Den't Threw the €PU out of the Window

By Clare Henderson _

Problems that seem to plague the students and faculty at UPEI are often associated with the campus email system. Everyone has had a moment when one wants to climb up to the roof of Duffy and throw the computer off to see how high it can bounce. If you think you’ve got it bad, imagine the people who have to deal with these problems on a daily basis.

When dealing with a server sys- tem as large as that of UPEI, it is inevitable that you are going to run into a few problems. Viruses and spam are a major issues that must be contended with. When talking with Tom Germaine from Computer Services, I was remind- ed of just how. much patience one has to have when dealing with a computer - and how these guys must have it in spades.

In case you don’t know anything about the computer system here, let me break it down for you - and forgive me, I know how to turn a computer on and off and run WordPerfect, so for all you

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Computer Science students out there you may find this painful. When you send an email to a UPEI account, it goes through one serv- er that goes through all the incom- ing mail (whether it’s from one UPEI account to another or not) and filters it for spam.

Let’s stop here for a second. What, may you ask, filters for spam? Here’s where the conversa- tion got really cool. A program called Spam Assassin. Knowing the little that I know about com- puters, I assume that it is a little Tom Thumb-sized guy in a ninja suit that goes through the mail and labels it spam.

Ok, so it’s just a program that goes through the email looking for key things like the words “buy now.” When you get give of those key points, an email is labeled spam.

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Once the email is labeled, it’s up to you to decide what to do with it, so read the subject to see if it’s something that might not actually be spam. But we’re not done yet

folks.

Once it goes through this first server, it goes through a sec- ond one that scans for viruses. Now, here’s where one of the

problems lie. These definitions have to be updated and no one - not even Bill Gates - can create a definition for a virus before it’s created. So, like every other com- puter system in the world, there’s going to be a delay before comput-

ers are protected and sometimes.

the system gets a few bugs.

Needless to say, however, there

are often more problems than one

would like. But fear not, as some- thing is being done about it. Computer Services is currently in the process of changing their mail system. Right now the University uses the Pegasus mail system but here’s the thing: this system is for intra-network mail. That means that they have to use another pro- gram, called Mercury, to help Pegasus take mail from outside the computer network. And Mercury isn’t the most reliable of programs (plus it’s name isn’t half as cool as Spam Assassin).

So, they are planning on switching to a program called WebMail.

This will be a more user friendly mail program with easier filtering options available to students. Blair Vessey, who works at Computer Services, says “ This will be cost-effective because the program is through Novell, which we already have the licensing for.” So that means we won’t be forking over big bucks to get mail.

Right now, the program is in place in a test group on campus in order to, as Vessey says “kick the tires to see if it’s going to stand up for us.” He believes that this new program will be in place in the fall - hope- fully by September.

In the meantime, if you have any problems with your UPEI mail, forward any problem emails onto helpdesk@upei.ca_and remember, the more detailed you are, the bet- ter. So the next time you get frus- trated with your email account, don’t start heading to Duffy - good things come to those who wait.

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UPEI Cadre March 9, 2004 page 8