--------------------------- MEMORY FAILURE CAUSES CRASH --------------------------- At 12:40 PM today (Thursday, May 27, 1999) our primary UNIX host (mail.bcpl.net) crashed due to failure of several memory SIMMS. It was rebooted successfully at 12:55 PM, but is now running on only 128 MB of memory instead of its normal 256 MB. This may sound like a lot to most PC and Mac users, but on a UNIX computer handling the kind of load ours does it is a crippling malfunction. Until the faulty memory is replaced, you should expect poor response time during PPP logins, Unix logins, mail sends and receives, DNS lookups, browsing of Web pages hosted on our server, and in dozens of other services provided by the SPARC 1000. We expect a technician from Sun Microsystems to be on site some time between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM this evening (Thursday May 27) to work on the SPARC 1000. The computer will need to be shut down at that time, possibly for as long as an hour. BCPL.NET Customers: While the SPARC 1000 is down for repairs, for all intents and purposes it will be impossible to use BCPL.NET Internet accounts. BCPL Branch Libraries: During the down time PCs in the branches will not be able to access e-mail, CARLweb, the BCPL Web site, or Novelist. Access to other Web sites and Web-based databases will probably be much slower than usual, if they work at all. We regret the inconvenience, and hope everything will be back to normal soon. BCPL.NET INTERNET SERVICES CONTACTS: ----------------------------------- Administration & Policy: ispadmin@bcpl.net 410-887-6180 Sales, Renewals, Account Status: accounts@bcpl.net 410-887-4172 Technical Support (Help Desk): help@bcpl.net 410-887-3297 Usenet News Newsgroup Requests news-admin@bcpl.net 410-887-6180 E-Mail & Newsgroup Abuse Reports: abuse@bcpl.net 410-887-6180 FAX: 410-887-2091 Help Pages: http://www.bcpl.net/help.html (or enter "help" at the UNIX shell prompt) System News Archives: http://www.bcpl.net/sysnews.html (or enter "sysnews" at the UNIX shell prompt)