Executive Director's Report April 1999 =========================== May 13, 1999 By Christopher L. Cope (execdir@freenet.carleton.ca) Contents: 1. Administration & Funding 2. Member Services and Future Initiatives 3. System Administration 1. Administration & Funding =========================== a) Donation Data - New Registrations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We continue to trail the Budget for new members by about one-third. This month, the percentage of new members donating dropped below 50% for the first time this year at 46.8%, continuing a steady decline. The average donation however, increased to $31.58, so that our total for the month is $2,437 or 19% under Budget. On a year-to-date basis, we are not so far behind. We have collected $11,313 so far this year from new registrants; less than $1,000 off the budget (-6%). No. No. % Of Avg. Regist New Budget Regist Memb $ Budget Regist Donat'n Memb. (No.) Var Donate Donate Amount ($) Var Donat'n All New ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ YTD'98 3,488 7,224 -52% 1,499 43.0% $35,668 $46,225 -23% $23.79 $10.23 Avg'98 291 602 -52% 125 43.0% $ 2,972 $ 3,852 -23% $23.79 $10.23 Jan. 205 300 -32% 133 64.9% $ 3,297 $ 3,000 -10% $24.79 $16.08 Feb 230 300 -23% 127 55.2% $ 2,704 $ 3,000 -10% $23.62 $13.04 Mar. 213* 300 -29% 114 53.5% $ 2,875 $ 3,000 -4% $26.32 $14.08 Apr. 203 300 -32% 95 46.8% $ 2,437 $ 3,000 -19% $31.58 $14.78 May 300 $ 3,000 Jun. 300 $ 3,000 Jul. 400 $ 4,000 Aug. 400 $ 4,000 Sep. 400 $ 4,000 Oct. 400 $ 4,000 Nov. 400 $ 4,000 Dec. 400 $ 4,000 ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ YTD'99 851 1,200 -29% 469 55.1% $11,313 $12,000 -6% $24.12 $13.29 Avg'99 263 300 -29% 117 55.1% $ 2,828 $ 3,000 -6% $24.12 $13.29 * The number of new members has been restated for March, 1999, to discount the 200 new accounts set up for VolNet. As these accounts come in to use, they will be included. Other calculated amounts in this table have been recalculated based on the revised amount. b) Donation Data - Renewals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The level of renewals dropped significantly this month at 717, compared to a budget of 1,235 (-42%). The percentage of renewing donors climbed slightly this month, but is still well below levels in January and February. With an average donation of $ 27.06, our total revenue from renewals for April was only $15,586, nearly $10,000 under budget for the month or -38%. On a year-to-date basis, renewals have generated $95,800 or #3,158 (13%) less than budget. No. % Of Avg. Renwl No. Budget Renwl Renwl $ Budget Renwl Donate Renwl (No.) Var Donate Donate Amount ($) Var Donatn All Ren ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ YTD'98 9,697 10,012 -3% 6,465 66.7% $156,819 $228,388 -31% $24.26 $16.17 AVG'98 808 834 -3% 539 66.7% $ 13,068 $ 19,032 -31% $24.26 $16.17 Jan. 906 1,020 3% 880 97.1% $ 20,844 $ 20,800 0% $23.69 $23.01 Feb. 826 1,279 -35% 781 94.6% $ 23,316 $ 26,100 -11% $29.85 $28.23 Mar. 1,151 1,162 -1% 818 71.1% $ 23,422 $ 23,700 -1% $28.63 $20.35 Apr. 717 1,235 -42% 576 80.3% $ 15,586 $ 25,200 -38% $27.06 $21.74 May 1,176 $ 24,000 Jun. 873 $ 17,800 Jul. 510 $ 10,400 Aug. 358 $ 7,300 Sep. 270 $ 5,500 Oct. 309 $ 6,300 Nov. 314 $ 6,400 Dec. 387 $ 7,900 ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ YTD'98 3,600 4,696 -23% 3,055 85% $ 83,168 $ 95,800 -13% $27.22 $23.10 AVG'98 900 1,174 -23% 764 85% $ 20,792 $ 23,950 -13% $27.22 $23.10 c) Unassigned Donations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Donations not associated with registration or renewals continue to come in: Period Donors Donation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1998 Total 1,103 $34,033 (avg. $30.85) 1999 Jan. 41 $ 1,268 (avg. $30.93) Feb. 33 $ 1,057 (avg. $32.03) Mar. 07 $ 186 (avg. $26.57) Apr. 19 $ 431 (avg. $22.68) ~~~ ~~~~~~~ Total 100 $ 2,942 (avg. $29.42) d) Membership Activity: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Largely because of the poor renewal rate this month, NCF membership dropped to 14,115, representing a decline in the month of 402 members or 2.8%. The number of new members in the month continues to hover around the 200 mark, as it has since the beginning of the year. |Member | Current |To line| Actual |Ratio |Number Forecast Number Forecast Number Number # of % inc. | |Of New No. of Members No. of Members Members Members -dec. |Lns :1 |Members