What does providing IT-infrastructure at the University of Bonn mean? How does a typical work day look like for the colleagues at the University IT and Data Center?

In our new video collection 'HRZ - Behind the Scenes', we give insights into the diverse and exciting tasks of our HRZ-team.

The first episode begins in the HRZ network department, which is responsible for the operation and expansion of the university network and the provision of network services in all four campuses in the city (city center, Poppelsdorf, Endenich, Venusberg) and at the teaching and research stations outside the city borders (campus Klein-Altendorf, Wiesengut and Gut Frankenforst). 

Last summer, we were able to accompany our colleagues from the network department on a field trip to Königswinter-Vinxel with our camera and learn from Heiko Goertz-Ort, the local IT admin at Gut Frankenforst, why even cows need functioning Wi-Fi.

We hope you enjoy the first episode 'HRZ - Behind the Scenes':

Due to the existing storm warning, the on-site service of the IT helpdesk will close at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 17, 2024.

The colleagues at the IT helpdesk can still be reached until 6 p.m. on 0228 73 2751 and by email at info-hrz@uni-bonn.de.

Due to the current situation, we would like to draw your attention once again to the danger of phishing and other emails with malicious content.

There are currently e-mails in circulation warning you to "Validate your e-mail account to avoid closure", allegedly from "IT-Services, Hochschulrechenzentrum, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn". These are phishing emails! Please do not click on the links and delete these emails immediately.

What is the Uni Bonn App, what are the functions and who can use it?

Dr. Anton Sigitov, team leader of the project 'Campus-App' at the University IT and Data Center , answers these and many more questions in the new episode of the podcast "Studierendenfutter", together with Britta Förster from the Central Study Advisory and Counseling Service of the University of Bonn.

We hope you enjoy the Uni Bonn app and the episode of the podcast!

With the Campus-App.nrw project launched in April 2022, a joint framework for a new campus app was developed in collaboration with other universities.

This development sparked the introduction of a campus app at the University of Bonn.

The "Uni Bonn App" will initially include the following functions:

• digital student ID
• digital ID for university employees
• access to the meal plans of the Studierendenwerk

Become a beta tester of the new Uni Bonn app now and support your university with your feedback!

How does it work? Simply enter "Uni Bonn App" in the App Store (or follow the links below), download the app, test it and send your feedback!

The Uni Bonn App is now available for free download for iOS and Android.

Please note: the Uni Bonn App is still in beta testing, i.e. the functions are not yet valid! Students must carry their valid semester ticket and student ID in paper form as usual.

The new HPC cluster Marvin, inaugurated on October 20 2023, will have to wait a bit longer for their first regular users. After the climate technology completely failed on the night of November 30, the possible cause for the malfunction is investigated. Luckily, the Supercomputer has not been compromised functionally, it was possible to fix smaller technical defects instantly so the computer is restored and ready for use. However, until the causes have been fully clarified and appropriate measures have been taken to prevent another malfunction, Marvin is currently only running in a very limited test mode to protect the hardware.

Since the beginning of November, Marvin had been in an operating mode in which individual "power users" were able to put the machine through its paces with extensive simulations. These tests were carried out to the full satisfaction of the operations team until the accident on 29/30 November, and synthetic and application benchmarks also showed that the performance of the computer even exceeded expectations.

The registration, which was originally planned for December 2023, has therefore unfortunately been delayed accordingly. "The fact that commissioning is stalling so close to completion is not only disappointing to future users. The HPC team at the HRZ and the HPC/A-Lab would also have liked to celebrate the end of a very intensive year with the completion of the project," says Dirk Barbi, HPC team leader.

The new Outlook app share passes on passwords and sends secret e-mail data with Microsoft.

The new Outlook, currently available as an update for Windows 11, does  a few things different than the old one: Those who try it share sensitive login data and mails with the Microsoft cloud. Data protection officers are worried about the recent developments. Ulrich Kelber, federal officer for privacy protection and freedom of information (BfDI), consider the news about the assumed data collection by Microsoft to be alarming. The BfDI has asked the Irish privacy protection officer, who is responsible for Microsoft in the EU for a report.

We encourage all Outlook users to read this article by Heise. While external mail providers have long been advertising to include mails from other mail accounts, in exchange for login data, there has been a recent increase in mail providers that cause login data and mails to be sent and saved by these providers. As the mail clients are programs which are installed on your own computer or mobile device, such leakage is usually less obvious. Therefore, we would like to take the opportunity to warn against use of such programs and services. Their use is not in line with the HRZ-user guidelines (cfl. § 3 Abs. 2 Ziffer 5). Up to date (december 2023) we know the following mail client applications to show this kind of behaviour:

• Outlook-App for Android and iOS,
• "New Outlook for Windows" (included in version 23H2 for Windows 11),
• Windows Mail (predecessor of the "New Outlooks")
• Outlook for macOS (when using IMAP with CloudSync),
• Edison Mail,
• Newton,
• BlueMail (under certain conditions on mobile devices),
• Spark and
• Xiaomi Mail.

Our IT Helpdesk is there for you between Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Between public holidays, i.e. from December 27th to December 29th, 2023, the following special opening times apply: The IT helpdesk offers you on-site support, via support form and telephone from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.