TL;DR: You may need to read all of this, even though it's very long. STL;SWR [Still Too Long; Still Won't Read]: We are making major changes to systems that are critical for the functioning of the campus network. If you support users who need network connectivity, or work with DNS changes, you should read this entire (long) announcement, and understand what it means for you and your users.
On Wednesday October 28th, 2015, Network Operations and Services will be abating its legacy infrastructure supporting the following critical campus network services: * DNS * DHCP * IP Address Management Important schedule and configuration change information follows below. If you make DNS changes regularly, or perform other network configuration tasks for your department, you should make sure you understand the potential impact for your area. The back end infrastructure supporting the above services was hand-crafted in house many years ago, and is now showing its age. In addition to deploying new DNS servers with improved performance and reliability, we will be replacing our DHCP servers and the database/management system which handles all DNS and IP address registration changes. These functions will be handled by purpose-built appliances. The planned changes have been structured in such a way that there will be no outage for campus users of DNS and DHCP services. However, in order to ensure a smooth transition, we will be placing moratoriums on various types of DNS and DHCP changes in the lead up to October 28th. In addition, as of October 28th, the method used by campus network users to register their devices for the DHCP service will change. DHCP Configuration Changes: On October 28th, new appliances will begin serving DHCP leases to campus hosts. The IPv4 addresses from which DHCP server responses originate WILL CHANGE for all hosts that use the campus DHCP service. The new DHCP servers will be within the 10.255.0.0/16 subnet. Typically no changes are necessary for end users of the DHCP service to accommodate this change. However, if you currently have firewall rules which restrict DHCP traffic by the addresses of the existing campus servers, you will need to correct them. Network Operations and Services recommends not filtering the source of DHCP, since campus routers already control which hosts can provide DHCP to a subnet. The current DHCP servers are: 169.229.252.130 169.229.252.134 If you are unsure if you need to make any changes so that DHCP will continue to function for your subnet(s) after October 28th, please contact the network group. DNS Changes: One benefit of the new system being implemented is its flexibility and adaptability to new requirements. In the past, DNS changes requested via email to [email protected] went into production every morning around 3:00 AM as our systems pushed updates to the campus DNS infrastructure. After October 28th, any changes to DNS will, by default, take effect at the moment that we make the change in the IP Address Management (IPAM) systems. However, it will still be possible to request that your changes take effect at a specific time. If you would like your changes to be handled this way, please be sure to let us know when making the request. To avoid problems, we will be checking with requestors as well, while everyone becomes accustomed to the new system. One clear benefit of this will be that system owners will have broad flexibility in the scheduling of their DNS changes in the new system. DHCP Changes: Today campus users use the Wired Network Device Registration tool (https://net-sec2.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/dhcp_registration/dhcp_mac_registration.pl) to enable their devices to use the campus DHCP service, and thus obtain wired network connectivity. This tool will be replaced on October 28th with a new DHCP registration portal within Information Security and Policy's NetReg tool (https://netreg.berkeley.edu/). IS&P will be providing further information about the new portal as the change approaches. Impacts to DNS and DHCP Services: In order to achieve a smooth transition to the new systems, we will be implementing the following freezes and moratoriums on changes: * No requests for new subdomains (DNS Zones) will be processed after close of business on Wednesday September 30th. We do not expect this to impact users and departments because these types of requests are infrequent. * After the close of business on Wednesday October 21st, no requested changes to DNS will be processed until after cutover and testing work is completed on Wednesday October 28th. * No new Wired Network Device registrations will be accepted in the old system after close of business on Wednesday October 21st, until the new system is in place on October 28th. Note that this means that no new device can obtain campus DHCP IP addresses and thus wired network connectivity during this time period. While the changes we are making will be major, we have spent many months planning, developing and testing the new systems which will be put in place on October 28th. We expect that there will be no visible impact to campus network users as a result of these changes. If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch with me, or open a ticket via the normal paths. Regards iso -- Isaac Simon Orr Manager, Network Operations and Services IST Telecommunications, UC Berkeley P: +1 510 643 9837 C: +1 510 517 9408 E: [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following was automatically added to this message by the list server: To learn more about Micronet, including how to subscribe to or unsubscribe from its mailing list and how to find out about upcoming meetings, please visit the Micronet Web site: http://micronet.berkeley.edu Messages you send to this mailing list are public and world-viewable, and the list's archives can be browsed and searched on the Internet. This means these messages can be viewed by (among others) your bosses, prospective employers, and people who have known you in the past. ANNOUNCEMENTS: To send announcements to the Micronet list, please use the [email protected] list.
