Current Tech Issues & Status
The following are "known" issues on our list:
Issue: email "stalls". Recently our email server has become overloaded at times, resulting in "stalled" access - a spinning wheel, blank inbox and/or unresponsive browser. We believe this is a result of a large number of connections being maintained when users do not log off of the system.
Status 11/13/09: The session "timeout" has been reestablished and set to 20 minutes. In addition, web services will restart several times during the day (clearing out connected sessions). This may result in users being momentarily disconnected.
Issue: New (silver) laptop connection issues at Crossett Brook. From the start of the year we have been experiencing wireless connectivity issues with our new HP laptops. After weeks of struggling and trying everything we could, we discovered that we were not alone: roughly 500 laptops in 8 Vermont schools are effected, and at this point the issue is in the hands of HP engineers. The laptops themselves are fine, but the wireless cards may be faulty.
Status 11/13/09: We are hoping to hear from HP and our vendor soon. An engineering team was in Vermont last week doing tests at a larger school and we hope that there is a solution in the works.
Issue: Mac Firefox issues. The version of Firefox installed on our new Macs has several quirks. Issues include: crashes when opening PDf files, "Bad Request" errors when logging on to Powerschool, and some sites not accepting passwords. The problem has been identified and we are working to correct these errors by the end of this week. Ultimately this was an Apple issue and not Firefox at all! Until your computer's setting are changed, you will need to 1) Use the "Reload" button when "Bad Request" errors occur in Powerschool 2) Use Safari for Powerschool Admin or United Streaming login (or other sites where login is prevented).
Resolved 09/12/09: In the end these were not Firefox issues at all, but issues with managed user accounts in Mac OS 10.5 (the new operating system). The necessary changes have been made and Firefox is fully functional once more.
Status 09/07/09: Firefox has been udpated on all staff Macs. Additional settings changes will be made this week to correct the remaining issues.
Status 08/27/09: We "pushed" updates to most of the teacher Macs today, and some of the issues have been alleviated. It is possible that the cache (saved info) will still need to be emptied, which can be done using Tools --> Clear Recent History and changing the drop-down menu from Last Hour to Everything. You may need to drop down "Details" and make sure all boxes are checked.
What to Do: When Internet issues occur (and they WILL), remember that there are two browsers on every computer. Although Firefox is still the most universal and fully functional browser on both platforms (Windows and Mac), all Macs have Safari as well and Windows computers have Internet Explorer. Trying your page in another browser will determine if the issue is specifically a browser issue.
Issue: eMail unavailable. What's up with email? Over the past few months the "naming service" we use to direct our domain names to our servers has experienced attacks from the Internet, necessitating a shutdown. This typically happens early in the morning.
Status 12/10/08: There are now "alternate email links" on both web pages in case this happens again. If you do not see these links, refresh the page. The alternate links will only work from our school networks.
Issue: Slow startup in Windows computers. We have had several reports of slow startup on Windows computers this year. Systems are "unresponsive" in the first two or three minutes, and programs take a significant amount of time to open. Once the computer "catches up", you may have several copies of a program open.
Slow startups are a result of antivirus and antispyware scanning. To keep pace with increased risk of "attack" from the Internet and email, we upgrade our system protections each year. Each subsequent upgrade adds additional load to the system for real-time and startup scans. If you attempt to open a program several times during this initial phase, you will eventually get severala copies opened at once.
What To Do: Be patient. Desktop computers that stay logged on all day (i.e. staff computers) will take 2-3 minutes to complete startup activities. Once this phase is complete, the computer should be normally responsive and programs should open in seconds.
Status: (10/08/08) Slow startup issues were causing concern in our wired and wireless labs, as students have a limited time with these computers. As a result we have lowered some of the security barriers on these machines to make startup more efficient. Although we do not like to lower security thresholds, this seems necessary in the labs.
Status: (12/16/08) We are in the process of removing spyware protection from staff computers. Please notify us if you still see the "TeaTimer" icon (padlock) at the bottom right of your screen.
Issue: Good mail being diverted as "junk." Sadly our school addresses do receive a significant amount of junk email, or "SPAM." This is an international epidemic, and we are doing our best to filter out the most obvious junk. Our mail goes through several layers of filtering, and the most obvious SPAM is diverted to a "spambox" account and not delivered to your inbox. After some updates to the filters in August, it appears that some good mail was being diverted.
