SAUL LOEB/Arizona Daily Wildcat Computer Operations Manager Craig R. Cook works on a CCIT server yesterday afternoon in the CCIT building. The servers will be going down Saturday at 8pm until Sunday 8pm for preventative maintenance.

CCIT will shut down system for 24-hours to run tests, install new power source

The plug will temporarily be pulled on the UA's e-mail services this weekend, and other Internet services will be available off and on.

The Center for Computing and Information Technology will be pulling power from its systems for 24 hours beginning Saturday at 8 p.m. to run tests on its power and fire detection systems and install an additional power source.

All systems will be affected by the outage - including Student Link, Employee Link, WebReg, SABIO and WebCT.

An average of 23,860 computers connect to the university Web site daily, according to CCIT statistics.

Laura Roth-Shepherd, customer service program coordinator for CCIT, said not every system will be down for the entire 24-hour period.

However, university e-mail accounts will be for out the entire period. Outgoing mail will be delivered when the system is restored.

"It's going to be a huge inconvenience," said journalism sophomore Kate Juillerat.

She said it would be less of a hassle if the power outage occurred from tonight to Saturday night.

Roth-Shepherd said CCIT went to great lengths to minimize the inconvenience for students, faculty and administrators, and that the inconvenience will be less because this is a holiday weekend.

CCIT will be running tests on the fire detection system and its Emergency Power Out system, which can detect problems in the main system and prevent electrical shorts.

Roth-Shepherd said the tests have been "looming for several months."

With the EPO system, one button can be pushed to shut off the power supply to all CCIT systems in an emergency.

This will be a source of backup energy that protects the system in case of a power surge or power outage. It provides power to the system for approximately 30 minutes, gives the CCIT personnel adequate time to shut down the systems to prevent problems and stabilizes the system in case of power fluctuations.

"We've gone to great length to schedule everyone's time to make the most efficient use of this time. We don't want to do this again," Roth-Shepherd said.

Other services that CCIT provides for the university, including the phone system, will not be affected by the shut down.