Cause of Internet outage determined

An Internet outage in Herman B Wells Library, Ernie Pyle Hall and Brown Hall of Collins Living-Learning Center around 10 p.m. Sunday was caused by a knocked out electrical circuit that made Internet network switches turn off and need to be reset, said Kirt Guinn, University Information Technology Services director of telecommunication infrastructure.

Technicians were immediately called, and Internet access was restored by 2 a.m., Guinn said.

Network upgrades completed in summer 2012 have provided more core network paths for IU Internet connection, reducing numbers of network crashes, Guinn said.

Two core network components exist on IU’s campus — one in the School of Public Health building and one in the Data Center off 10th Street and the bypass.

If one network path goes down for any reason in a building or area, the other path remains active and allows Internet access.

Power outages are a different issue, however. 

On Sunday, a voltage sag caused power to drop. This power sag caused network switches, located inside

network closets, to turn off and need to be reset.

“It depends on how the electrical situation develops,” Guinn said. “Sometimes the switches go down and stay down, and you have to reset.”

In order to resolve this issue, technicians have to physically deploy and reset the switch.

— Kathryn Moody