A campus facility which provides free web hosting and printing for students, faculty and staff will close its lab services after the spring 2012 semester ends, facility staff members announced in an email Wednesday.
Staff members of the Open Computing Facility made the decision to close the lab after considering the constraints posed by relocating the facility from its current location in the basement of Eshleman Hall to a smaller space in Hearst Gymnasium for the duration of the construction associated with the Lower Sproul renovation project.
“This area is limited both in space and technical resources, and we feel that it would be a disservice to all (facility) members to provide an unreliable and inadequate level of service, in both quality and quantity,” the email states. “We would not be able to fit much of our computing and printing equipment into the space allotted to us, and time constraints limit what can be set up before the fall semester begins.”
According to the email, the facility will be moved out of the building in August but will continue to run its website hosting service — which hosts an abundance of websites associated with student groups — and to offer email accounts.
Kelsey Killoran, a front desk officer for the facility and other organizations located in the basement, said the room allotted in the gym was not sufficient to hold the full lab.
“We have 20 plus computers plus servers that take up an entire room,” Killoran said. “That’s barely enough to fit seven computers, much less servers. The (facility) generally has 24 or more patrons at any time on any given day.”
Killoran added that facility staff are still in discussions regarding finding a new space for the center that is large enough to house the lab.
“They’re still talking with (ASUC) senators and looking for alternative spaces, but it’s looking bleak because there really aren’t alternative spaces,” Killoran said.
The discontinuation of lab services may have a large impact on students who utilize the facility’s free printing service, which allows students to print up to 250 pages for free every semester.
UC Berkeley senior Denise Wong said the loss of lab services could negatively affect students who depend on it for free printing.
“I use the OCF very often and I’m very distressed about it closing because it’s not only very convenient but also takes into account that there are students who can’t afford to maintain their own printers,” Wong said. “It’s sad that they’ll be deprived of that resource.”
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enjoy it while it lasts…so long and thanks for all the pages.
On behalf of OCF’s volunteer staff, I want to thank Daily Cal for a well-written article.
It was not easy writing the email notice about closing the lab, but we felt that prior notice was the best thing to do. Two years ago OCF completed its move from Heller Lounge in MLK to our present location, which expanded space (our current move significantly decreases available space, as it does for other student groups). The move took 15 months (our current move must be done in 2 weeks) and involved excessive lab and server downtime.
We have every intent to restore our lab when it is possible, but it would be dishonest not to inform our members that our lab would be closed. Also, by focusing our efforts on other OCF services, such as web hosting, we would prevent their disruption during the move.
Here is a timeline of our last move, from MLK to Eshleman.
Spring 2008: ASUC Senate allocates old lab space to Multicultural Center.
June 2008: OCF removes desktops and closes old lab but keeps servers in place.
July 2008: Network wiring for new lab goes over budget and is delayed. Asbestos is found and later removed.
August 2008: Pump fails and floods lab, causing permanent damage.
January 2009: Ceiling pipe bursts and fills lab with raw sewage.
Feburary 2009: OCF lab finally opens.
July 2009: OCF moves servers but loses power, taking down OCF services, including web hosting for students and student groups.
August 2009: OCF loses network connectivity. Campus IST wires fiber from MLK. Power is restored.
September 2009: OCF is mostly operational.
References:
http://archive.dailycal.org/article/103245/computer_lab_move_faces_several_delays
http://archive.dailycal.org/article/104301/computing_facility_re-opens_in_new_location_after_
http://ocfblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/continuing-downtime.html
http://ocfblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/you-know-what-they-say-about-academia.html
And lastly, to everybody who uses and would use our lab, I am truly sorry.