Firewall Upgrade Dec 20: Strengthening Our Network for the Future

To ensure the continued security, performance, and reliability of Tufts’ network infrastructure, Tufts Technology Services (TTS) will be upgrading the university firewall on Saturday, December 20 at 6:00 a.m.

This upgrade is essential, as our current firewall has reached the end of its supported life. Transitioning to a modern, more robust firewall platform will enhance our ability to protect university data, maintain secure access to applications, and support future growth.

What to Expect:

Starting around 6 a.m. on December 20th, applications, services and systems connected to our Tufts Data Center will be unavailable for 30-60 minutes. This brief outage is required so that we can move from the current firewall—now reaching end-of-life—to a more secure platform.

• Tufts applications hosted in or supported through our data center will not be available for at least some part of this maintenance window. This includes PeopleSoft, Axium, Data Warehouse, Tableau, Salesforce, SIS, StringSoft, and similar applications, as well as monitoring tools, alarms or remote access. 

• Important information for labs and research spaces: During the maintenance window, network-dependent systems such as monitoring tools, alarms, or remote access may be briefly unavailable. We strongly encourage researchers to plan ahead and ensure that any critical systems are not dependent on network connectivity during that time.

• Cloud-based applications, campus networks, and single sign on will remain accessible. This includes Apptricity, Canvas, Microsoft 365 (campus email), Zoom, Box, Slate, ServiceNow, and similar cloud-based applications. If you are on campus, you will still have access to the network and can continue using single sign-on (SSO) for these services.

Our teams and service owners will be validating applications after the upgrade to ensure everything is functioning properly before the Monday morning rush.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we complete this important upgrade. If you experience issues accessing services after the work is complete, please reach out to the TTS Service Desk at it@tufts.edu or 617-627-3376.

Thank you for your continued support in keeping Tufts’ systems secure and resilient.