As most of you are aware the access to non-UVM Internet sites is very slow during most of the day. Currently the demand for Internet access exceeds UVM's existing bandwidth. We are not aware of any single cause of the current network "meltdown". There have been and will be steps to address the overload problem. Below is the email recently sent to the helpline. In addition to the steps described below, we are attempting to get additional bandwidth on an emergency basis. Telecommunications is currently discussing emergency bandwidth options with several service providers. The earliest anyone could deliver additional bandwidth is 2 weeks. We are also seriously considering the implementation of Web caching which could substantially improve the access speed for popular sites. Note that general Internet congestion is also contributing to the problem. If you observe substantially different speeds among different sites, then Internet congestion outside of UVM is responsible for the difference. In these cases, additional bandwidth to the Internet will not eliminate slowness to the slowest sites. We are reluctantly considering the implementation of a firewall in order to improve both security and performance. A firewall would, by default, limit certain kinds of traffic entering and leaving the uvm.edu domain. If you have thoughts on the related issues, benefits or problems, please share them. We will provide more information about specific plans as they are developed. Roger ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [email to Helpline] As you probably all know, there are a variety of contributors to the Internet overload: 1) an increase in the number of active sessions and an increasing level of usage 2) servers offering popular high-bandwidth services being accessed from outside of UVM 3) interactive games and other recreational use of the net (e.g. mp3s, streaming video/audio, etc.) We are taking several steps to improve the situation: 1) Additional bandwidth has been ordered; Network Services will increase our connection from 4.5mbps to 10mbps in December. 2) CIT has been searching out excessively high bandwidth use and, where possible, stopping or reducing the excessive bandwidth use. 3) We are investigating the implementation of a firewall which could limit the types of network traffic entering and leaving the UVM domain. If this occurs, it will not be before next semester. 4) An educational / publicity effort is about to begin to help folks understand what use of the network is appropriate and which interferes with everyone's access. Steve Cavrak is taking the lead on this. [snip]