Slow web access

We've received numerous complaints about slow web access, resulting in problems with Discovery Streaming, Plato, and [gasp!] YouTube. We feel your pain- we are experiencing it as well, and we are working on the problem.

We have enough bandwidth to accommodate our traffic, even with the anticipated increase due to Google Apps Gmail. In the graph below, the green parts are incoming traffic, which is 95% web traffic. As you can see, it used only about half of the 20 Mbps available. (The blue line is an upload of backup files, which stopped this morning at 8 AM, and doesn't significantly affect download speeds.)

So, why is this happening? At this point, we believe the issue is caused by a service configuration in our firewall. This summer we replaced an obsolete network firewall with a new one. Like most things technological, the new one has more capabilities, but is also more complex. Everything seemed to be working fine until Tuesday, when everybody returned to school. (It's hard to simulate the 1,600 simultaneous users for a test, so Tuesday was the first day of a real, full load. )

We are working with a Cisco engineer to figure out the problem. We'll keep you updated on this blog.

Web access and new filter

What:
The new SPAM filter that we are using for email also has the ability to filter web traffic. We will be implementing this functionality this afternoon at 3:00 PM.


What this means for you:
--Some sites that you used to be able to get to may be blocked.
--Some sites that were blocked may be unblocked.

The categories of sites are bound to be a little bit different than the filter that we are currently using. I have tried to match up the sites as closely as possible, but there will probably still be some differences.


Actions needed to be taken by you:
If you plan to use any web sites in your curriculum tomorrow or later this week, please check that they are unblocked before class time. While checking access please keep in mind that, as with the old system, staff are able to access more than students.

Normally when a site needs to be unblocked a request needs to be sent to the principal at your building and then they will forward it to Jon Tanner.
For the next two weeks, if the site was previously available, please send an email directly to me and I will get it changed ASAP.

Thank you for your patience while we try to improve our services and efficiency.


-Zach

“Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.”
~Robert Gallagher