Computing problems fixed in residence halls

University Information Technology Services has been working overtime to correct computer problems many students living in the residence halls have experienced during the last week, a University official said.\nSue Workman, UITS director of teaching and learning information technology, said the problem came from a server error that was easily corrected and a problem with one resident's computer.\nUITS took over responsibility for technology resources in the residence halls in March, Workman said. Residential Programs and Services previously ran the network.\nUITS is in the process of changing the network connections in the halls to a "switch network," which will make connections go faster, she said. A switch network would also provide more security. Four halls have yet to be upgraded, she said.\nOne of the problems UITS has encountered so far in the dorms is a server glitch that the manufacturer already knew about. They were able to solve it by rebooting the DHCP server, which assigns IP addresses to individual servers so they can connect to the network, she said.\nIP addresses are required for a computer to communicate with other computers on the network and around the world.\n"Once the server was rebooted, that particular issue seems to have been resolved," she said. \n"The most critical, however, resulted from a rare hardware anomaly in a student-owned computer. When the computer was connected to the network, that anomaly caused an adverse network reaction.\nThat caused problem for many residents trying to connect, she said.\nWorkman said a big part of the problems was that it took a long time to discover what was happening and to decipher the combination of conflicts experienced.\n"It masked itself, and it took us longer to discover what was really happening," Workman said.\nWorkman said the majority of students had no problems connecting to the network. Many students did experience delays in network access because the new DHCP server was swamped with many a network connection requests.\n"Since most people are logging on during the first week and most freshmen have never experienced an Ethernet-like connection, I would imagine the network would be slow," said senior Jason Dudich, Residence Halls Association president.\nFor those who experienced difficulty, UITS-trained consultants were able to assist them over the phone, by e-mail or, when necessary, by a service visit to the student's dorm room, Workman said. \nSophomore Sara Gaulke, a resident of Read Center, said she experienced problems connecting to the network, but was unable to get to UITS to fix it in time.\n"I called on Monday to get help, and then I called Tuesday and Wednesday," Gaulke said. "Someone helped me fix my problem on Thursday, although the guy was not from UITS. A guy from UITS came on Sunday, (but) my problem was already fixed."\nErin Somers, a freshman living in McNutt Quad, said she had several problems connecting her computer to the network. Within a couple of days, she said, a UITS worker solved the problem and had the computer working by Friday after an hour of work.\n"I couldn't get the right IP address," Somers said. \nMost students had their in-room network connections working properly by the first day of classes, Workman said. For those students still not connected, Workman said UITS is working to solve as many problems as possible.\n"As with any new service, fine-tuning in real-world circumstances is required," Workman said.\nShe said she was pleased by the number of students who did get their connections working without any problems.\n"I'm pleased that the majority of students were able to simply plug in their computer and get quick network access with the assistance of the special UITS network configuration CD which automated the network configuration process," Workman said. \nTerry Usrey, UITS director of data telecommunications, said not all the problems experienced during the first week were under UITS control, causing certain halls longer delays than others.\n"Other than delays we might expect from the sheer number of network connection requests, a convergence of other small problems, some out of UITS control, resulted in some unfortunate and frustrating delays in students getting connected during move-in," Usrey said. "Fortunately, these issues were resolved by the start of classes when being connected is a must for students engaged in their academic work"