Subject: U Illinois Chicago computer center replies to Thomas
 
Date:         Sun, 12 Feb 1995 11:13:07 CST
Sender:       Academic Town Hall <[log in to unmask]>
From:         "Jim O'Leary (312) 996-4643" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Why the E-Mail May Stop!
 
> I edit a list on intellectual history [H-IDEAS] affiliated with H-NET
> lists in the humanities and history on the UIC LISTSERV.  I received the
> following note with the subject heading: Nationwide E-Crisis: H-Net
> Threatened.  Given the technical nature of the note, could someone who
> is informed please explain what is or is not occurring since this
> impacts on UIC, and in specific my provincial domain.  Paranoids, you
> know, are usually right.   Burt Bledstein, History
 
Since UIC is part of the "heart" of BITNET/LISTSERV, I'll try to do my best to
explain what is going on.  Please keep in the back of your mind the fact that
Eric Thomas (who wrote the excruciatingly detailed technical story that
that Dr. Bledstein forwarded to ACADEMY) has a personal financial stake in
BITNET.  He is the founder and owner of owner of L-SOFT Inc., the company
that markets LISTSERV software.  LISTSERV is the package behind UIC's
highly successful "H-NET" and thousands of other worldwide "discussion
groups".  Eric does a very good job of explaining BITNET's  problems, but
at the same time he is using fear, paranoia and his vast network of contacts
(including those who run H-NET and other LISTSERV groups) as marketing tools
to promote his new products.
 
UIC, in cooperation with CREN (the BITNET administration) and the other
11 or so BITNET 'hub/core' sites, has been putting a LOT of resources and
effort into trying to solve the problems of the exponentially growing
BITNET traffic.  UICVM has been a volunteer BITNET hub for years, but
for the last two years, BITNET traffic growth has become a major contributing
factor to the overload on UICVM which results in poor response time on CMS.
 
We have recently shifted about 80% of the BITNET traffic from the mainframe
to two very large IBM PS/2 PCs that have special co-processors that allow
"mainframe" software to run on them. These are the "P/370" computers
mentioned and maligned by Eric Thomas.  We are also in the process of
obtaining a license to the "UNIX LISTSERV" that Eric Thomas is pushing as
the best solution.  Once the UNIX LISTSERV is in place, H-NET and other
important UIC "discussion groups" can be moved to a Unix machine and will be
less vulnerable to the problems of the BITNET "mainframe hubs".  This should
also help further reduce the UICVM overload.
 
One thing I want the UIC faculty, staff and students to get a feel for
is the unprecedented growth rates in the volume of e-mail and other services
on both the INTERNET and BITNET.
 
BITNET started as 'roll your own' network in 1981, even before the INTERNET
started to emerge from the Department Of Defense.  Each institution paid
its own way and purchased its own communications link.  UIC was one of the
very first institutions to join BITNET, which has since grown to about
2,000 sites worldwide.  Still,  BITNET today is far smaller, far slower and
FAR less useful than the INTERNET.
 
Everyone expected that BITNET would be dead by now but it has survived
and even flourished for one reason only:  LISTSERV discussion groups
(of which H-NET is an example).
 
LISTSERV was developed by Eric Thomas as 'freeware' and quickly became
the most popular BITNET application worldwide.  Many of the "discussion groups"
hosted on old BITNET mainframes have become so popular that thousands
of new INTERNET users subscribe to BITNET discussions each week, putting
new strains on the "INTERBIT" gateways.  INTERBIT gateways are the 12 U.S.
BITNET hubs that can exchange mail between BITNET and INTERNET. CREN is
in the process of trying to expand the INTERBIT concept since there are
very few BITNET institutions these days that are not also on INTERNET. It
will take time before anything useful is in place.
 
Eric Thomas has determined that BITNET/LISTSERV traffic is growing at a rate
of about 50% every 6 months!  There have also been recent reports that the
growth rate of INTERNET traffic has already exceeded, by an order of magnitude,
the highest growth rate ever recorded in the history of the U.S.long
distance telephone network.  Eric has wisely capitalized on this growth by
taking his LISTSERV software commercial.  Ironically, his software is
the main contributing cause of the problems he now complains about!
 
In summary, we're trying to do everything we possibly can with the
human and hardware resources we have.  There WILL still be bumpy
times ahead as we try to cope with growth rates that are almost impossible
to predict and cope with.  Please bear with your Computer Center - we are
trying our level best.