What are we doing

emPSN plan to replace their existing core firewalls on 04/04/2023 from 18:00. The planned works will take around 4 hours and over this period there will be disruption to all of our educational sites connected to the emPSN network.

Why are we doing this?

emPSN are replacing its existing firewalls as they will shortly be reaching their end of service life.

What does this mean for you?

Ahead of these scheduled works, there will be a data freeze placed on the emPSN core firewalls preventing customers from making any further rule changes prior to the firewall replacement.

The data freeze will begin at 00:01 on 28/03/23 and end at 23:59 on 06/04/23. The reason for the change freeze is to allow our service provider Nasstar to have a defined set of firewall rules ready for migration.

However, if a school requires to make a change due to a critical service issue then the site should contact Nasstar via the usual email address change_control@nasstar.com and cc in support@empsn.org.uk and your request will be reviewed and a decision made as to whether it can be progressed.

What happens post firewall replacement?

Post firewall replacements every effort will be made to ensure customers experience no disruption to service, however emPSN plan to have a team of engineers available to deal with customer firewall issues. Should any issues arise then Nasstar should be contacted via the standard incident route 0845 122 6873