Some students clog computer network
A few Internet surfers on campus are able to cause problems for everyone.
“It is possible for a few users to overwhelm the network if their computers have the power and they run certain applications,” said Bob Bayn, manager of academic user services.
Bayn said student housing uses hubs able to carry 10 megabits of information which are connected to 100-megabit hubs to move information around campus faster. That line is connected to the University of Utah, which is connected to a main commercial server. A browser makes a new connection to receive information and drops the connection when all the information has been received.
“We are at the end of a branch,” Bayn said. “We are not slowed down by people sending information to us.”
It is possible for a few users to clog up the entire network and not allow other users to connect, Bayn said.
When a hub has more packets of information traveling on it than it is able to carry, it buffers the packets until the information has been sent and will block new attempts to connect, Bayn said.
“Routers prefer maintaining connections rather than adding new ones,” Bayn said.
Information servers like Napster, Web browsers and student-run Web servers that are well advertised can be heavily used for downloads and block the system, Bayn said.
Some universities, including Brigham Young University, have recently decided to ban the use of Napster from on-campus computers. Bayn said he doesnt’ expect USU to do the same.
Data packets sent by this activity are monitored by the university, Bayn said.
“We do not look at what is being sent, only how much – the volume. We’re not the watchdogs in terms of content,” Bayn said.
The primary concern for Bayn and his office is to provide access to the university in general and not allow a few users to hamper everyone else.
“We expect student housing to have more information going to it than sending. If a computer is sending a lot of data for a period of time it will show up on our system and be made known to us,” Bayn said.
When a computer shows up on the system, Bayn said inquiries are made to find out why a large amount of information is being sent. Besides downloads from information servers like Napster, Bayn said another reason a computer might send a lot of data is because it has been hacked.
“A plain operating system is not secure,” Bayn said. “We have roughly 10,000 computers on campus and somebody is trying to get in all the time.”
Computers that get hacked are typically new, Bayn said, and have to be shut down and reconfigured to be more secure.
Bayn said last week USU began traffic shaping, which involves setting up a smart router that violates the rule existing routers use. Traffic shaping prioritizes information packets that are sent so a few users cannot clog the network, Bayn said.
“We believe there are valid uses for all available technology,” Bayn said. “We’re not going to attempt to have the university declare technology illegal. I don’t expect us to block Napster. I expect us to block high outbound uses or hamper them.”