Please follow your unit's specific preparedness plan in the event of an oncoming hurricane or tropical storm.
Personal Workstations & Electronic Equipment
AP-IT will turn off and unplug any electronic equipment for our supported units, if requested at least one full business day before UF closes normal business operations. That unit can then secure the equipment in plastic bags and/or move the equipment to a more secure location.
Outside of the Provost Office suite, AP-IT is not responsible for relocating electronic items to more secure locations. There are just too many users and units located on and off campus for AP-IT employees to possibly relocate all electronic equipment.
In general, equipment should be stored in rooms without windows, preferably in an interior location, as well as raised off of the floor in case of flooding.
Items to be removed from offices with windows:
- computers (laptops should be taken home assuming the employee does not live in a flood-prone area nor typically needs to evacuate their home during severe weather events)
- monitors
- docking stations
- VOIP phones
- employee's personal effects
When leaving their offices, employees should also close and lock all doors and windows to further protect building contents.
Instructions for protecting electronic equipment* >>
*PDF provided by Charles Napier of the UF Foundation
Websites, File Drives and Servers
Per AP-IT policy, all UF data and files should be stored on network file drives. Files stored locally on desktop and laptop computers are not backed up, and if your equipment is damaged the data will likely be lost.
All AP-IT servers are located in CNS's hurricane-rated data center, with automatic backups stored outside of Florida. Therefore no special procedures are needed in the event of a severe weather event.
If your unit has IT services hosted at other locations, please contact your service provider as to their disaster planning and recovery procedures.
After the Storm
After the University returns to normal business operations, supported units may submit an ITSS Help request to have computers and electronic equipment reconnected. It is the responsibility of the unit to determine that their building is open and has electrical power before placing the help request.