The Elm Student Newspaper
Dodge plans to fix server, e-mail access problem
Heidi Atwood
New Director of Computing Billie Dodge
works on fixing some of the school's
network problems.
Photograph by Lauren McLoughlin, Elm photographer.
Last week, a number of disgruntled students complained that BlitzMail was not working correctly. Students were upset because they were not able to send e-mail to people outside of Washington College.
Most students believed that the BlitzMail system was the root of the problem. Billie Dodge, WC's new computing and telecommunications director said otherwise.
"The problem was not BlitzMail," she said. "It was our DNS server."
Dodge explained that the Domain Names Service is supposed to direct all mail from the outside to the correct destination. However, there was an incorrect configuration in the server. The result was that BiltzMail could not communicate with other mail services.
This problem did not suddenly appear last week. Rather, it was a weakness that already existed in the system. "What happens is sometimes the server can limp along and work well until it is overwhelmed with traffic," Dodge explained. "Then, mail bounces all over the place."
Fortunately, many students were not even aware that there were any difficulties.
"I didn't even know [there was a problem]," stated freshman Brant Whistler.
"I could only send e-mails to other universities," said freshman Brynn Torelli. "Still, I only had difficulties with one message, so I was not bothered much."
The computer staff has temporarily corrected the server problems, but Dodge warns that not every problem has been worked out.
"I believe that the system is stable now, but we are going to continue to evaluate and correct problems," she promised.
The servers still have many glitches, and it may take several weeks before everything will run smoothly. "You can't just [snap your fingers] and fix the problems," Dodge said. "We have to systematically work through the issues," WC computer technicians have not only had problems with the school's DNS, but last Sunday night, the electricity went out.
"I didn't know [about the power outage] until midnight," Dodge said. She explained that the electrical problems are not exclusive to WC: all of Kent county is susceptible to power failure.
However, Dodge assured the students, "We are working to make sure that the electrical problems inherent in this area won't effect our servers."
Dodge wants to solve all the network issues as quickly as possible. "Hopefully, by the time we really need the servers, at the end of the semester, the system will be totally stable," she said.
Although Dodge is not finished cleaning up the WC servers, she has already set future goals.
After the college's servers have been repaired, she wants to establish a system that would warn administrators if the server is not working. Dodge says that "right now, we don't have a system that allows us to know when the server is down."
Another one of Dodge's goals is to increase tech support.
"I am trying to create a student help desk," she said. "Students will be trained to assist others."
She plans to have the desk well staffed with knowledgeable people. If she is successful in augmenting tech support with student experts, students might not have such a difficult time finding technical assistance.
Once Dodge has accomplished all of the goals that she has in mind, the WC computer network will cause considerably fewer headaches.
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