University of Illinois System
AITS » Services » Professional Services » Database Services

Database Services

Service Description

Database Services ensures that customer databases are protected and monitored by establishing backup and recovery procedures, providing a secure database environment, and monitoring database performance.

Database software support for Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server is available for any release currently supported by the database vendor or installed in the AITS environment. Both Oracle and SQL Server DBMS are fully supported by the DBA team. Oracle RDBMS is covered by our University site license; SQL Server may require licensing fees depending on the service footprint.

Services provided with the standard database support package include:

  • Initial database software installation, including configuration and verification as required
  • Performance of daily or weekly backups to disk, as requested by customer
  • Management and monitoring of disk space
  • Database restoration, as needed
  • Rebuilding of database indexes, as required
  • A primary on-call DBA to respond to alerts and customer issues as defined by the level of customer support

Other service options available, depending on database software, include but are not limited to:

  • Standby databases to support business continuity
  • Replication
  • Database cloning for development environments
  • Data conversion/migration assistance
  • Database query tuning
  • Database upgrades/patching
  • Database security maintenance

Hours of Availability

This service is available to customers 24/7, excluding planned outages, maintenance windows and unavoidable events. Maintenance windows are used only when needed for planned changes that have gone through the AITS Change Control Process. In addition to the standard AITS maintenance windows, site-specific and service-specific changes may be coordinated with customers at non-standard times.

Standard maintenance windows are defined as:

  • 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. each Sunday when application usage is at its lowest
  • After 5 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday, unless business needs to make a change during business hours
  • The second Wednesday of the month from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. for patching Microsoft servers
  • 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. three Sundays a year for routine Windows and Linux maintenance
  • Standard business hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except for University of Illinois holidays

Customer Responsibilities

  • Customers are responsible for providing and maintaining their own application support
  • Customers should notify the DBA services group of any planned application and/or database changes that will affect the database structure before changes are made
  • Customers should designate local staff to serve as the primary contact for the database services group
  • Direct customer support issues to the AITS Service Desk

How Do We Charge?

Service level Agreements detailing projected hours and cost will be worked out with each customer depending on the desired level of support.