The University of Maine System experienced a computer hardware glitch that affected web-based services at all seven university campuses, including Orono and Portland, on Wednesday, but systems were coming back online by about 8 p.m.

Spokesman Dan Demeritt attributed Wednesday’s outage to a system hardware issue. He said the problem was internal and not caused by an outside source attempting to hack into the university’s computer system.

“It’s a hardware issue impacting all seven universities,” Demeritt said in an email. The University of Maine operates campuses in Orono, Augusta, Farmington, Fort Kent, Machias, Presque Isle and Portland. The University of Southern Maine has campuses in Portland and Gorham.

According to a tweet posted by the University of Maine, the computer system shut down around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Demeritt said several web-based services were affected, including MaineStreet, a systemwide resource management tool used for logging sick time and vacation time. The university website was also affected. Attempts to log onto the University of Maine website produced a message stating the user had reached a bad gateway.

According to David Demers, chief information officer for the University of Maine, the issue was related to a data storage system glitch.