The Division of Information Technology (DoIT) is in the beginning stages of implementing a Custom Cloud-Based Data Center solution that replaces the current physical Data Center. Moving to a cloud-based Data Center will improve IT functionality, reliability, and security. It will also improve the university’s disaster recovery capabilities and protect critical applications in the event of a catastrophic event and significantly reduce response time associated with issues. Migration to the cloud solution is tentatively scheduled for the third quarter of 2022.

To prepare for the migrations, each department/division/area that has a virtual service agreement with the DoIT will receive an email that lists their current virtual servers. The email will be sent on/before Tuesday, June 28^th. We ask that you please review the list and let us know which servers should be migrated to the Cloud because they are currently in use and which servers can be eliminated/decommissioned because it is no longer needed/in use. Please note that there will be some changes associated with billing structure for virtual servers and backup data. This is under evaluation and more information will be sent in the near future.

To help you determine if a server should be migrated to the cloud or decommissioned, here are some criteria that can be considered:

Migrate if:

• Virtual server is being actively used by USC personnel and will be in service for at least the next 12 months.

Decommission if:

• Virtual server is not actively being used by USC personnel
• Virtual server is scheduled to be retired from service within the next 6 months (This includes any plans to replace the server with a “new” virtual server. In this case, the new server would be a migration candidate, but the 'old' server would be a decommission candidate.)

We are happy to assist you with any questions you may have. In the meantime, please be on the lookout for an email from us that lists your current servers and respond as quickly as possible.

As we mentioned in an email to you last week, the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) is in the beginning stages of implementing a Custom Cloud-Based Data Center solution that replaces the current physical Data Center. To prepare for the migrations, each department/division/area that has a virtual service agreement with the DoIT is asked to review your current servers, which is attached to this email and let us know which should be migrated to the Cloud because they are currently in use and which servers can be eliminated/decommissioned because it is no longer needed/in use. For your convenience, the attached spreadsheet contains a drop-down cell beside each virtual server to allow you to select “Migration” or “Decommission”. Please note that there will be some changes associated with billing structure for virtual servers and backup data. This is under evaluation and more information will be sent in the near future.

Please respond to this email by July 8.

To help you determine if a server should be migrated to the cloud or decommissioned, here are some criteria that can be considered:

Migrate if:

•  Virtual server is being actively used by USC personnel and will be in service for at least the next 12 months.

Decommission if:

• Virtual server is not actively being used by USC personnel
• Virtual server is scheduled to be retired from service within the next 6 months (This includes any plans to replace the server with a “new” virtual server. In this case, the new server would be a migration candidate, but the 'old' server would be a decommission candidate.)

Please respond to this email by July 8. We appreciate your cooperation.

You are receiving this email because you are part of the administrative team from DoIT that will be involved with the DartPoints hybrid cloud account management. DartPoints has provided an administration portal for DoIT team members to access various administrative items such as monthly invoices, contract information, the ability to open/monitor/close technical support cases, receive DartPoints based alerts/notifications for possible outages, scheduled changes, critical security patches, etc.

You will receive a notification from DartPoints once your account has been created. You will be asked to verify your email address, your preferred work/mobile numbers, and set a password. Please verify and setup your account as soon as possible.

If you have any issues verifying your account or have questions about the portal, please contact Matt Eskins at eskinsm@mailbox.sc.edu.

Earlier this summer, DoIT announced that the virtual server environment will be moved to a Hybrid Cloud based solution. We have worked with our Hybrid Cloud data center partner, DartPoints, to get the network infrastructure in place. As our teams are getting closer to finalizing the infrastructure portion of the project, we are ready to begin migration preparations so that we can begin moving our virtual workloads to the new environment.

As part of the migration preparation process, you will soon receive email messages that contain information about your respective virtual workloads, as well as invitations to meet with DoIT staff. These emails and meetings will help us better understand how/when to schedule the migration of your workloads to the new solution. DoIT will do its best to mitigate dates/times that are critical to departmental operations and will work with departmental IT staff to work through any issues that arise as we schedule these migrations.

If you have any questions about the Hybrid Cloud project, you can visit the following website. The website currently contains generic information on the goals of the project, but more details will be added as the project progresses.

https://www.sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/division_of_information_technology/infrastructure/cloudproject.php

As you are aware, the university will move virtual servers from their current location in the university data center to an off-site location. To follow-up on the recent meeting that you/a representative from your area had with Division of IT (DoIT) staff regarding the migration, we would like to provide more detailed information. Please read this email in its entirety, as it contains very important information. 

The migration of servers from your area is scheduled for [specific dates and times sent to departments]. For your reference, a list of servers that will be migrated is included at the end of this message. A Teams meeting will be scheduled for the day of your migration and will be sent to you by our Service Delivery Team. This will be the primary way we communicate with you about the migrations.

The migration steps include:

• DoIT will power off your virtual server(s).
• All existing network, firewall rules, and NAT addresses (if applicable) will be moved to the new data center operated by our partner, DartPoints.
• A live Failover of your virtual servers will be performed by DartPoints after they have been migrated.
• Once your servers have been powered-on in the new data center, you and your team should begin data validation testing. 

