Squirrel Mail becomes Nuts Mail

During December 2009, IDT is having the ROHAN server run Nuts Mail along side Squirrel Mail. This option is to give users a chance to test out the new version. IDT is switching ROHAN to Nuts Mail for the Spring 2010 semester and will turn off Squirrel Mail at the same time.

The switch will provide IDT with an easier way to manage the mail service updates, as well as give users some updated features and a modern interface. New features include the following options: To Do List, Notes, Bookmarks, and Calendar, as well as Help, Search, and Logout as small icons in the upper right corner of the screen.

Nuts Mail will use the same preferences users had saved in Squirrel Mail. However some stylesheets have changed colors, so be sure to go into Options > Display Preferences > and test out new Themes and Custom Stylesheets.

Problem with SSH Sessions on ROHAN

ROHAN is seeing TCP packet losses that are sometimes affecting SSH sessions causing the "keepalive" packets to be lost. This causes ROHAN to think the SSH client has gone away and ROHAN then closes the session.

TNS is able to duplicate the problem (ping packet losses and SSH sessions closing) and is investigating. Please let others know we are trying to solve this aggravating problem and thank you for your patience.

Browser Caching Tip on ROHAN

When changes are made to websites on ROHAN, it can take an hour for the modifications to show up on a refresh of the browser page. The reason is caching.

ROHAN sets expiration flags so HTML pages are cached 1 hour, and images for 1 week by the browser viewing the page. ROHAN's web server also keeps an internal memory cache of frequently served static objects. The server cache is refreshed every hour.

You can force the cache (both browser and web server) to update immediately by clicking reload in Firefox. Some browsers don't update cached items unless the SHIFT key is held down while clicking reload. NOTE: IE version 8 only refreshes it's cache if you hold down the CTRL key and click reload. SHIFT reload does not refresh in IE version 8.

ROHAN Streaming Media Server News

The planned move of Streaming Media services from the ROHAN server to the EOMER server for Spring 2010 semester use was announced at the September MWSSLS meeting. This change will happen one week prior to the Spring 2010 semester. The move solves the QuickTime streaming issues for off-campus users. The upload of files remains with ROHAN, as EOMER will just handle the serving of files.

Major change on www-rohan.sdsu.edu

After two months of working on the fine-tuning, Ron Nash switched the ROHAN web services over to a modified proxy server option for static content on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. Using Apache 2.13, www-rohan.sdsu.edu now has a lightweight and a heavyweight side to its web serving. The heavyweight side handles the more complicated php requests, while the lightweight side serves up the shorter text-based requests. This division of labor allows the text-based requests to be served approximately 10 times faster. The default refresh on content is set at one hour, while images are set at one week for their refresh. Kudos to Ron for the service improvement.