Concerns have been raised recently about the apparent sluggishness of Iowa State’s computer servers.

Peter Siegel, director of the Computation Center, said contrary to the belief that the Eudora Pro e-mail program is causing servers to become bogged down, the real problem occurs when computer users send extremely large file attachments on e-mails.

“I don’t think we have a problem with the servers being slow. It’s just that a small amount of people are using a large amount of disk space,” he said. “We have our usual growth, and then we have a few people who are overusing the resources.”

Siegel said there are some people who are moving around 50 to 75 megabyte files routinely.

“I want to see them more or less upgrade their server capacity to handle the additional load rather than restrict how frequently you could check your mail,” said Michael Whaley, freshman in management information systems.

In a letter to the editor in the Feb. 12 Daily, Whaley expressed his concern about alleged restrictions made by the Computation Center about how often users are allowed to check their e-mail.

With Eudora Pro, users are able to set a preference for the program to check their e-mail every few minutes.

“What got me thinking about the whole ordeal was the whole fact that [the Computation Center was] perhaps going to enforce a frequency interval for which you could check your mail,” Whaley said.

Siegel said he feels Whaley’s concerns are unnecessary since the Computation Center never intended to place restrictions on users.

“I think the student felt he got wind of an issue, and his concern was rationally stated, except the problem he was worrying [about] … just wasn’t going to happen,” he said.

Siegel said the center is considering other options of e-mail programs in addition to Eudora. One option being considered for next fall is a Web-based service.

“A Web-based solution might be something that is easier to use in a shared environment, such as a computer lab where you just want to check your e-mail, but you don’t want to download it,” he said.

Siegel said memory and disk space currently are being added to the servers and more upgrades will be made this spring.

“The specific issues we’re dealing with are the usual, what I call, ‘routine upgrade needs,'” he said. “I would emphasize that part of our job is to keep up with demand. It’s not a problem. It’s just something we keep working at all the time.”

The center plans to get some faster servers, so it can handle more transactions per second, Siegel said.

Whaley said the center should inform the public about server upgrades through its Web site.

He said he would like to see “a phased plan, up-and-coming additions to the Web page … to keep the students informed.”

“With the amount of technology interest at this school, the students are going to be interested in that,” Whaley said.