University IT and Data Center

The University IT and Data Center celebrated its 50th anniversary with a ceremony on November 6, 2024 at the University Forum in Heussallee. As part of the ceremony, the University IT and Data Center looked back on its history and the IT development of the University of Bonn over the past five decades with around 130 invited guests.

After a welcome address by Dr Rainer Bockholt, Director of the University IT and Data Center at the University of Bonn, Prof. Dr Maren Bennewitz, Vice-Rector for Digitalisation and Information Management, Prof. Dr Max P. Baur, former Chairman of the IT Board of the University of Bonn, Daniela Korden, Project Manager for DiCe projects at the HRZ and Susanne Sigmund, former HRZ employee, gave welcoming speeches.

A highlight was the keynote speech by Prof. Dr Harald Ziegler from Ruhr University Bochum, whose spectacular extrapolation revealed that "[...] one data center year corresponds to approx. 22 university years. What changes in a working life changes at the HRZ in approx. two years, i.e. an HRZ employee has to retrain at least 6-7 times in a working life." Despite the fast pace of technological progress, all HRZ employees have one characteristic in common: their flexibility. But it takes far more than just flexibility and problem-solving skills to work efficiently at the University IT and Data Center.

"At the HRZ, the focus is always on people", emphasised Dr Rainer Bockholt, Director at the HRZ for over 21 years. ‘We are happy to be here’ is not just an empty phrase, but reflects the working atmosphere at the HRZ, said Daniela Korden, a current HRZ employee. This mood could be felt without exception among the current and former employees present.

Susanne Sigmund, former head of training and head of the user support department, stated: "One of the biggest success stories is the training in IT for system integration at the HRZ. Since it began in 2005, all trainees at the HRZ have passed their final exams and none have failed." A special fact: the two very first trainees from 2005 are still working at the HRZ today.

In addition to video presentations and slide shows with photos from the HRZ archive, the guests also enjoyed live music with light, cheerful sounds from flamenco guitarist Ismael de Barcelona.

The “Regional University IT and Data Center of the University of Bonn” (RHRZ) was founded on November 1 in 1974.

On the occasion of its 50th anniversary in November 2024, the University IT and Data Centre looks back on its beginnings and the impressive development in the areas of information technology and digitalization at the University of Bonn.

In the first week of November, the HRZ is dedicating each day to one of the last five decades and publishing a new page in the new “History” area of the website, in which the most important milestones and technical achievements of the last 50 years are documented. This gives an exciting insight, including a picture gallery, into the past of IT and data processing at the University IT and Data Center of the University of Bonn.

A new video series “HRZ time travel” will be published on the HRZ channel on YouTube, which illustrates the most important development steps of the past decades – up to the here and now in 2024 – in an entertaining way.

The HRZ time travel starts in the founding years: the 1970s.

Enjoy this insight into the development of the University IT and Data Center and the evolution of IT at the University of Bonn!

The University of Bonn is taking part in the new, state-wide data backup solution DaSi.NRW, which is implemented using Commvault software. This cross-university project enables all universities in North Rhine-Westphalia to store their data efficiently and securely. At the University of Bonn, the transition affects all institutes that wish to back up their non-research and non-archived data. All existing users of IBM Spectrum Protect (ISP, formerly TSM) will be affected by the changeover to Commvault and have already been informed by the HRZ if possible.
The new DaSi.NRW solution is explicitly aimed towards the institutes of the University of Bonn that require central backup services. End Device backups for individual workstations and backups for students are currently not intended.

Test phase and changeover to the active phase

As the necessary contract documents for DaSi.NRW had not been finalized so far, the solution was initially launched in a test phase. This phase served to identify technical challenges and adapt the new processes. Now that the formal requirements have been completed, the backup service can officially go live in November 2024.

Step-by-step shutdown of IBM Spectrum Protect services

To ensure a smooth transition, the previous IBM Spectrum Protect services will be deactivated in steps. Initially, ISP/TSM will be set to “read-only” mode so that existing data can still be restored if required. After a transition phase, the old service will be shut down for good and completely replaced by the new Commvault solution.
This modernization of the backup service should ensure that all institutes of the University of Bonn have a sustainable and reliable data backup in the future.

On Wednesday, November 6, 2024, our anniversary event for "50 years of (R)HRZ" takes place.

As we would like to celebrate this special day with all our employees, our IT-helpdesk will close earlier. 

On November 6, 2024, from 8 am -12 pm, the IT-Helpdesk will offer you support on site, via support-form and via telephone.