Jan. 1, 2000, is 78 days away. Year 2000 representatives throughout the university have spent months checking, upgrading, updating, writing, migrating, decommissioning, testing and rechecking. The central computing systems and networks are ready. Power and heating are ready. Most desktop computers are ready. But is the university ready?
As decentralized, as diverse, as large as Cornell is, no one can say that every bit of the university is Y2K compliant. Even with all the work that has been done, glitches and failures are to be expected. The hope is that most will be inconsequential, more annoying than debilitating.
One area where failures may not be harmless is research. At stake are years, decades, of invaluable data. At stake are the funds that drive research, since most grant-giving agencies expect projects to continue regardless of Year 2000. At stake is the prestige and reputation of one of the country's finest research institutions.
Consulting manufacturers about Y2K issues is the best strategy, said Rich Marisa of Academic and Technology Services. "Even if you've already checked the manufacturer's web site for Y2K solutions, check again. Vendors are still coming out with fixes for problems that have been discovered recently."
Researchers can also use university facilities to test mission-critical programs. Mark Bodenstein and his colleagues in Network and Computing Systems have set up a desktop and server lab for Y2K testing, as well as a test environment on the CornellC mainframe. (For more information, send e-mail to y2ktestlab@cornell.edu .)
"Ultimately, it's the researcher's responsibility to decide how to deal with Year 2000 issues," said Marisa. "Future-date testing of hardware and software may cause software licenses to expire or automatically purge 'old' data backups. Depending on what is at risk, testing or not testing can both be correct responses."
The Year 2000 Office, along with the colleges, will be asking researchers these questions in the remaining weeks. Cornell and NYSEG do not believe there will be a power failure but cannot guarantee it. If the power does fail, the outage could potentially be massive and long-lasting.
"We're working with the Y2K representatives to make certain that all units know where their generators are and what loads they can sustain," said John McKeown, director of the Year 2000 Office. Researchers also will be encouraged to decide whether to accumulate a small surplus of essential materials, such as chemicals or animal feeds.
"We don't want anyone to stockpile, because we know that many suppliers could not meet an unexpected surge in demand," cautioned McKeown. "But it makes sense to see that things like water tanks are full."
As an additional safeguard, the college is recommending that over the Jan. 1 transition period researchers refrain from running critical procedures that could be compromised if power is lost.
Preserving specimens and samples is the main concern in the College of Human Ecology. "Critical lab equipment, including our low-temperature freezers, is hooked into generators," said Paul Streeter, director of finance and administrative operations.
Most of the college's researchers rely on popular word-processing and statistical software. "Very little of what we found was home-grown," said Steven Staiger, director of computing services. "We did have to update a lot of desktop computers. And some researchers have opted to fix nonessential equipment after the Year 2000."
The College of Veterinary Medicine plans to have everyone back up all data before Jan. 1 to ensure that recovery from unforeseen problems is possible. Central systems will be shut down on Dec. 31 and turned back on the next day. Faculty and staff will be encouraged to take similar action.
"A number of manufacturers are telling people to turn off computerized equipment," said John Lewkowicz, director of computing services. "Power disruptions are notoriously tough on equipment and are likely to cause far more havoc than the Year 2000."
Critical equipment for the college and its hospital is on generators. Because the hospital opened just three years ago with new equipment, its Y2K problems were minimal. As usual, it will be open at the end of the year for emergency services and the continuing care of hospitalized patients.
"Cornell is more fortunate than many places in one way. We will have very few students and faculty on campus at the turn of the century," said McKeown. "Since the residence halls don't open until Jan. 18, we'll have some time to straighten out the problems that do occur."
More information about Y2K research issues can be found at http://www.cit.cornell.edu/y2k/research/.
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