New Memb Renewed Renewed Un-arch Archvd ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ |~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ Jan. 16,691 -1.5% |213 76| 205 300 906 1,020 0 0 Feb. 13,461 4.7% |213 80| 230 300 826 1,279 1 4,739 Mar. 14,517 7.8% |213 80| 213 300 1,151 1,162 4 252 Apr. 14,115 -2.8% |213 67| 203 300 717 1,235 2 607 e) Sponsorship, Homepage Data and Information Providers: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Four organizations joined NCF this month: Childfind, St. Stephens, The Mumbo Jumbo Voodoo Combo and the Prostrate Cancer Association. As orphaned menus are gradually eliminated, the number of IP appears to be diminishing. New Ips however are choosing to offer their information in Web form only and the number of IP Web pages continues to grow. The number of personal homepages declines in lock step with archivals, but continues at 7-8% of our membership. Org. Org. | Line Line | New Total Free -Dec. | Home of Accts Accts | Spons Spons | IPs IPs Pages % | Page Memb ~~~~~ ~~~~~ | ~~~~~ ~~~~~ | ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ | ~~~~~ ~~~~ Jan. 1 41| 0 8 | 1 300 92 7.0% |1,051 9.9% Feb. 5 46| 0 8 | 5 305 94 2.2% |1,094 8.1% Mar. 2 48| 0 8 | -5 300 99 5.3% |1,078 7.4% Apr. 4 52| 0 8 | -2 298 101 2.0% |1,051 7.4% f) Modem Usage Data ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The number of PPP sessions dropped by more than 3,500 or about 9%, but still represented about half (51%) of the total number of sessions. The number of text sessions declined as well, but only about 1% compared to last month, to hold position at 49% of the total number. The total number of PPP unique users remained essentially the same as last month at 3,582 (down only 23), whereas the total number of unique users using our text service dropped by 468 or 10%. PPP users increased to 46% of the total number of unique users, compared to 43% last month. (i) Weekly Sessions PPP Users PPP Users Text Users Total Increase Main Pool Mitel Pool Total PPP (Main Pool) Sessions Decrease ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ Jan 7,656 14% 52,953 Feb 7,068 17% 42,381 -20% Mar 29,635 44% 8,125 12% 37,769 55% 30,320 45% 68,080 61% Apr 25,350 38% 8,885 13% 34,235 51% 33,017 49% 67,252 -1% (ii) Unique users in a one week period PPP Users PPP Users Text Users Total Increase Main Pool Mitel Pool Total PPP (Main Pool) Sessions Decrease ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ Jan 1,178 16% 7,187 Feb 1,127 17% 6,508 -9% Mar 2,510 30% 1,095 13% 3,605 43% 4,711 57% 8,316 28% Apr 2,419 31% 1,163 15% 3,582 46% 4,243 54% 7,825 -6% f) Modem Availability ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The modem monitoring software made 1,589 attempts from 4:30pm on Friday, April 16 to 11:57pm on Saturday, April 17th and again for 2,150 attempts from 12:05pm on Monday, May 3rd to 9:52am on Wednesday, May 5th, with the following results for all 3,739 attempts: 271-9768 520-1135 520-9013 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hr:Min Samp Aval Fail Samp Aval Fail Samp Aval Fail 00:00 60 26% 68% 60 76% 16% 60 30% 1% 01:00 60 46% 53% 60 98% 1% 60 78% 3% 07:00 60 41% 58% 60 98% 1% 60 83% 3% 08:00 60 41% 58% 60 86% 13% 60 78% 3% 09:00 58 39% 60% 58 89% 10% 57 75% 0% 10:00 40 32% 62% 40 95% 5% 40 82% 2% 11:00 40 45% 55% 40 87% 12% 40 82% 0% 12:00 59 45% 49% 58 94% 5% 58 86% 0% 13:00 60 40% 60% 60 93% 6% 60 90% 6% 14:00 60 35% 63% 60 91% 8% 60 65% 1% 15:00 60 40% 38% 60 90% 8% 60 31% 6% 16:00 70 17% 24% 70 42% 20% 70 41% 4% 17:00 80 22% 50% 80 58% 28% 80 35% 25% 18:00 80 18% 71% 80 62% 36% 80 35% 25% 19:00 80 23% 60% 80 42% 38% 80 23% 25% 20:00 80 16% 62% 80 36% 33% 80 25% 16% 21:00 80 16% 41% 80 36% 10% 80 13% 1% 22:00 80 12% 32% 80 31% 5% 80 17% 2% 23:00 80 18% 42% 79 35% 17% 79 25% 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Average: 66 30% 53% 66 71% 14% 65 52% 33% A review of the actual error messages reveals the following: Busy: 988 Dial Timeout: 1 Modem Init Timeout: 14 No Carrier: 138 No Dial Tone: 204 No Login Prompt 7 No Service Menu 569 Other Failure 21 Success: 1,797 ~~~~~ 3,739 2. Member Services and Future Initiatives ========================================== a) Projects ~~~~~~~~ (i) Industry Canada - Urban CAP Roll Out Strategy: Since delivering our report entitled "Urban Community Access Program Roll Out Strategy" to Industry Canada on March 31, 1999 we have