The issue of good mail not being delivered came to our attention during the first week of school, and the filters were adjusted accordingly. Since then we have been periodically scanning the diverted mail to make sure that no good mail is being held back. Good mail is being forwarded to your account from the spambox account: "replies" will thus be sent back to that account and not to the sender. If you need to contact the sender, you will need to copy/paste their address fromt he message or from your contacts.
What To Do: Please contact Eric if you think there are messages that have not been delivered properly. It is helpful if you confirm your address with the sender first, and have them resend.
Status (10/12/08): We have been monitoring diverted mail for over a month, and have forwarded a handful of "good" messages that had been marked as junk. If these represented regular and school-related correspondance the sender's address has been added to our whitelist. As of this date we are no longer reviewing mail caught in our SPAM filters, but we can still search and retrieve messages if you think any "good" mail has been diverted.
Issue: Network storage and backups. With the proliferation of digital cameras and the use of streaming video and other media we have begun to experience problems with excessive network storage. In general, we ask that pictures, video and other large files NOT be saved to network storage. The issue is that anything saved to the network (even temporarily) is backed up several times, and our backup servers have been filled on several occasions causing backups to fail.
We ask that staff network folders be kept under 250MB (the average is about 50MB, which is a LOT of documents!). To find out how large your folder is, right-click on the folder and choose "Properties" (Windows) or "Apple-I" (Mac).
Workaround: Pictures and video should always be stored either "locally" (on the desktop or in the My Pictures/Documents folder) or on Media Servers in each school. Pictures and original media should be periodically burned to CD for backup.
Status (May 2008): Media Servers are now installed in both buildings, providing sufficient storage for all media files although this network space is not backed up. We are working on a long term plan to expand network storage, storage capacity and transfer speeds.
Issue: SPAM & Virus Activity. Sadly despite every precaution we have begun to receive junk mail at our new addresses. It is also a constant challenge to prevent spyware and virus activity on our Windows computers. Spyware, Adware and Viruses only effect Windows computers. Our Macs are immune, but Mac users should still know and follow standard safety procedures.
A few precautions I hope everyone is aware of and protocols for keeping computers safe:
1) Be cautious and aware of potential threats. FYI most Windows computers we have scanned have had some sort of Adware or Spyware, but no significant viruses.
2) Don’t give out your email unless absolutely necessary, particularly when making online purchases.
Web-based email is generally safest, and we have strong virus protection on our email. Even so, best practice is STILL to save all attachments before opening them, even if they come from people you know.
3) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure your home computer is properly protected. If it is not, you may be infecting others. Please contact us with questions or if you are not sure how to protect your Windows computer.
4) Mail “client” programs (Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Thunderbird, etc.) are particularly susceptible to viruses, as many virus programs “look” for these programs and particularly their address books. If you use a mail client at home you need to be particularly careful, and again web-based email is recommended whenever possible. It is possible for compromised home computers to inadvertently “leak” address books to Internet phishers or spammers.
Status: Our filters are constantly "learning", and after an initial onslaught in December 2007 our SPAM issues seem to be back under control. We are currently diverting approximately 1500 messages weekly to a "Spam box" for review and deletion. Please contact Eric if you think you have had good mail diverted in this way.
Issue: Thatcher Brook MacIntosh "Too Many Files Open" message. When using MS Word or Excel on a Mac, users have occasionally experience d a "Too Many Open Files" error when trying to save a document. The errors are not consistent and do not occur often.
Workaround: By choosing 'Save As" and changing the filename you should be able to save the file. It is recommended that you then delete the old file and rename the current file to avoid duplicates.
Status: (05/11/08) We have not had reports of this issue for several months, and it is likely that a server update fixed the issue.
Issue: Thatcher Brook Windows connection problems.Laptop users are occasionally disconnected from share points or permissions are lost. Symptoms of disconnection include a "working offline" message in the system tray (bottom right). Using network shortcuts results in an error message. Desktop users have been occasionally disconnected as well.
Workaround: If a shortcut does not work, try finding your folder through Network places. If this does not work, logging off and on again usually reconnects you to the file server. If logging off does not work, restart.
Status: Resolved, 10/26/07.
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