Wednesday, November 7, 2001

In About-Face, U. of Pennsylvania Limits Some Student Use of Computer Network By DAN CARNEVALE The University of Pennsylvania capped some bandwidth for students in dormitories two weeks ago because of a sudden and unexplained surge in network use. Resident students' computers now are limited to a bandwidth of 160 megabits per second for outbound Internet traffic, compared with the 265 megabits per second that had previously been available to everyone on the campus. Faculty terminals, research labs, and all incoming Internet traffic still operate at the full 265 megabits per second. Michael A. Palladino, the associate vice president for networking and telecommunications, said the university's network had been free from any crowding as late as early October. Back then, the network was overburdened for maybe an hour a day. "We had quite a bit of headroom," he said. However, by late October, the network was running at full capacity for almost 24 hours a day, he said. Before the cap, network programs weren't working efficiently, he said. For example, high-school students logging on to the Penn Web page had trouble using application and financial-aid programs. The cap has improved the performance of the network, he said. Technology officials are analyzing data to see what was behind the usage spike. After that is determined, administrators will try to develop a better fix for the problem besides capping bandwidth, Mr. Palladino said. Such ideas include buying more bandwidth, he said, but it's too soon to tell. The reaction from students has been mixed. Cristian Acosta, a senior majoring in civil engineering, said he mostly uses the network for downloading files, which has not been affected because the cap applies only to outgoing traffic. "You can't really see a difference," he said. "If they would have restricted download time, that would have bothered a lot of people." But Ryan C. Hamey, a freshman majoring in political science, said the cap has hindered his ability to share files with friends and to use the Internet to make long-distance phone calls. Mr. Hamey doesn't see the need to cap usage, he said, because even when the network had reached full capacity, it wasn't this slow. "At peak times, it slowed down a little," he said. "But nothing like when they put the cap on." Background article from The Chronicle: Penn's Bandwidth Impresses Some and Frustrates Others (11/2/2001) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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