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This is a reminder that we will switch off the RAL AFS service in 3 weeks time after the 31st October. If you haven’t copied files important files off yet you should do so soon.
One area (actually the only expressed area) of concern has been how to manage access to material for the RAL PPD web server. Chris Brew ([log in to unmask]) is managing
this aspect and you should liaise directly with Chris where necessary.
If you need to contact us about operational issues around the migration of data then email
[log in to unmask].
Regards
Andrew
From: Sansum,
Andrew (STFC,RAL,SC)
Sent: 26 July 2013 12:10
To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Subject: Termination of the RAL AFS Service (31st October 2013)
Apologies for cross posting but I’d like to distribute as widely as possible. I have contacted those authenticating against the RAL AFS service with a userid/password directly and this is a more general announcement to catch dormant users
or those using read only access.
The GRIDPP project has provided funding to maintain a legacy AFS cell /afs/rl.ac.uk/ at the RAL Tier-1 for many years as part of its contingency planning in case the Grid computing model failed to meet the LHC computing requirement (also
to meet on-going requirements by the Babar collaboration). We supported the service on relatively minimal effort in recent years, but operations have become increasingly difficult as hardware has aged and AFS itself requires upgrading to recent versions. In
order to continue operation of the service we would need to fund new hardware and justify significant system administration effort for what is now a legacy service used primarily by a small community of RAL staff. The GRIDPP Project Management Board concluded
in February this year that AFS would not form part of the future role of the Tier-1 and effort and hardware for this service could no longer be funded by the grant.
We have discussed with RAL PPD the possibility of transferring operation of the rl.ac.uk cell to PPD staff for what is primarily a local RAL service, however they have been unable to take on this additional activity. I am therefore sorry
to announce that we will cease operation of the RAL AFS cell on the 31st
October this year. The Tier-1 has no alternative service to AFS that provides the same functionality. I can therefore only recommend that those using this service contact their own IT support staff to seek an alternative. Any content held on the AFS service
will need to be copied off the servers by the end of September after which the servers will be shut down.
If you need to contact us about the closure, either in matters of policy or operational issues around the migration of data then email
[log in to unmask]. If you wish to discuss the closure directly then my contact number is 01235 445863.
I’m sorry for the obvious inconvenience this service termination will cause but we have now exhausted our alternatives and need to act urgently before operational problems impact service availability.
Andrew Sansum
Tier-1 Manager
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