What we need from you:

• Before migration begins, please make sure your team:
• 1. Has a pre-defined checklist of what test(s) you need to perform for each virtual server
• 2. Has criteria defined for what a successful test looks like
• 3. Determines who will serve on the testing and validation team. 
• It is extremely important that testers from your area are available during the entire migration window (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), as we cannot tell you the exact time the servers will be available for testing. You will be informed via the Teams meeting when you can begin testing. 

After testing is completed:

If all testing is successful:

• You/a designated member of your team should notify DoIT that all tests conducted by your team were successful. 
• DartPoints will commit the failover to the data center.
• DartPoints will add your virtual server(s) to the new nightly back-up schedule.
• Migration is complete.

If all testing is NOT successful:

• DartPoints and DoIT will being troubleshooting to identify any issues.
• If a resolution is found within a two-hour window, the migration will continue.
• If a resolution is not found within a two-hour window, the migration will be stopped, and your virtual server(s) will be failed back to the DoIT data center. Note: If your migration is stopped for any reason, we will reschedule the migration for a future date.

Thank you for your cooperation and support as we take this important step to protect university data. 

Division of Information Technology

[list of servers was attached]

As a reminder, virtual servers from your area will be relocated from their current location in the university data center to an off-site location. To follow-up on the recent meeting that you/a representative from your area had with Division of IT (DoIT) staff regarding the migration, we would like to provide the following information:

• The migration of servers from your area is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 28, 2022, from 10 a.m.– 2 p.m.
• For your reference, a list of servers is included at the end of this message.
• During the migration, DoIT will power off your virtual server(s).
• All existing network, firewall rules, and NAT addresses (if applicable) will be moved to the new data center operated by our partner, DartPoints.
• A live Failover of your virtual servers will be performed by DartPoints after they have been migrated.
• Once your servers have been powered-on in the new data center, you and your team should begin data validation testing. 
• Before migration begins, please make sure your team:
• 1. Has a pre-defined checklist of what test(s) you need to perform for each virtual server and 
• 2. Has criteria defined for what a successful test looks like.

After testing is completed:

If all testing is successful:

• You/a designated member of your team should notify DoIT that all tests conducted by your team were successful.
• DartPoints will commit the failover to the data center.
• DartPoints will add your virtual server(s) to the new nightly back-up schedule.
• Migration is complete.

If all testing is NOT successful:

• DartPoints and DoIT will being troubleshooting to identify any issues.
• If a resolution is found within a two-hour window, the migration will continue.
• If a resolution isnot found within a two-hour window, the migration will be stopped, and your virtual server(s) will be failed back to the DoIT data center. Note: If your migration is stopped for any reason, we will reschedule the migration for a future date.

Thank you for your cooperation and support as we take this important step to protect university data. 

Division of Information Technology 

As the owner of a cloud-based account at the University of South Carolina, we would like you to be aware of some important changes that will go into effect by the end of the 2022 calendar year.

At the end of November, university cloud accounts will transition to new providers. Nothing will change regarding access to your account(s). The university is simply changing the vendors who store our cloud accounts.

While we do not anticipate lengthy outages or disruptions in service during the transitions, we wanted to make you aware that there may be periods of time when your accounts are temporarily unavailable. Transitions will take place into December. Again, we do not anticipate an outage, but there may be brief periods of time when your access is intermittent while your accounts are switched to the new vendor. We will communicate any updates should access be impacted.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact the IT Service Desk at 803-777-1800.

Several months ago, we notified you that we were in the process of reviewing the File Share services that are provided to areas across the university by the Division of IT. We mentioned that File Share services would be moved away from physical servers into a Cloud platform to improve efficiency, provide additional safeguards against data loss, and improve overall security of university data. Our physical File Share servers are very old and out-of-date. They have the potential to cause drastic problems for the university, so we need to move data soon to mitigate risk. After research and negotiations, AWS Public Cloud has been selected as the future provider of our File Share services. 

In 2023, all data that is currently stored on physical servers will be moved to the AWS Public Cloud. We will notify you of exact dates once they are determined. You, as the consumer, should not see any changes in your experience with File Share. If, for example, your department currently uses a shared K: drive, the way you add, open, and edit items on that drive will remain the same. The drive names will also remain the same. The only change you will see is in the billing model.   

After the move to the Cloud, areas will be billed based on how much File Share is used, rather than a fixed rate. Final details regarding costs are being finalized and we will provide you with exact costs based on consumption after the first of the year. In the meantime, the DoIT worked with AWS to provide worst-case cost estimatesbased on your department’s current utilization of File Share. We will share these estimates by the end of the week. We expect these prices to decrease when all details are worked out. However, we want to provide you with “worst-case” estimates for budget planning purposes. New costs models will begin after your departmental data has been migrated to the cloud.

Key takeaways:

• We have scheduled a File Share Open Discussion via Microsoft Teams for Tuesday, Dec. 6 from 10-11 a.m. During this time, we will give a very short overview of the new cloud-based service, followed by a question-and-answer time. Please plan to attend this meeting. 
• Please be on the lookout for an email from Rhiannon Mayer in the DoIT Service Delivery team with a worst-case cost estimate based on keeping all your services exactly as they are today.

Please plan to attend the Open Discussion on Tuesday, Dec. 6. We look forward to the conversation!

We’d like to remind you of the meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 10 a.m.

We look forward to speaking with you.

Click here to join the meeting. [link included]

Also included body of original message.