REMINDER: Purdue IT service down July 26

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — All central IT services on the West Lafayette campus will be down for up to 16 hours this weekend.

At 4 p.m. Saturday (July 26), a complete power outage in Freehafer Hall will allow steps in installing larger transformers to support IT data center loads.

Services should resume by 8 a.m. Sunday.

There will be no access to Purdue home directories, shared files or folders, e-mail, Blackboard Vista, Software Remote, Purdue Air Link wireless Internet connections, Purdue or ITaP Web pages, VPN service, or OnePurdue SAP or Banner.

The outage is also expected to prevent campus users from accessing any IT service that requires a Purdue career account login and password.

Suggested preparations and more about the improvement project are at www.itap.purdue.edu.

iPhone software connects with Exchange servers

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The new iPhone 2.0 software that Apple released July 11 will enable Purdue faculty and staff iPhone devices to have connectivity to the Exchange servers.

Purdue Exchange administrators and the Office of Information Technology at Purdue’s Desktop Computing Services have been beta testing calendaring, Exchange integration, and other capabilities of the version 2.0 software. Version 2.0 software enables both the first model of the iPhone and the iPhone 3G to work with enterprise resources on campus. iPhone 2.0 software connects reliably to Purdue’s wireless network upgrade, PAL 2.0, and uses the Cisco VPN client.

Once version 2.0 software is installed and properly configured on an iPhone, there is some specific information needed to successfully connect to the Exchange server. In addition to providing manual configurations for PAL 2.0 and Exchange, Desktop Computing Services will provide some automatic iPhone configurations for PAL 2.0, the Cisco VPN, and Exchange. Details are linked from the Desktop Computing Services Web page: http://www.itap.purdue.edu/help/support/desktop/iPhone.cfm. Desktop Computing Services also will provide support and troubleshooting for any devices covered by a service agreement.

Users of the new iPhone 3G will be able to download and connect to the Internet at a faster rate than with previous models.

“3G service is currently not available from AT&T in the Lafayette area, so the faster cellular data connection speed will really not be seen immediately,” says Scott Ksander, executive director for networks and security at ITaP. “However, AT&T has informed Purdue that the 3G service will be available in this area starting in September.”

The iPhone 3G works as a phone, as an audio player, and as a connection to the Internet and e-mail. Gary Rantz, director of Desktop Computing Services, says, “Some features of the iPhone 3G might not be reimbursed by Purdue, depending on the needs of departments.” Users can check with department administrators to find out whether text messaging or video streaming features are eligible expenses.

Purdue faculty and staff can get 20 percent off AT&T service plans for iPhone 3G devices. They can register for the discount on iPhone 3G wireless services when purchasing the device at AT&T retail stores. The iPhone 3G went on sale July 11. To find a local, authorized AT&T store, go to http://www.wireless.att.com/find-a-store/. Details are provided at the ITaP Shopping Web page, http://www.itap.purdue.edu/shopping/ATT.

Purdue IT downtime scheduled for July 26

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — All central IT services on the West Lafayette campus were down this past Saturday (July 19th) and will be down again on Saturday, July 26th beginning at 4:00p for up to 16 hours to prepare Freehafer hall for the installation of larger transformers to support IT data center loads.

Services should resume by 8:00a Sunday, July 27th.

There will be no access to Purdue home directories, shared files or folders, e-mail, Blackboard Vista, Software Remote, Purdue Air Link wireless Internet connections, Purdue or ITaP Web pages, VPN service, or OnePurdue SAP or Banner.

The outage is also expected to prevent campus users from accessing any IT service that requires a Purdue career account login and password.

Suggested preparations and more about the improvement project are at www.itap.purdue.edu.

OnePurdue launching new student systems

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — OnePurdue began releasing its fourth and final major software package on July 7, reaching a milestone in a project that began more than three years ago.

SunGard Higher Education’s Banner Student module, which comprises every new student system except financial aid (released in February), is being rolled out over a two-week period, July 7-21. Its numerous functions will allow all students and faculty to access up-to-date, “real-time” information and perform several tasks online that they could not before.

Purdue North Central also is releasing Banner, although its implementation schedule and functionality is slightly different than that at West Lafayette.

The University is using Banner to prepare for the fall 2008 semester. All faculty and students will access it through the new myPurdue Internet portal beginning July 21.

Among its numerous features, the faculty will be able to post grades online and assign plus/minus grades, and students will have the ability to drop and add classes — and register for them online — from any computer, day and night.

“These new systems will allow our students to manage a variety of data with just a click of a mouse,” said Provost Randy Woodson at a June 10 ceremony commemorating the software launch. “Banner is already making it easier for students receiving financial aid.”

Several University leaders from both West Lafayette and North Central spoke at the event, including Woodson; Morgan R. Olsen, executive vice president and treasurer; Pam Horne, dean of admissions; North Central Chancellor James Dworkin; and Tom Robinson, vice president for student services.

OnePurdue Executive Director Gary Newsom emphasized that though one chapter of the project is closing, work will continue on an ongoing basis to continually improve the new systems.

“There is no finish line,” Newsom said. “We have laid a good foundation, and now will continue to build on it to make sure that OnePurdue remains a cutting-edge system that evolves with Purdue and meets its needs.”

Purdue community warned of e-mail scam

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The IT Networks & Security Incident Response group continues to warn the Purdue community about reports of a targeted e-mail scam.

The e-mails appear to come from various Purdue administrative departments or units and ask users to confirm their e-mail address by responding with their password information. Additional variants of the scam e-mails ask users to navigate to a specific URL and then enter their Purdue user name and passwords. Many of these e-mails use Purdue terminology and appear highly authentic.

“In most variations, the e-mails state that if the user does not respond or take some required action, their e-mail account will be deactivated from the database,” said Scott Ksander, executive director of IT networks and security. “Users should immediately delete the e-mail and not take the action requested.”

These are targeted e-mail scams and phishing e-mails that attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information by masquerading as an authoritative entity such as the Purdue Webmail Team, Ksander said. He reminds campus computing users that IT units at Purdue should never ask users to divulge their passwords to university IT resources.

Ksander recommends those who have already responded to the e-mail immediately reset their passwords. Users can go to the password reset page located at http://www.purdue.edu/securepurdue. Click on the “Change Your Password” link.

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