Internet restored at the University of Michigan after 5-hour outage
University of Michigan Internet was down for about five hours late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
Students study on computers at the Angell Hall Computing Site.
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U-M students are in the midst of midterms this week.
The outage originated from a problem at the Ann Arbor-based Internet service provider Merit Network, which handles U-M and connectivity at other state colleges, including Washtenaw Community College and Eastern Michigan University.
Full Internet service was restored at 4:52 a.m. Wednesday, after first malfunctioning just before midnight, according to Elwood Downing, vice president of communications for Merit.
"Everything is 100 percent up and operational, Downing said.
U-M first reported an outage at 11:42 p.m. Tuesday, according to an information technology official.
"Our Support Center and engineers began analyzing the effect of the problem and determined that it was an issue with one of Merit's core routers/switches located... in Chicago," Merit said in a statement.
The company moved U-M traffic to another router and is analyzing issues that led to the outage.
"This was not a weather issue, it had nothing to do with the weather or electricity," Downing said.
Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.
Comments
antikvetch
Wed, Feb 27, 2013 : 5:41 p.m.
Kellie, any reports of CHUD attacks during the outage?
ChrisW
Wed, Feb 27, 2013 : 4:27 p.m.
So someone turns their cell phone or iPad on "hotspot" mode and all is well, if a bit slow.
stevek
Wed, Feb 27, 2013 : 3:34 p.m.
Unfortunate that we can't exist without the internet. Amazing that nobody can do anything without it today like we could up until 20 years ago...
SusanRk
Wed, Feb 27, 2013 : 3:05 p.m.
5 things to do when there's no Internet: 1) Have a conversation with someone 2) Pick up a book 3) Floss your teeth 4) Balance your check book 5) Go for a walk.
AlmostPhD
Wed, Feb 27, 2013 : 5:11 p.m.
Not just the internet, but any access to the entire U-M computer network. You know, things like library access to journals and publications and connections between scientific instruments and data servers. But I guess I'll just go for a walk or floss my teeth instead of doing the work that your taxes pay for. Some people do more with internet access than watch cat videos or comment on websites...
gobluekat
Wed, Feb 27, 2013 : 5:01 p.m.
as a student working full time, my only time to submit work is late at night. and its not only about sending work in last minute, it also pertains to the ability to do research and/or other tasks for assignments due later in the week. My point is that SusanRk's seemingly sarcastic comment is totally un-needed by making fun of a situation that caused quite a commotion on campus. Students at u of m (most at least) are capable of holding a conversation, reading books, so on....
Dcam
Wed, Feb 27, 2013 : 4:54 p.m.
One might suppose if students can't access the internet to submit their work, it stands to reason the addressee also can't retrieve it. Besides, since the outage was at 11:42 pm, the work might have been submitted a bit earlier - making for a much less stressful life on the edge. My sympathy for students is minimal.
gobluekat
Wed, Feb 27, 2013 : 4:06 p.m.
wow, you're so clever. Obviously you did not/ don't attend U of M because then you would realize how big of an issue this was. Everyone I know was panicking due to the fact that we all have online assignments and emails to send to GSI's. It only added to our midterm-time stress-- glad you find it funny though.
foobar417
Wed, Feb 27, 2013 : 3:32 p.m.
In this day and age, #4 is completely out of the question.
DBH
Wed, Feb 27, 2013 : 3:11 p.m.
6) Meditate