[CCoE Notice] Network outage caused by rogue switch

[Luong, Kiet A]

Good morning,

In addition to the excitement of the first day of class yesterday, the college also experienced computing challenges in the form of networking issues yesterday.  Many folks in Engineering 1 reported "IP conflict" messages on their computers, which was brought about by an incorrectly configured personal network switch.  The rogue switch was identified late in the day and networking was restored, but not after wasting time and effort by everyone affected.  Unfortunately, this happens about every semester.

Central IT networking group discourages the use of personal network switches and routers for this and other reasons.  Ideally, every wired network device should be plugged in to its own network port in the wall.  A work order should be filled out if additional network ports are needed and not currently available.  Please communicate this to students and researchers in your areas to make sure they also understand the importance of this policy.    If a network switch/router is identified in your area, I will be contacting you to discuss alternative solutions.

Thank you for your assistance in addressing this chronic issue.


Kiet Luong
Director of Engineering Computing
College Information Security Officer
Cullen College of Engineering
University of Houston
Email: KietL at uh.edu
Voice: 713.743.9974

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