As Wake Forest settles into a summer pace, our Network team is gearing up for a summer series of optimizations. Beginning in May with Magic Week, a working block set from mid-May to Memorial Day Weekend, planned maintenance and evaluations will continue to occur throughout the summer. Timing is optimal with these enhancements and fewer community members will be affected by potential disruptions in service.

While the summer season offers directed time for enhancements, year-long work cycles continue and build upon themselves creating a strong foundation of network support. Pillars of these cycles include, but are not limited to; robust physical structures, teams built for fast response, duplication and redundancy efforts, and next level support with hospital-grade implementation. These resources support seamless transitions, especially when issues arise. Our redundancy planning approach acts as a safeguard against outages and access point failures. 

Routine, scheduled maintenance ensures our network has the support for the longevity Wake Forest requires. Our Network and power run on a ‘highway’ of underground wires with multiple routes leading to many versions of the same destination. When these highways encounter roadblocks or problems, automatic rerouting occurs so end users get where they need to go without knowing any issues occurred. 

We’ve built an ecosystem which enables all the other connectivity across campuses, across programs, including study abroad houses!  We invest in this ecosystem to support the delivery of cloud solutions, allowing campus functions to continue and further learning. Most systems have a 6-10 year renewal schedule.

As we prepare for the unexpected, we have a team in place to respond to outages of any kind – even the ones we can’t predict. Any issues are quickly resolved. Our partnerships on campus allow this magic to happen. However, if network disruption does occur, extensive support is available. If you experience a problem, reach out! Contact the IS Service Desk at help@wfu.edu or at 336-758-4357. Search our online resources on the IS website. Submit a ticket requesting help at AskDeac, and speak with an expert via LiveChat. To learn more about our Network, visit our website or read about our work in our 2022 Year in Review.