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Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 09:14:35 EST

From: crompton@NADC.NADC.NAVY.MIL (D. Crompton)

To: tcp-group@ucsd.edu

Subject: Network Problems

 

Info on Psossible network Problems.

 

 

The following is a memo received from the Chief of NIC services.  It shows

their awareness of the problems being encountered and that they are taking

positive steps to resolve them.

 

******************************************************************************

 

As you know, since the transition of NIC services from SRI to GSI on October 1

of this year, a number of problems have been identified.  Most members of both

the Internet and MILNET user communities have been impacted by these problems

in one way or another.  The purpose of this memo is to inform you of the status

of our attempts to remedy the problems and to find solutions that will be

satisfactory to all those whose network operations have been curtailed because

of the difficulties that have arisen.  In our continuing analysis of the

current state of network service problems, we have identified two major

areas of concern.  We will attempt to address these areas separately in this

memo and also to respond to some peripheral issues that we are attempting to

resolve.  We want to assure the entire user community that we at the NIC are

working diligently--in some cases round the clock--to improve network response

time and improve overall service delivery.

 

 

Problem 1:  Network Connectivity

 

Synopsis of Problem:

 

      Currently, the NIC is connected to the MILNET by a single 56K line, and

      all traffic from both DDN and Internet users must compete for that

      single line.  Since all Internet traffic must currently pass through the

      MILNET to reach the NIC, network congestion has increased significantly

      for MILNET users.  In addition, both DDN and Internet users are

      experiencing long delays in establishing connections, as well as

      unstable connectivity even after a session has been initiated.

 

      Moreover, many problems that do not immediately appear to be related to

      connectivity are, in actuality, a direct result of this degraded

      connectivity.  For example, the impact of this congestion has caused the

      Root Domain Server and other NIC servers to behave atypically, not

      because of faulty configuration, but because of connection instability.

 

 

Solution Status:

 

      We are currently negotiating to establish a direct connection to the

      Internet to alleviate much of the current congestion and improve

      performance for the entire user community.  With the addition of

      this connection, you should all see a marked speed up in response time

      for both initial connection establishment and other service requests.

 

 

 

 

Problem 2:  WHOIS Search Response Time

 

Synopsis of Problem:

 

      As you are all aware, response time for WHOIS database searches has been

      poor. This difficulty appears to lie in the Ingres server that we

      have installed.  The server appears to be overloaded and unable to

      achieve an acceptable response speed.

 

Solution Status:

 

      We are currently working directly with technicians at Ingres to resolve

      the Ingres server difficulties.  So far, they have been most

      cooperative.  However, in the event that Ingres cannot provide a

      solution within a reasonable length of time, our own software

      development staff is also working to devise a way to bypass the Ingres

      server and establish an alternative response path.  We sincerely regret

      the inconvenience to all WHOIS users, and we hope to have a satisfactory

      fix in place in the very near future.

 

 

Peripheral Concerns

 

      Since the transition of NIC services on October 1, we at the NIC have

      been made aware of several heretofore undisclosed agreements and/or

      arrangements that SRI had established with members of the Internet user

      community.  We intend to honor those agreements when it is at all

      possible to do so within the boundaries of our contract.  For example,

      the SRI NIC had made arrangement for certain services to be provided to

      MCI.COM, and the staff at the new NIC was not aware of this until after

      the transition.  We expect other such situations to surface as we

      continue to operate, and we hope to resolve these matters as they arise

      in a manner that is satisfactory to all parties.

 

 

Summary

 

      We thank you in the NIC user community for your patience and fortitude

      in the face of the difficulties you have recently experienced.  To those

      of you who have been inconvenienced, we sincerely apologize.  We hope to

      alleviate the difficulties as speedily as possible and to restore all

      NIC services to a level of speed and usefulness that exceeds that which

      you enjoyed in the past.  In the meantime, we are working hard to

      improve connectivity, WHOIS response time, registration services, and

      all other network services for which the NIC is primarily responsible.

      We ask for your continued patience and cooperation in working with us to

      achieve that end.  Do let us know if you are having problems other than

      the ones which we have mentioned here, so that we may begin to provide

      solutions to those as well.

 

 

 

*************************************************************

Thought this may be of interest to those of you who are having

problems on the 'wired' network. Amateur Radio does not have

all of the problems!

 

Doug

 

 

 

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