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Department of Computer Science and Technology

We will shortly be making a change to the DNS to change the default IP address that is used to access the main filer, elmer. The motivation for the change is to deal with some security issues that are currently preventing the use of the latest version of the NFS protocol.

If all goes well, the change will be entirely transparent. The filer is already offering a service on the new IP address, and will continue to serve the old IP address for a transitional period. Eventually we will need to close down the old address, but that is some time away.

We are aware of a bug in the filer which means that some NFS clients might have difficulty accessing the filer after the change. We have done our best to minimise the risk of disruption, but cannot entirely eliminate it. We believe we know how to deal with the issue if it does arise.

We are not announcing an exact timescale because the effects of the change are likely to be delayed. The DNS updates do not happen in real time, and within clients there are a variety of different binding times. The changes will begin on Tuesday 23rd February.

Please report any problems you encounter. As ever, please describe the symptoms clearly and say which machine you are talking about.


Published by Martyn Johnson on Monday 22nd February 2010