Blackboard cloud migration: interruptions to Blackboard 28 August – 1 September
During the August Bank Holiday weekend, we will be making changes to the way that Blackboard is hosted. Currently Blackboard is self-hosted using our own infrastructure. We will be migrating to a service where Blackboard will hosted in a cloud platform, where the infrastructure is managed externally. We have chosen this time because it will cause the least possible disruption for users and it is essential that we undertake this work prior to the start of the new academic year.
Migrating Blackboard to a cloud platform offers significant benefits:
- Zero-downtime updates. Staff and students will experience the most recent version of Blackboard. There will be regular functionality and security updates without service interruptions or downtime. Currently we have to take Blackboard down to perform any required upgrades and updates.
- Elasticity. The new platform allows the ability to scale in response to increased load.
- Resilience. Cloud platforms are designed to deal with hardware failure quickly and seamlessly.
In order to enable this change, we will need to make some interruptions to our current Blackboard system while all existing content and data is migrated to the new cloud platform.
From 5pm on Friday 28 August until Saturday morning, Blackboard will be unavailable to all users.
From Saturday 29 August to Tuesday 1 September, Blackboard will be available again but as a read-only service. This means that students and staff can continue to access learning materials and content in Blackboard, but any changes that are made during this period will not be saved when the migration is complete. Consequently, there must be no activities scheduled in Blackboard during this period, including online submission of assessments.
By Wednesday 2 September, Blackboard will be fully functional again on the cloud platform with the same interface and experience that staff and students are using today. All Blackboard sites, content and enrolments will be exactly as they were prior to the migration. Blackboard will be accessed via the same URL when on the cloud.
Information about assessments and marking work during the migration period:
- Assessment deadlines scheduled during the migration period will be moved to a date after the migration is complete to avoid disruption. Module leaders will be contacted about new due dates.
- Staff who wish to continue marking during the migration period can download any student work submitted online from Blackboard prior to the downtime starting at 5pm on Friday 28 August or during the read-only period but must only add the marks and feedback in Blackboard once the migration is complete.
Following the migration, will we be using the Blackboard Ultra experience?
Migrating Blackboard to a cloud platform allows us to explore and understand the options that the Ultra experience provides. However, at this time we will be continuing to use the Original Blackboard experience that staff and students are familiar with.
If you have any queries about this migration, please contact the Digital Learning Team.