IT services

Network issues for some students

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Update 11 (Tuesday 26 October, 4.45pm)

Services are now returning – you should be able to access My Manchester and the Campus Solutions student system as normal.

Update 10 (Tuesday 26 October, 4pm)

Update 9 (Tuesday 26 October, 2pm)

We’re noticing a repeat of yesterday’s issues which are preventing people from accessing My Manchester and associated services. This is under investigation.

Update 8 (Monday 25 October, 1pm)

  • We identified an issue with My Manchester and now services are returning, however we are continuing to test and monitor to confirm it has returned to normal operation.
  • If you’re already logged into My Manchester, click Log Out, and then log back in again.
  • If this doesn’t work, you may need to try another web browser or clear your web browser’s cache (log in to the IT Support Portal and search for browser cache).
  • If you are still experiencing issues after trying all the options above, please contact the IT Support Centre.

Update 7 (Thursday 21 October, 4pm)

  • There are still data integration issues with systems including but not limited to the Campus Solutions student system, IT Account Management, and Blackboard.
  •  Any changes to courses and enrolments made in the Campus Solutions student system after 4pm Wednesday 13 October will not reflect in Blackboard or the University’s Video Portal until the issues are resolved.
  • Work to resolve is ongoing. No data will be lost – data updates are being held in processing queues and once the integration issues are resolved they will take some time to process.

Update 6 (Wednesday 20 October, 12.30pm)

  • Access to services has returned to normal. Campus Solutions is available however data integration with systems including IT Account Management and Blackboard is paused while our teams work to resolve issues. In both systems new accounts are not being created and existing accounts are not being updated. Work to resolve is ongoing. No data will be lost – data updates are being held in a processing queue and once the integration issues are resolved they will take some time to process. 
  • IT colleagues are continuing to monitor services closely.

Update 5 (Tuesday 19 October, 5pm)

  • Access to Incline, a system used by researchers, was successfully restored around 3pm.
  • Our IT teams are working through some data integration issues between internal systems. Data updates for some systems are currently being held in a processing queue and once the data integration issues are resolved they will take some time to process.  
  • A replacement part has been sought for network equipment in our data centre. A plan for replacing this is being drawn up – no end user disruption is expected when the part is replaced.
  • Colleagues will continue to monitor services closely.

Update 4 (Tuesday 19 October, 2.40pm)

  • IT Services working with network partner Roc Technologies has pinpointed the issue in our data centre. Connectivity is returning and you should now be able to access shared drives and P: drives as normal. We need to do some further work to restore access to Incline, a system used by researchers, and this is scheduled to take place at 3pm today. Colleagues will continue to monitor services closely.
  • The Oracle Financials finance system and HR systems are reported to be working as expected.
  • Performance testing is taking place for the anticipated release of new Application and Admissions functionality and processes (part of our Student Experience Programme) later today. Campus Solutions remains unavailable at this time.

Update 3 (Tuesday 19 October, 9.40am)

IT Services continue to investigate and problem solve to restore access to services affected by our data centre issue. 

Update 2 (Monday 18 October, 6pm)

 IT Services continue to investigate and problem solve to restore access to services affected by our data centre issue.  

  • Access to shared drives and P: drives is still an issue for some staff and students. All staff and students should however be able to access their P: drive via a web browser – or by logging in to My Manchester and choosing the ‘My documents’ option under the ‘Tools’ menu.
  • The issue with a number of students losing access to their accounts has been identified and is in the process of being resolved.
  • The upgrade of our campus solutions student system – part of a planned release of new Application and Admissions functionality and processes as part of our Student Experience Programme – has recommenced. Campus Solutions remains unavailable while this takes place – we anticipate it will remain unavailable until lunchtime tomorrow (Tuesday 19 October) at the earliest but will provide a further update when we are clearer.
  • Oracle Financials will be unavailable between 7am and 7.30am tomorrow morning. All users have been notified of this planned downtime.
  • Unrelated to the data centre issues, work was completed on Saturday 16 October to fully resolve the Wi-Fi issues that we’ve experienced across campus recently. This work was successful. Additional work was due to place tonight (Monday 18 October) to remove a previous workaround for Wi-Fi connectivity, but to reduce the risk of any impact given the ongoing issues with our data centre, this has been postponed.

Next update: Approx. 9.30am, Tuesday 19 October.

Update (Monday 18 October, 1.15pm)

IT Services is aware of a network issue that is limiting access to some systems and services supplied from one of our data centres.

  • We have successfully moved services from one data centre to another and the upgrade of our campus solutions student system has recommenced. This upgrade was scheduled to take place this weekend and was part way through when the data centre issue occurred.
  • Access to Oracle Financials has been restored, apart from a small number of users.
  • We still have access issues to shared drives and P: drives and a number of other systems – we are currently testing workaround fixes to restore access as soon as possible. We advise using OneDrive wherever possible.
  • We are aware of an issue with a number of student accounts losing access. This is being investigated and believed unrelated to the data centre issue.

Original message (Monday 18 October, 9am)

We are assessing exactly which services are affected but so far we are aware of issues with accessing shared drives and P: drives, Oracle Financials, Incline and with Campus Solutions. 

Some of these services will be accessed through other applications, for example information about courses may present incorrectly through My Manchester or Blackboard, or applications that rely on shared or P:drives may not be able to access data. 

The issue has delayed this morning’s planned release of new Application and Admissions functionality and processes – a major milestone in the delivery of the Student Experience Programme.

On-campus Wi-Fi including Eduroam is not affected.

We are currently working on a plan to move affected services to a different data centre which should partially restore some services. 

If you cannot access a system or service not mentioned above please report it to the IT Support Centre using the IT Guest Portal:

1.     Visit the IT Guest Portal, click Request Support and then Report Issue. 

2.     On the form, include “DC-” followed by the system that is impacted in the Summary line 

We’ll provide further updates when we have them. 

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