Service Level Agreement
Information Technology Services
The University of Texas at Austin
Effective Date: 10/8/2009
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Overview
The purpose of this document is to ensure that customers have a clear understanding of the support Information Technology Services (ITS) provides for Resnet, the residence hall wireless and wired network service. This document defines the service delivery expectations, availability, maintenance windows, and the responsibilities of ITS support staff, as well as customer responsibilities.
Review Process
This document defines the practices that ITS will use for the Resnet service. The details of this document may be reviewed and amended as required, or at least annually, to accurately reflect business and service needs.
Time Conventions
Unless otherwise indicated, business hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays and reduced schedule days.
Scope
The intended recipients of this document are the student subscribers to the Resnet service.
Service Criticality
This service has been identified as Very Important, based on the ITS Critical Services Assessment Criteria. Please refer to the Critical Services Assessment Criteria for more information on the assessment methodology.
Service Description
Resnet provides subscribers, who live in campus residence halls, with authenticated access to network connectivity across university facilities and to the worldwide Internet, as well as a default allocation of bandwidth for each authorized user. A variety of tiered services related to bandwidth limits are available, which are adjusted periodically (details can be found on the Resnet Web site). Resnet provides connectivity via wireless and registered wired ports.
Components that form Resnet and provide the basis for its SLA include:
- The campus network (covered in the Campus Network SLA), which connects buildings to the Internet.
- The wireless network
- Subscriber Authentication Systems
- Edge devices: Network equipment typically located in the residence hall where the user is located. These include wireless access points and switches that support end users.
Supported Computing Environment
For wireless connections, Resnet supports 802.11b/g, and may support 802.11a/n depending on the location and TCP/IP version 4. Multicast is not supported. Authentication via 802.1x is required for access by students, faculty, staff, and official visitors.
For wired connections, Resnet currently supports Ethernet 10/100Base-T and TCP/IP version 4.
For the latest information on tested systems and a complete list of supported procedures, refer to the Resnet site: http://resnet.utexas.edu/
Technical Support
End users communicate with Tier 1 support , which may escalate to ITS Networking .
Tier 1 Support
ITS Help Desk at 512-475-9400 or by e-mail.
ITS Networking
ITS Help Desk will escalate issues that they cannot resolve to ITS Networking via e-mail.
Technical Support Response Expectations:
- Problems impacting individuals will be resolved within 2 business days. These are typically reported by the end user. An example would be a defective room port.
- Problems effecting a small number of users will be resolved within 6 business hours (not weekend/evening). These are typically detected by automated monitoring systems and escalated, and may also be reported by end users. An example would be an outage to a floor in a dorm.
- Problems effecting a large number of users will be resolved within 4 hours (anytime). These are detected by automated monitoring systems and escalated, and may also be reported by end users. Examples include outages to multiple floors or an entire dorm.
- Tickets/issues that occur during standard business hours and are deemed critical -- service down, multi-user impact, building down -- will be resolved within 4 business hours. These issues include but are not limited to multiple switch outages within a building, main building switch outages, and service outages.
Service Availability
This section provides information about the normal schedule of times when the service is available, the times specified for scheduled maintenance, and defines expectations for reporting service problems and changes.
Normal Service Availability
Resnet is available for customer use 24 hours per day, seven days per week, (24x7x365), excluding scheduled maintenance times.
Scheduled Maintenance
Scheduled maintenance for the Resnet service is essential to ensure reliable, secure, and high-performance operations.
Maintenance Anticipated to Cause Resnet Outages
- Maintenance that causes simultaneous campus-wide outages is scheduled during campus network maintenance windows, which are announced five months in advance. These occur on Sunday mornings from 8 to 11 a.m., during or close to semester inter-sessions (fall, winter, summer).
- Maintenance that causes sporadic outages is scheduled outside business hours with five days' notice. These outages are brief (<15 minutes) and may affect a small number of buildings simultaneously, but could cover all of campus over time as new settings are propagated across campus. These outages will typically occur between 7 and 8 a.m. or 5 and 6 p.m. on weekdays, although other outage windows may be scheduled.
- Emergency maintenance may be scheduled any time to repair failing services or address critical security vulnerabilities. When possible, emergency maintenance is scheduled outside business hours.
- Single switch/edge maintenance may also be conducted at any time, and all attempts will be made to schedule such maintenance at times that will least impact the user community.
Problem Reporting and Change Notification
Resnet Maintenance:
- For regularly scheduled and emergency maintenance, ITS will notify customers using the ITS Services Status page about service availability and service delivery issues for Resnet. To the maximum extent possible, any service, application, and security updates that will affect end users will be performed during scheduled maintenance times. Additionally, the DHFS distribution list will be notified via e-mail.
- No notifications will be made for single-device or non-business impacting maintenance activities.
Key Service Indicators
List of Metrics/Measures
Campus Network: see Campus Network SLA
Resnet Availability SLA
- Resnet connectivity/services will be available 99.9% of the time (potentially up to 8 hours of downtime per year). Excludes: single/edge switch outages, scheduled maintenance, loss of a Network Operations Center, and campus-wide disasters.
Resnet Edge devices:
- Due to the current distributed funding model, Edge devices for Resnet are supported at a "best effort" service level. However, service levels are monitored and reported. Response to monitored or reported problems with Edge devices is as available.-
Dependencies
Resnet depends on the campus network, including external carrier links to off-campus sites (Internet); the university wireless network; Subscriber Authentication Systems; and Edge network devices.
Other Party Responsibilities
In addition to the services provided by ITS, subscribers (users) of the service and identified owners/administrators agree to certain important responsibilities. All parties agree to be aware of and adhere to the university's Information Resources Use and Security Policy, which includes the University Acceptable Use Policy.
User/Subscriber Responsibilities
Subscriber agrees to:
- Contact Tier 1 Help Desk to report network problems with specific location and time information.
- Adhere to Resnet policies and not share services/access privileges (http://resnet.utexas.edu/policies/aup.html).
- Manage and conserve bandwidth resources.
- Comply with all local, state, and federal regulations regarding access to and distribution of copyrighted materials.
Cost of Service
Resnet is a cost recovery service. User subscription fees must fund all its expenses (equipment, bandwidth, facilities, and staffing). See the Resnet Web site for current pricing.
DHFS and ITS Networking review expenditures and funding periodically, and not less frequently than once a year.
