Hosts
Key: IHLS Library
Chris Dawdy: (8/10/2016 12:59) Good afternoon!
Brandon Chapman: (12:59) Hi everyone!
Brandon Chapman: (13:01) With Troy and Brant unavailable today, I may not be able to answer as many questions this time, but I'll get it a shot! :)
Brandon Chapman: (13:02) ...but first off, I want to apologize for the Polaris weirdness these past couple of weeks.
Brandon Chapman: (13:02) The best way to describe the current influx of issues is an eight-lane Chicago freeway during rush hour with every car trying to weave between lanes!
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: (13:02) I'm sure you've heard this, but will Polaris get any faster. It seems like everything runs slower and slower. And I don't mean just yesterday.
Brandon Chapman: (13:03) The slowness is the #1 issue we're working on.
Brandon Chapman: (13:03) We have it narrowed down to two causes. Coming up with viable fixes is our next step.
Chris Dawdy: (13:04) The slowness yesterday was a result of adding 25,000 ebook records, wasn't it?
Brandon Chapman: (13:04) That too.
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: (13:04) I know yesterday there were some Bib Services/Importing issue, but since the upgrade basic bib searches just take longer. Everything seems to take longer.
Brandon Chapman: (13:04) Adding the 25,000 e-book records exacerbated the problem.
Darlene Barlow: (13:05) Monday evening our Polaris went down about 20 minutes before we closed at 8:00PM and did not come back up so we just closed out but Tuesday when I came in it was ok. But was very delayed in operations. We have been having some internet issues here anyway and we are going to purchase a new router as ours is 10-11 years old.
Chris Dawdy: (13:05) For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, the Cloud library staff started the migration of the Lewis & Clark Digital consortium collection--formerly an OverDrive consoritum--to the Cloud Library & Polaris.
Chris Dawdy: (13:06) We've now doubled the size of the Cloud Library collection.
Brandon Chapman: (13:06) The Layman's explanation of both causes:
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: (13:06) Joan said that they have done these before, but this was the first big transfer since the upgrade. So they may have to it at different times.
Brandon Chapman: (13:11) 1) The Chicago analogy above. The database is processing so much at the same time and so many things are happening, and each transaction is going wherever whenever (instead of staying in its own lane). It's a demonlition derby on that server!
Brandon Chapman: (13:11) *demolition
Brandon Chapman: (13:12) 2) The other part is how much "eye candy" the remote servers are trying to give to each person. The "prettier" it tries to make the Polaris boxes look, the more of your Internet connection it wants to use.
Brandon Chapman: (13:13) We're looking into ways to tweak both of these (tell everything to "stay in it's own lane" and to tell the remote servers "it doesn't need to be pretty--it just needs enough to work")
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: (13:14) Fast, not pretty! That was one of the first complaints I got from staff--they didn't like how it looked.
Brandon Chapman: (13:14) So while Internet connection speed is still important on the library's end (especially when the connection is shared between patrons), there is something we can do on our end to make the connection a little less stressful.
Brandon Chapman: (13:17) After all, we understand that not everybody has access to super-fast 100 Mbps Internet connections. Unfortunately many areas are lucky to have at least 3 Mbps!
Darlene Barlow: (13:18) So, Brandon, are you saying that the issues of us loosing internet once in awhile might be coming to us because of all these Polaris issues?
Brandon Chapman: (13:20) Losing Internet completely? No. Polaris doesn't need that big of a pipe. :) However, if there are other users downloading huge files or streaming video and there's nothing to slow it down, that can have an impact.
Brandon Chapman: (13:22) So if your firewall doesn't control who can have what, then something like this can happen:
Brandon Chapman: (13:22) With people only using Polaris, one person checking their e-mail, and one person on Facebook:
Brandon Chapman: (13:23) ||--e-mail--|-----Facebook-----|---------Polaris----------|----------------------------unused bandwidth-----------------------------||
Brandon Chapman: (13:23) Now let's add streaming video to that:
Brandon Chapman: (13:24) ||--e-mail--|-----Facebook-----|--------------Netflix------------------|------------------YouTube----------------------|----------------------Hulu-------------------|Polaris*||
Brandon Chapman: (13:25) *: "What are you doing to me?!!!!!!!"
