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Express Service Established
on Legacy Modem Pool
New 20-minute Limit Expected To Increase Modem Availability
By Babette Schmitt
The campus has entered a new phase in the ongoing search for a remote access solution that will minimize busy signals and allow more users to connect to the network. In February, the Network Operations Center created an Express Service on the 14.4K Legacy Modem Pool by limiting dial-up connections to 20 minutes. To reflect this change, the Legacy Modem Pool will be renamed the Express Service Modem Pool in a few weeks.
The decision to implement a shorter time limit was based on campus-wide consultations about remote access issues and on the recommendations made in the Remote Access Management Program (RAMP) report last June. The report suggested that "the old [14.4K] modem pool [be maintained] as a special service only, possibly as an Express Modem Service, dedicated essentially to support of electronic mail."
Exploring Short- and Long-term Solutions
The Express Service is expected to provide only a short-term solution to the remote access problems UC Davis users have been experiencing in the last few years. It is the latest campus effort to improve off-campus connectivity options for the University community within a financially constrained environment.
In June 1998, the campus modem pool infrastructure was expanded at a cost of $563,000. These one-time funds were approved for the purchase of 56K modems and to cover operational and carrier costs for two years. While these funds provided two first-rate modem pools in the context of post-secondary institutions, with 384 additional lines, the new modem pools did not meet, nor were they expected to meet, the rising demand from students and other University personnel using home computers for connections to both campus and Internet computing resources.
The RAMP pilot costs and the implementation of the 56K remote access service indicate that a pool of 1,920 modems would be required to meet the demand. Depending on the level of service desired, the cost for a pool of that size would range between $485,000 and $1,423,000 in one-time costs (primarily for equipment and installation) and between $731,000 and $1,595,000 in annual operating costs (for day-to-day support and network operations). (See the RAMP report executive summary at http://access.ucdavis.edu/.)
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Robert Grey charged the Academic and Administrative Computing Coordinating Councils with finding a long-term remote access solution for the campus. Both councils, with assistance from Information Technology, are exploring remote access and funding options in use at other UC campuses. On February 8, the Academic Computing Coordinating Council (known as the AC4) approved a list of thirteen remote access principles that a Steering Committee will use to evaluate other UC campuses' remote access and funding models. The AC4 hopes to determine which model is best suited for the campus. (See "Shaping the Future of Remote Access.")
Why an Express Service?
The Express Service concept is not new, nor is it unique to UC Davis. Many universities experiencing rapid increases in remote access demand have implemented similar solutions with positive results. In the UC system, the speed of the modems and the size of the pools vary tremendously from one campus to another. Most campuses, however, have already established express pools with time limits ranging from 10 to 20 minutes per connection:
- UC Los Angeles has adopted a 20-minute limitation on one of its pools.
- UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, and UC Irvine maintain 15-minute modem pools.
- UC Santa Cruz offers a small Express log-in pool with a limit of 10 minutes per connection.
Who Should Use an Express Service?
The Express Service is open to all UC Davis members. It should be particularly attractive to students and staff who are often faced with higher contention ratios on the 56K Student/Staff Modem Pool. Faculty members, on the other hand, will find it much easier to dial in to the Faculty Modem Pool where the contention ratio is not as high. (See "Dial In To The Faculty Modem Pool.")
Those who want to "get in and out quickly" will also find the Express Service particularly well-suited to their needs. With this service, they will be able to connect from off campus with a minimum of re-dialing, check electronic mail, make quick online inquiries, and disconnect from the pool in twenty minutes or less.
Clients who require longer modem pool connections for activities like surfing the Web, news reading, transferring large data files, or searching University Library databases, should continue to dial up either the Student/Staff Modem Pool (530-754-7720) or the Faculty Modem Pool (530-754-7701). These two pools are equipped with 56K modems and allow longer sessions. (See "Campus Modem Pools at a Glance".)
What did the change entail for the 14.4K Modem Pools?
The Network Operations Center reconfigured both 14.4K modem pools. This reconfiguration entailed three main steps:
- Establishing the Legacy Modem Pool as the only pool equipped with 14.4K modems. The dial-up number remains (530) 752-7925.
- Transferring the 48 remaining Telnet-only modems to the Legacy Modem Pool, thereby officially retiring the Telnet-only Modem Pool. (The 530-752-7900 dial-up number is no longer in service.)
- Creating an Express Service of twenty minutes per connection and unlimited number of connections per day on the Legacy Modem Pool. This means that all connections to this pool will be terminated after twenty minutes, but users may dial right back in and initiate as many connections as they need.
What Do You Need To Do?
If a twenty-minute session is adequate for your dial-in needs and your computer is already configured to access the Legacy Modem Pool, you don't have to do anything: just continue connecting to (530) 752-7925 as usual. Keep an eye on the clock, though, for sessions are terminated without warning.
If you sometimes require more than twenty minutes to accomplish your task, you'll need to learn how to adjust your modem configuration. This way, you can choose to dial in to the 56K modem pool for which you are eligible on those occasions when you need the longer time limit (see "Campus Modem Pools at a Glance").
Next Steps
Usage statistics collected since the Express Service was established on February 8 indicate that the daily number of unique users dialing in to the 14.4K Legacy Modem Pool has already increased, from around 3,600 to approximately 7,000.
Other usage highlights about the new Express Service include:
- The contention ratio on the Legacy Modem Pool has decreased from 85% to approximately 60% during peak hours (between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.).
- The average user connects 3 times a day and stays connected 12 minutes per session (down from 20-25 minutes before the Express Service was established).
- Over 55% of modem pool users access the Express Service daily.
The Network Operations Center will continue to monitor the demand for the Express Service and for the 56K modem pools to determine variations in access patterns. The intent is to offer connectivity to the widest possible number of UC Davis users and to encourage the most efficient use of the modem resources currently available. If the new time limit does not provide the expected improvements for users who need a short modem pool connection, or if it results in a net reduction in availability within any of the pools, the limit will be adjusted.
Resources
Please send your comments and questions about the new Express Service to access@ucdavis.edu.
For more information about the 20-minute limit and connecting to the modem pools, see the IT Express Web site at http://itexpress.ucdavis.edu/modems.html. If you need assistance with accessing the modem pools, contact IT Express at (530) 754-HELP, ithelp@ucdavis.edu, or 182 Shields Library.
To view modem pool usage statistics, the RAMP report executive summary, previous IT Times articles, and a host of other information about the campus modem pools, see the Remote Access Web site at http://access.ucdavis.edu/.
To report technical problems with the modem pools, contact the Network Operations Center (NOC) at (530) 752-7656 or noc@ucdavis.edu.
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