and services and we have more to offer than ever before. You might be familiar with the standard tools provided by the university such as Microsoft Office, Zoom, and Canvas, but are you aware of these other programs that you can access for free or at a discounted rate? Here are some software programs available for faculty, staff, and students that you might not be aware of. For a complete list of the software available to university faculty, staff, students, and healthcare professionals, visit our website.
    Full story

  • Office of Information Technology Recruiting

    Nov 15, 2022
    The Office of Information Technology is recruiting new team members. As we are growing and expanding both on the Anschutz Medical Campus and the Denver campus, we have several open positions we are currently hiring for. OIT is looking for diverse team members to join us at both campuses, so if you or someone you know is looking to join an innovative team, review our open positions and see if one is a good fit.
    Full story

  • Sign Up for Emergency Technology Alerts on Statuspage

    Sep 20, 2022 by Mimi Cohen Dell
    OIT Statuspage is an email and phone messaging system to alert students, staff, and faculty of any system outages. You can customize your notification options by choosing what messages and notifications you receive so that you are only contacted with information relevant to you.
    Full story

  • Microsoft Trainings

    Sep 20, 2022
    Training sessions are led by a Microsoft learning consultant and are free of charge for all current faculty, staff, and students. Register for one or more sessions in the series!
    Full story

  • Cybersecurity Awareness Month

    Sep 20, 2022
    October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month - join us for activities throughout the month including the Cybersecurity Threat Prevention and Awareness Round Table at noon on Thursday, October 6.
    Full story

  • New OIT Statuspage is Live! Sign up Today for Service Alerts

    Aug 12, 2022 by Mimi Cohen Dell
    Students, faculty, and staff can sign up for the OIT Statuspage service alerts including a choice of services via email or text.
    Full story

Office of Information Technology

CU Denver

Lawrence Street Center

1380 Lawrence Street

13th Floor

Denver, CO 80204

303-724-4357

About OIT
Remote and Hybrid Working
IT Accessibility
Partner Websites
CMS Login