Brandon Chapman: (13:25) Yeah, I know...very bad text art...lol
Darlene Barlow: (13:26) No the recent problems seem to be we just loose internet for alittle while, or cannot get onto the internet at all but after several retrys. That's why I wonder if we need to update some of our equipment here.
Brandon Chapman: (13:27) In that case, you'll need to contact your Internet Service Provider. They'll usually update equipment like the modem (or router if they provided it).
Teresa /Paris: (13:29) We're having receipt printer issues again with that same computer. Right now I'm updating the HP driver because the default printer fails to print certain letters of the alphabet in Polaris notices.
Brandon Chapman: (13:30) At home, I had a problem with my cable Internet going up and down. That kept happening for days. It turned out that my Internet provider (Charter in this case) had to fix a line outside; a squirrel chewed on it!
Brandon Chapman: (13:31) Teresa: Call me after this chat is over (my extension is 440).
Teresa /Paris: (13:31) Will do.
Brandon Chapman: (13:33) So Darlene, it could be equipment, it could be something outside the building...it could be a number of things (hopefully not squirrels hungry for copper wire in your case)
Darlene Barlow: (13:35) Thanks for the info, Brandon!
Brandon Chapman: (13:36) Oh boy...I'm seeing a demolition derby on the Polaris database now!
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: (13:37) It wasn't me--I'm done importing! ;)
Brandon Chapman: (13:37) If you're noticing slowdown at this exact moment...that would be why.
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: (13:37) There is a locked file on the import queue
Darlene Barlow: (13:38) What is an import queue?
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: (13:39) The list of files from catalogers that are being imported into the Polaris database.
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: (13:39) Some are from OCLC and some are from vendors for electronic ordering (EDI)
Brandon Chapman: (13:40) Locked file: it's like checking in at airport security and it's taking a long time to search one person. It holds up everyone else as the line gets longer and longer.
Brandon Chapman: (13:40) The import queue = the line at the airport.
Brandon Chapman: (13:45) I see more late nights in my future tacking this problem!
Brandon Chapman: (13:45) :)
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: (13:46) Job security
Gary, Worden PLD: (13:46) I've had trouble with Polaris leaving out letters on the paging list, even after buying a new compter and printer.
Brandon Chapman: (13:47) Gary: Can you call me at about 2:30 PM? We'll need to address this over the phone. My extension is 440.
Brandon Chapman: (13:48) Typically if characters are being left out of printouts (or other weird stuff like backwards printing), either the printer's driver or Screwdrivers will need to be updated (or both).
Gary, Worden PLD: (13:49) I'm afraid I'll be gone by then, but I can try to call tomorrow.
Brandon Chapman: (13:49) That's fine.
Darlene Barlow: (13:53) I appreciate all your advice and hard work to get this HUGE AMOUNT of issues tackled and trying to eliminate them as quickly as you can. Thank You, Brandon!
Brandon Chapman: (13:56) No problem...one way or another, these problems will be resolved. It might take a few 24-packs of Diet Mountain Dew, but it will be done! :)
Brandon Chapman: (13:57) It looks like the demolition derby stopped on the database server (for now).
Brandon Chapman: (13:58) Two minutes left...anything else we need to squeeze in?
Darlene Barlow: (13:58) Chocolate works wonders also, HA!
Brandon Chapman: (13:58) That too. :)
Brandon Chapman: (14:00) Demolition derby started at 1:35, stopped at 1:57. Not as long as what was happening yesterday, but still a thorn in our side.
Chris Dawdy: (14:01) Have a good rest of your day, everyone, and let's hope we don't have any more demolition derbies today!
Darlene Barlow: (14:01) Thank You, Hope You all have a Great Afternoon! You too, Brandon!