Many people have noticed that RPI’s computer network moves slowly—slower than it should given the capabilities of the network equipment. While we understand the necessary decision-making and budgeting processes that have to be completed before a network can be upgraded, we would like to see progress made in a few problem areas.
One of the main issues affecting students using the network is the outdated hardware. While the core and academic parts of the network have been recently upgraded , the part of the network that on-campus students connect to (“ResNet”) is still using old 10 megabit hardware. An easy and significant, though admittedly costly, upgrade that could be completed is upgrading ResNet to 100 megabit connections.
Part of the problem occurs because there is a lot of unnecessary traffic coming from malfunctioning equipment, including routers and infected computers, mostly because they aren’t running with the most current updates. DotCIO can’t force users to update their equipment, however, they do have the authority to refuse problem computers access to the network, and sometimes they do. Unfortunately, they are not as quick as they could be at identifying and locking down these computers.
On another note, it is no longer possible to browse the network for available shared files. Filesharing is not necessarily a bad thing, especially when used appropriately. This has been a controversial issue lately, but it is not the network administrators’ job to stop file sharing, especially at the cost of preventing legitimate service.
Starting next Monday, dotCIO will begin blocking incoming HTTP requests. This means that students cannot run web servers without specifically requesting static IP addresses. This move was made without any explanation and is inconvenient and unnecessary for students. Requesting a static IP address can be a hassle for some students, and it provides no additional logging capabilities.
Additionally, there is no quick and dependable method for off-campus computers to connect to the network. The VPN, which is the way that off-campus students are to access computers on-campus, is very slow, if it works at all. This could be remedied by opening up some connections so students can access the software or information they need. The slow speed of the VPN could also be fixed by upgrading the VPN server or equipment.
As a leading technological school, RPI attracts students who make use of advanced network capabilities. If a few changes were made, the performance of the network could be greatly improved.