had no further information or request, although we anticipated making a presentation to the CAP regional managers. Industry Canada has paid the full amount of our invoice for this work. (ii) Industry Canada - Urban CAP Ottawa steering committee: The ad-hoc steering committee awaits further word from Industry Canada relative to an Urban CAP roll out. (iii) Industry Canada - VolNet: Phase I, the assessment phase is underway with some 2,300 letters and plus about 200 Faxes going out to possible VolNet recipients. Two public meetings were held on April 29, 1999. The first, at 7:00 PM, in English, was attended by 15 people from the region, The second, at 8:00 PM, in French, was also attended by 15 people. Speakers included Lyn Shouldice, Nathalie Charette and Chris Cope. We have received a partial payment of $24,990 towards our contribution to the project. (iv) HRDC (Office of Learning Technology): We have been told that our request for development funding for our thin client proposal has received HRDC (OLT) staff approval and that the file has bee passed to the Minister's office for approval. We await formal confirmation that the proposal will be accepted. (v) HRDC Student Employment Program - CapitalFind: We have confirmed that we be able to use room 509-Robertson Hall, the room which the Carleton Development Alumni Association use as a call centre. This room is equipped with 10 computers and telephone service, making it ideal for our purpose. We await confirmation from HRDC that our request for reimbursement of student wages will be granted. (vi) SSHRC Research Project: There is nothing new to report on this project, and we await further word from Leslie Regan Shade or Andrew Clement. b) Public Relations Update ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A story entitled "VolNet Connects charity, launch" appeared in The Ottawa Sun on April 27, 1999. The full text is available at: http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/ip/freenet/subs/public-relations/media/volnet99 or in text mode at "go ncf-media" Gordon Pearson's May FREEbytes column in Monitor Magazine this month featured our VolNet effort also. The text of this article is available at: http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/ip/freenet/announce/monitor/1999-05 or "go freebytes" Natalie Munro (aa966) was interviewed by Rogers Cable as part of a feature which Rogers was doing on the Internet club at the Abbottsford House Senior Citizens Centre. In addition to giving the NCF seniors program exposure, Natalie was able to get a plug in for Komputer Korner (sponsored the computer equipment there) and a request for printer which is needed. The program will air on Tuesday, May 18th. Way to go Natalie! c) Volunteer Coordination ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ National Volunteer week was April 19th to April 25th. FreeNet celebrated and thanked is volunteers through a series of public posts and via email on our volunteer listserver. I'd like to take one more opportunity to thank the National Capital FreeNet's Volunteers of the Year: 1998 Ian! D. Allen (aa610) 1997 Richard Bethell (cj434) 1996 Simon Coakeley (br422) 1995 Miranda Gray (ak717) d) Donation from Newbridge ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Newbridge Networks donated two (2) Sun Sparc10 machines to us on April 28th, 1999. These two machines, a most generous donation are only the first instalment of a sizeable donation of networking equipment from Newbridge. A second shipment has been sent from Newbridge's California office and is expected shortly. A huge thank you goes out to Chris Hawley (ah654) who is not only the mastermind behind this project, but also the principal negotiator. e) Human Resources Committee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The new "HR" committee has been formed. Committee members are as follows: Jeff Bossert (au025) David Sutherland (aa001) Michael Mason (an956) Jean Wilmot (aa145) Chris Cope (bz787) The committee will take an ongoing interest in all NCF staffing operations. A first project for the committee (excluding Chris Cope) is to perform an annual performance review of the Executive Director, and report its findings and recommendations to the Board with respect to performance, and contract renewal. f) Top Five Priorities - ED ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (1) System reliability - Resolve issues relating to reliability - Modems and terminal servers at both Carleton and Mitel in particular. (2) Projects: - Extended Access II (RMOC) - Urban CAP - VolNet - Summer student employment on CapitalFind (3) Making NCF membership easy - new auto-install software for Win98 (4) Membership Building - Distribution of flyer and reproduction of accompanying auto-install software to computer stores. (5) Y2K Issues - monitor and facilitate progress. 