Sirsi Expert Teams and various staff throughout the Libraries have been called on to test a major improvement in the Symphony Integrated Library System. On March 24 2016, a contract was finalized to migrate Symphony from its current server and operating system platform (Solaris) to its new virtualized Linux environment.

The move from the current Solaris hardware and operating system to a virtual environment using Linux will save the Library and ITS Services and Solutions (SaS) time and money. The cost of running Symphony on Linux is about one-sixth the cost of using Solaris. Both SaS and I-Tech have more extensive skill sets with Linux, and SirsiDynix promises that we will see efficiencies in reduced indexing times, reports running faster, the Cat running faster, etc.

The project will continue through June 30, 2016. If no showstoppers have been identified between now and then, the production service will migrate on June 20-21. Test and Development will be migrated shortly after.  We don’t anticipate significant down time, although we may need to be in read-only mode for a day or two. We will share specifics as soon as we know more.

The short timeline is a result of our effort to eliminate another year of costly support of Solaris hardware and operating systems. Members of the Sirsi Expert Teams have met, made plans and are testing as well as recruiting individuals from across the Libraries to perform additional testing of all features of Symphony.

This is a large, high-impact project with a short timeline, and all hands are on deck. The Sirsi Steering Committee and I-Tech appreciate the effort of everyone involved.

For more information, contact Linda Klimczyk  lgk1@psu.edu