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Faculties & Departments
Computer Centre
News
New Email & Calendar Service
Introduction
A major upgrade of the University’s e-mail and calendar service will take place over the October Bank Holiday weekend and during the reading week that follows.
These upgrades will allow us to roll-out new and improved services in the weeks and months that follow e.g. better home access to e-mail, improved sharing of e-mail for common accounts or between officers & executive assistants, the ability to control your own "vacation" messages, improved e-mail security.
The following components will be upgraded:
- The e-mail server
- Webmail
- The calendar system.
Before the upgrade process, we recommend that you download all your e-mail to your PC as close to the advertised shutdown time as possible. To do this, just click on check mail on your email client.
Service Disruption during the Upgrade
Some service disruption is unavoidable during an upgrade of this scale:
- The e-mail system will be shut down at 14:00 on Friday, 26 October 2007. Mail delivery will be suspended for a short period before shutdown to allow mailboxes to be emptied. Full e-mail and calendar services will be resumed at 09:30 on Tuesday, 30 October 2007.
- During reading week the system will be at risk. It may be necessary for us to bring down the system at short notice. We will keep staff and students informed via the Service Disruptions link http://www.nuim.ie/outage/.
- Response times to general computer service calls may be slower than normal while we deal with the minor configuration changes mentioned above.
While we plan to keep the system up and running during reading week, we suggest that it would be prudent for you to plan your activities for that week with the possibility of some e-mail disruption in mind.
During the upgrade no e-mail should be lost, though inbound and outbound delivery times may be slower.
This period has been chosen for the upgrade because of the expected lower level of general activity on campus
After the Upgrade
Webmail and Calendar Users
Following the upgrade, webmail users, https://webmail.nuim.ie, will be presented with a new interface that combines e-mail and calendar. Links to the old webmail and calendar interfaces will be available on the new webmail login page.
Webmail
We strongly recommend that users move to the new webmail interface at https://webmail.nuim.ie. Following the upgrade, webmail users can transfer any messages that may have been left in their old inbox to their inbox on the new mail server. Instructions can be found at:
https://computercentre.nuim.ie/news/mailandcalendar/oldmessages.shtml
If you have mail messages stored in webmail folders that you would like to be transferred to the new server, please notify the Computer Centre helpdesk by e-mail mailto:helpdesk@nuim.ie . Depending on the volume of requests, it may take approximately two weeks for transfer of folders. In the meantime, you may access your folders via the old webmail server at https://oldwebmail.nuim.ie . NOTE: we cannot transfer the contents of your webmail address book.
Calendar
Calendar users will be able to access the old calendar interface directly at https://calendar.nuim.ie/.
E-mail Clients
For the majority of users, the transition to the new system will be transparent, as the new server is compatible with our existing PC and Mac email software. However, if your e-mail client is configured to use secure authentication (e.g. APOP) you will need to disable it and use SSL instead.
In addition, we have identified some specific configuration changes that are necessary for some e-mail packages that are currently in use, in particular Eudora clients.
Details of these changes are available at :
Eudora 5 Users
http://computercentre.nuim.ie/news/mailandcalendar/eudora5.shtml
Eudora 7 Users
http://computercentre.nuim.ie/news/mailandcalendar/eudora7.shtml
Other email clients
http://computercentre.nuim.ie/news/mailandcalendar/other.shtml
Other Issues
- There is a possibility that some undelivered e-mail messages may be left on the old server after that service has been shut down. These messages will be available for delivery via webmail following the upgrade and affected users will be notified by e-mail. You can find instructions on how to receive these messages at: http://computercentre.nuim.ie/news/mailandcalendar/oldmessages.shtml
- Some users will have received additional emails with important instructions that MUST be followed in order to migrate their email accounts successfully. If you have received one of these messages then please carry out the requested changes as soon as possible.
- If you are having trouble logging on to the new mail server, you may be using the wrong password. You should try yourComputer Centre logon password or your Moodle password. If you do not know your password or if you have forgotten it, please contact the Computer Centre helpdesk.
And Finally
We are endeavouring to improve computer services across the campus and ask you to bear with us during the various transitions that are necessary to achieve this. If you have any queries or require further information, please contact the Computer Centre Helpdesk at 01-7083388 or mailto:helpdesk@nuim.ie. For ongoing information or updates on the progress of the upgrade, access the Service Disruptions link, http://www.nuim.ie/outage/