first posted: Mon 1 Jul 2013, 12:06pm. Last updated: Tue 9 Jul 2013, 12:32pm
The server supporting access to research volumes (also known as "researchvols", "R drives" or "antares-a") remains unavailable following a hardware fault on Friday afternoon. Several attempts were made on Friday and over the weekend to restore this service, but it has not been stable nor available for periods longer than 20 minutes at a time.
We are now working to replace the hardware with a temporary standby and will restore access as soon as we can.
UPDATE: 1 Jul 2013 - 3:35pm
We are still working to restore full access to research volumes (also known as "researchvols", "R drives" or "antares-a").
The faulty server has now been replaced with a temporary standby and many users should now be able to use their research data as usual. We apologise for the continued disruption this is causing for researchers and we're working to resolve any outstanding problems as quickly as possible.
UPDATE: 2 Jul 2013 - 4:07pm
There was a further problem with access to research volumes at around noon on Tuesday 2 July. We've been able to restore access temporarily and are performing more detailed checks to find the underlying cause.
Users of the research volumes, also known as "R drives" or "antares-a", began to experience problems last Friday. Initial tests indicated a hardware fault and the entire server was replaced with a back-up. However, this has not fully resolved the problem as there was a software-related issue earlier today.
The service should be considered at risk until we've been able to provide a permanent fix. We apologise for the inconvenience this is causing for researchers and will restore the service to normal operation as soon as we can.
UPDATE: 4 Jul 2013 - 11:51am
Research volumes have now stabilised and should be available as normal.
We have identified and fixed a number of errors in some of the file systems on the research volumes which seemed to be causing the problems we have experienced over the last few days.
Users of research volumes may find that they are still unable to get access through the University's Unix server (Napier) but this should be resolved later on today.
UPDATE: 5 Jul 2013 - 3:25pm
There are further problems with access to research volumes this afternoon, Friday 5 July.
We apologise for the disruption this is causing to staff and researchers and we will restore access as soon as we can.
Research volumes have been stable since 4pm on Saturday 6 July and access is currently available as normal. However, IT Services are continuing to look for the underlying fault and the service should still be considered to be at risk of further failures.
