The data center migration described below is complete. Please contact the Service Desk with any issues.
Starting December 15th, the University of Texas at Dallas will begin relocating its enterprise servers from Flexential Data Center to Arlington Regional Data Center (ARDC) which is governed by the UT Shared Data Center (SDC) group on behalf of the UT System. UTD’s current fiscal status and contractual timing have allowed OIT to provide customers the best, and most cost- effective services possible by relocating.
The data center relocation will be fully managed by the Office of Information Technology. An internal task force has been assembled to plan and identify strategies. In keeping consistent with our customer service goal, we will work closely with our IT partners in each department and/or school to make every effort to minimize any disruptions to your daily operations. We want to assure you that we have been mindful to engage any professional services that may be needed to move sensitive or warranty contracted equipment. We encourage all areas to begin closely examining their inventory to identify outdated services or equipment that can be decommissioned or removed.
What we Know
- Our contract with Flexential expired October 31, 2020. We have purchased an extension so we can move out of Flexential after the Fall 2020 semester and before winter break to minimize any disruptions.
- We will move our existing Edge and Core currently in Flexential back to campus.
- We have awarded a Request for Proposal (RFP) to hire an experienced vendor to do the physical move.
- We will use the lift and shift approach for moving racks in their entirety from Flexential to ARDC and install and connect accordingly.
- We don’t anticipate any major network and system changes that will be required for users.
- We will be communicating with owners on inventory and move specifics as the plan develops.
- A list of affected services can be found in this document.
| Activity |
Estimated Completion Date |
Status |
| Move passive edge from Flexential to Campus |
September 27, 2020 |
100% |
| Make Campus primary edge and Flexential passive edge |
September 28, 2020 |
100% |
| Move passive edge from Flexential to Campus |
September 29, 2020 |
100% |
| Complete LEARN connection in ARDC for enterprise services |
September 29, 2020 |
100% |
| Move LEARN fiber connection to Campus |
October 4, 2020 |
100% |
| Move OTS fiber connection to Campus |
December 3, 2020 |
100% |
| Dark fiber installed on Campus to/from specified buildings |
TBD |
80% |
| Move all VM servers from Flexential to ARDC |
Starting December 9, 2020 |
100% |
| Move all physical servers from Flexential to ARDC |
Starting December 15, 2020 |
100% |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who do I contact if I have questions?
Office of Information Technology
The University of Texas at Dallas
800 W. Campbell Road, ROC 20
Richardson, Texas 75080-3021
972-883-2911
assist@utdallas.edu
Where is the data center located ?
The Arlington Data Center, located at 200 E. Loop 820 in Ft. Worth TX, is one of three UT System data centers governed by the UT Shared Data Center (SDC) group on behalf of the UT System. It is sometimes called by its older name of the Arlington Regional Data Center. ARDC is managed by UT Arlington, has on site operations staff, is located in Ft. Worth and is rated at ~tier 2-3 on the Uptime scale. ARDC is the primary data center for UTA as well as providing optional co-location space for UT academic and health institutions. It is also the home of the TexSIS and UTShare shared service applications and their staff.
How will this impact my services?
How will this impact my services?
During this migration, all systems located in the current data center will be shut down and moved to the new location. Users may experience intermittent access to most systems. Once the migration is complete, OIT doesn’t anticipate any major changes to the network or system that will need to be completed by users.
Some of the major systems that are impacted include:
- Various file share services hosted by UT Dallas
- Various file transfer services hosted by UT Dallas
- Account creations and change actions
What are my responsibilities?
Preparation
- Please verify you have administrative/root access to the system.
- Please verify all applications and systems are functioning without errors.
- Please verify systems have reliable backups.
- Please verify any necessary warranties are up to date.
Migration
- During the move, OIT will coordinate the time for you to seamlessly shutoff your systems.
Post Checks
- After your system has been moved, OIT will coordinate with you to verify your system is up and functioning.
What if I want to move my equipment to a different location?
At this time there are no options to relocate to a different facility. Please contact OIT if you have a special need to relocation any equipment to an alternate location.
Can I move my equipment on my own? If so, when is the earliest I can move the equipment?
OIT will engage professional movers to properly move any equipment. If you have a special request, please contact OIT directly.
Who will be responsible if my equipment is damaged?
The contracting company providing the physical move will carry insurance to cover external damages resulting from the move.
Last updated January 2, 2021