A service disruption on campus brought down single sign-on, the eduroam WiFi network, research computing systems, and prox hotspots for much of Thursday.
The Office of Information Technology (OIT) first announced an investigation into the service disruption at 10:30 a.m. At 8:10 p.m., the unplanned outage website announced that the problem had been identified and a fix put in place.
Due to “the unavailability of some systems related to remotely monitoring building access,” administrative buildings were locked at 5 p.m. and academic and research buildings at 8:30 p.m. Firestone Special Collections, the Milberg Gallery, and the Cotsen Children’s Library also closed early, though circulation and access to study spaces was not affected.
Hotspots, which revalidate prox cards and enable students to enter their dorm rooms, were also down, meaning students returning from spring break needed to contact Public Safety in order to enter their rooms. For those already on campus, access to dorm rooms and campus recreation facilities was not changed, though the systems enabling temporary cards were not functioning during the disruption.
The outage also affected Research Computing equipment, which assists in statistical services for research. OIT announced at 1:22 p.m. that the data center was overheating and Research Computing equipment shut down, though the cooling system was restored by 1:43 p.m. OIT noted that “it may take at least 12 hours for Research Computing storage to come back online.”
OIT also noted that emergency systems including fire alarms and access to 911 were in operation despite the outage, though the website recommended using mobile phones due to some desk phones being disconnected from the network.
The latest update confirmed that the outage was related to network equipment, but the specific reason has yet to be announced. Earlier in the day, OIT suggested that “the issue may be related to hardware that controls internet traffic.”
The outage had varying effects on students on campus. Most students either worked off campus or used a mobile hotspot.
Gloria Bao ’28 had been scrolling on her phone around 1 p.m. when she noticed the connection was getting laggy. “I realized my phone was using data, so I checked my laptop and it was not functional,” she told The Daily Princetonian in an interview.
Bao, along with friend Stephanie Ko ’28, is a student in the Integrated Science Curriculum, an intensive science course for first-years. Both had plans to work on their assignments for the class during the day.
Ko decided to spend the day working in Starbucks, which offers free WiFi to all customers. “I was actually working off campus across the street at [Starbucks] on Nassau, and I saw a lot more people working there than I had earlier in the week,” Ko shared. “I assume that also had to do with WiFi.”
Some students went to other locations in town to work. Isaac Badipe ’28 told the ‘Prince’ that he went to Princeton Public Library after his friend suggested the location because of its free WiFi.
Bao used her mobile phone hotspot or data throughout the day. “It took me a while. I had to disconnect a bunch of times throughout the day, but it was mostly fine,” she said.
Arjun Menon ’27 had been trying to do research for the National and Artificial Minds Initiative on campus.
“I had to do research stuff today, and … I wasn’t able to access the cluster that I work on for my research,” he said. Menon also had trouble with his mobile hotspot. “I do have a hotspot, but … [it] wasn’t working … I just sort of gave up and went to the gym and just didn’t work for the day.”
Systems are now functioning again, although OIT is “monitoring progress to confirm service has been restored.”
“Now it’s back, so I can finally get back to work,” Menon said.
Christopher Bao is a head News editor for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Princeton, N.J. and typically covers town politics and life.
Luke Grippo is a staff News writer for the ‘Prince.’ He is from South Jersey and usually covers administrative issues, including Undergraduate Student Government, the Council of the Princeton University Community, and institutional legacy.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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