3. System Administration ======================== a) Reliability Concerns ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Sysadmin has spent considerable time tracking down potential bad ports and modems, and taking appropriate action; be it a simple reset or a replacement or relocation of a modem. He has mapped out all Annex ports and modems to quickly and easily identify specific modems, and will be labelling the modems in accordance with the map shortly. A script has been written to perform a nightly job to e-mail and reset port statistics to the Sysadmin alias. This will help to identify modems that are not pulling their weight on a daily basis. A NCF System reliability review team is to be formed. The team will review existing performance indicators, hardware and software and make a prioritized list of needed changes, which may include recommendations for obtaining new equipment and or software and/or retiring older components. b) Extended Access - Modem concerns ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have had great difficulties attempting to locate spare AS5100 parts, in particular the specific type of replacement modem cards we require. Todd Shea of Cisco reported that he has been unable to find any such modems in all of Canada. Cisco has not yet abandonded us, and we continue to pursue the trail of hope with Richard Graham, the Ottawa Sales Representative. Unfortunately, the Cisco AS5200 Access Servers that are available in plentiful supply are fully digital systems, and require PRI connectivity, as opposed to individual Bell lines in our present setup at Mitel. c) Bandwidth - Carleton's Internet Link ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks to the determined efforts of CCS, we now enjoy a superior 5Mbps ATM connection to the Internet. Thus far, the connection has proven robust and well fast enough for both Carleton and NCF needs. As a bonus, traffic to CANetII sites (Even our email to other universities such as Waterloo etc.) is redirected through Carleton's own CANetII pipe at up to 45Mbps. Users (particularly Telnet users) have reported significant improvement in performance. d) New Equipment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our Horizon UltraSparc IIi (donated by HCC; now Rebel.Com) is now functional on our network as freenet9. The machine has been relocated from Carleton's workbench to a permanent home in our racking. No services have been relocated to this server yet, however plans and schemes are in the works for new web services, including a full mirror of our current webserver, as well as additions such as Webmail, Web-boards and the like. We also anticipate a generous donation from Newbridge, consisting of Fast Ethernet switches, and possibly a terminal server. e) Y2K ~~~ A revised scheme is under consideration. John Stewart (aa104) has been working on a plan with the Sysadmin that would reduce the amount of time for the Y2K team headed up by Barry Alder [ak221] to complete its work. Rather than port FreePort to Solaris as considered, we would patch the SunOS and modify the FreePort software as needed. Barry will continue on the current port to Solaris, only until Aug. 1st 1999. If the project is not sufficiently well advanced by that date, the Sysadmin team will begin work to patch SunOS for Y2K compliance. Barry will temporarily suspend the porting project and will look to remaining elements of Freeport and other system software which require Y2K modifications. At the same time we will upgrade all present Solaris machines to Solaris 7, (the same as our new Horizon Ultrasparc, donated by Rebel.com), to guarantee full Y2K compliance. f) Sysadmin Priorities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (1) Resolve connection problems on NCF-Carleton servers (2) Resolve connection problems on NCF-Mitel servers (3) Remove f7 from service; relocate POP services (4) Begin adding web services to f9 (5) Fix archiving/renewal