General Maintenance Schedule:
- August
(after Summer II term ends, and before Fall term begins). This
will be our regular maintenance window for major upgrades or service
typically characterized by, but not limited to, one or more of the
following criteria:
-
Significant user interface or feature enhancements.
- Lengthy
downtime requirements during which Blackboard will be
unavailable or frequently interrupted.
- Vital
to the continued long term stability and usability of our
Blackboard system.
- Note:
The Marathon S term is usually scheduled during this time
period. Instructors and students utilizing Blackboard
during this term may therefore experience periods of
interruption.
-
December/January
(after Fall term ends, and before Spring term begins). This is
an alternate regular time period for service that is vital and
should not wait until the August or other maintenance window.
Services are typically characterized by, but not limited to, one or
more of the following criteria:
- Moderate downtime needed
during which Blackboard may be unavailable or frequently
interrupted.
- Addresses moderately
disruptive issues.
- Moderate user interface or
feature enhancements.
- April/May (after Spring
term ends, and before May term begins).
This is an
alternate regular time period for service that is vital and should
not wait until the August maintenance window.
Services
are typically characterized by, but not limited to, one or more of
the following criteria:
- Moderate downtime needed
during which Blackboard may be unavailable or frequently
interrupted.
- Addresses
moderately disruptive issues.
- Moderate
user interface or feature enhancements.
- Weekly
(early Friday morning, from midnight to 7:00 a.m. Central Time).
This will be our regular weekly maintenance window for urgent or
non-disruptive service, typically characterized by, but not limited
to, one or more of the following criteria:
- NEW!
Weekly re-start of Blackboard system on early Friday
mornings at 2:00 a.m. (Central Time). Will take
approximately 15 minutes, during which time Blackboard will be
unavailable.
- Urgent maintenance needs that
are critical to the current continued stability and usability of
our Blackboard system.
- Brief or no downtime needed,
minimal periods where Blackboard is unavailable or periodically
interrupted.
- Minor or no interface or
feature enhancements.
- Routine network, hardware or
related software service that has little or no effect on the
Blackboard system itself, but rather on the supporting
hardware/software structure that is integral to the delivery and
availability of the Blackboard system.
- Emergency (may occur at any
time). Unexpected or potential undesired events that arise
without warning, but must be addressed immediately.
Services are
typically characterized by, but not limited to, one or more of the
following criteria:
- Absolutely necessary for the
continued use of the Blackboard system.
- Addresses major components of
the Blackboard system or it's supporting structure that have
failed unexpectedly.
- Typically no interface of
feature enhancements related.
- Time sensitivity of needed
changes mandates immediate service.
- May require an undetermined
amount of downtime during which Blackboard will be unavailable
or frequently interrupted.
The schedule above indicates typical
scenarios, but exceptions to these guidelines are always possible due to
the nature of the technology involved in providing this type of service.
We always make every effort to minimize interruption of service during
high use periods of each day, week, semester or year. Maintenance is
only performed after careful consideration and evaluation of benefits,
interruption and overall effects of the service on our students, faculty
and staff and on the stability and usability of our Blackboard system.
This evaluation is made by our staff in conjunction with our Blackboard
Support team and other JSU offices and/or staff as appropriate.
Email notification will continue to be distributed for any disruptive
maintenance that needs to be done at any time of the year. Users
should also monitor our web site for maintenance announcements on our
DLNews page and on the
Currently Scheduled Maintenance section of this page. When
appropriate, announcements may also be posted in Blackboard either on
the Announcements page, or on the system wide Calendar (which can be
seen from each user's personal calendar available from the "My
Institution" page, on the left under the "Tools" menu. These
announcements may also show up on course calendars in the future, but at
this time they only show up on the Personal Calendar.
We appreciate your cooperation and patience as we maintain the stability
and usability of the JSU Blackboard system as needed and appropriate.
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