"Why can't I connect to the Net??!!"

The problem with registration

SARA EDWARD-CORBETT

This past week, as new freshmen and returning upperclassmen poured back onto campus, the Academic Computing Services (ACS) staff and the CAs were gearing up for an expected surge of questions and problems as students attempted to either use their compu ters for the first time or reconnect to the network. While they were prepared for the worst, ACS also expected a smooth transition into the beginning of the year. Although the beginning of September is always the busiest time for ACS and CAs, most student s' problems involve configuring their hardware and getting registered on the Yale network, issues that CAs can usually deal with easily and quickly.

This year, however, a "bug," --an error in the programming that runs the processes-- caused headaches and annoyances for students, CAs, and ACS staff, and threw off the registration. Currently, an automated system that was improved upon last year, assi gns to each student's computer a specific Ethernet Hardware Address (EHA). The EHA then enables each student to have access to the Yale network, as well as the rest of the Internet. The EHA is "dynamic," meaning that once your computer is registered, you can jack in from anywhere on campus.

A bug in the system

According to ACS director Phillip Long, this automated process "went relatively smoothly last year." However, over the summer, ACS installed a newer version of the software that runs the server, the main computer that runs all of the connections to the Internet. Over the summer, tests of the new software found no major problems. The situation changed, though, when students began moving back in on August 25th. At first, there were numerous reports of failures. Some students could not connect to sites ou tside Yale because of problems with connectivity. Others could not register their computers or even connect properly to the Yale network. According to Long, "the first clear reports" were filed the following Monday. At that time, ACS identified a problem with the program that was used for the registration process.

The program, because of the newly installed software upgrade, was "swapping" EHAs. When a student would try to register, the program would assign to his/her computer the address of another computer that was also trying to register. Although Long said that the problem "occurred only in some cases," numerous students had difficulties with registration becasue of this mix-up.

The problem, though, was solved in about twenty-four hours, by noon on Tuesday. However, there were still an unknown number of students with wrong EHAs who would have to re-register. However, Long stated that any computers registered after Tuesday would not face any problems.

'It was hell.'

Others had stronger opinions, however. CAs faced long days of fixing problems and many students were upset that they were not connected. CA Steve Miller, BK '00, succinctly summing up the chaos of fixing the results of the bug, said, "It was hell."

However, members of the ACS staff, such as Long and Shawn Bayern, SM '99, and PC specialist for ACS, recalled past years where there were even more problems, and claimed that, in perspective, this year's registration process was without any disasterous problems.

"I wouldn't say it was a major problem...but an annoyance," said Bayern.

Many students did not even notice any problems. John Brittingham, BK '01, said, "I encountered very few problems with registration." CA Steve Miller, BK '00 also commented that connections in the Swing Space "worked out very nicely."

On the other extreme, some students encountered major difficulties. Felix Torres, CC '00, encountered not only registration problems, but also problems with the Ethernet and phone lines. Torres' suite remained disconnected from the network for a week before workers from the Yale Telecommunications Company came to fix the line. Although his line and connection was repaired as of Wednesday, Torres was understandably unhappy with the situation.

"Since we had already paid up front...I expected that everything would be set up, but it wasn't," said Torres.

Cost saving?

The new $200 telecommunications charge that was bundled into the tuition was another factor that magnified the problems. Other students, like Torres, also felt that the prepaid communications bill should translate into a completely hassle-free computer set-up process.

"I'm all for [the new policy], as long as [the networks] are all ready by the time we get here," said Torres.

Long agreed that students seem to be in agreement with the new policy, at least in its ideal form.

"Overall, its cost saving... People are happy that they do not have to pay separate charges," said Long.

However, the jury is still out on whether the new policy really saves costs for everyone. Some CAs, such as Miller, had predicted last year that since the telecommunications bill was prepaid, there would be a greater percentage of returning students wi shing to get connected. However, Bayern points out that he did not see any strong evidence that juniors and seniors that were previously without connections are now rushing in great numbers to take advantage of the services they have already paid for. Thu s, there are some students that are paying for an Internet connection they are not using.

Regardless of new pricing policies or tuition increases, many of the students that have tried to register their computers in the last two weeks have encountered many obstacles. For now, the problem with registration has been contained. Anyone that had problems with registration should "call their CA and register again," according to Long. And this time, it will work, he assures.

The incidents of the last two weeks highlight the wide variety of problems that could occur in an undertaking as large as connecting an entire campus. The bug in the program went unnoticed for quite a while, and ACS did not predict some of the problems that did occur with registration. Even though the problem was fixed quickly, the "annoyance" and dissatisfaction that many students felt will remain, at least for a while longer.

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