About Tufts Servers
Server location will be determined by optimum resource allocation. Tufts has two datacenters available in the virtualization environment; one located in the Somerville Tufts Administrative Building (TAB) and a second on Summer Street in Boston, MA.
- Datacenter location and location independence for the service is determined by the Service Class (see chart below).
- Tufts servers are virtual hosts and are either RedHat Linux or Windows Server. It may not be possible to support requests of operating systems outside of this standard. Allowances for self-enclosed Virtual Appliance Images will be made on a case by case basis.
- Database support includes MySQL, Oracle and Microsoft SQL.
- Servers are backed up digitally in accordance to Tufts backup retention policies. Server backups are made available for disaster recovery reasons only.
- TTS monitors Tufts' enterprise server environment using a number of monitoring systems and supports many basic service health checks.
- Hosted servers are patched in the months of December/January and June/July each year. Patching requires downtime per host, but depending on how the application/service is architected, may not require a service disruption.
- Click here to view standard maintenance windows and uptime targets.
Class of Service
| Service Class | Expected Behavior | Type of Service |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Services are expected to run primarily from Tufts' Tier IV datacenters, but be able to automatically run from Tier I datacenters in order to maintain high availability. | Mission Critical Service; university services that directly impact the core business on a 24/7 level. |
| Class 2 | Services are expected to run primarily from Tufts' Tier IV datacenters, but will not automatically transition from this location to a Tier I location in the event of a service interruption. It may be possible to regain service to Class 2 applications should the Tier IV datacenter be unavailable, but only after Class 1 applications are successfully running | Mission Important; service may be accessed on a 24/7 basis, but does not critically impact the core mission of Tufts. |
| Class 3 | Services are expected to run primarily from Tufts Tier I datacenters and will not be easily able to transition to a Tier IV datacenter in the event of a service interruption. | Business Important; service may be important during university business hours, but does not directly or indirectly impact the Tufts core mission (e.g. print servers). |
| Class 4 | Services are expected to only be available on a limited basis or are not critical if unavailable outside of university business hours. | Business Services; services such as test or development services that are not directly public-facing. |
Questions?
For Linux VM: esai-request@tufts.edu For Windows VM: uit-ei-ess@tufts.edu