Out of the Frying Pan (Feb 17 2010)

I'd just like to say "thank you" to Matt and all at SETI, I know they are just as keen as the most rabid poster on this thread to get everything back up and running. I would hate too have to go through all the tests and checks they will to ensure that the A/C fail do not do to much damage.
So Matt and all the rest of you, THANK YOU.


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Bob Swift

However annoying it (still) is, the most annoying I think is there's no messages on the front page of what's going on.

What bothers me most about the outages is that Matt and the other 3 SETI staff do not seem to understand that we contributors are spending our money (electricity, machine wear and tear, etc.) to support SETI even if we do not donate cash. Keeping contributors informed is a must for any non-profit. I have been running SETI for a long time, and the stability of the crunching has deteriorated since BONIC was utilized. The recent outages are the latest in a string of problems and issues that have never been properly resolved. I understand the "lack of funds", but SETI management needs to address the problems because the science is loosing out to infastructure and "slap a patch on it" system management/maintenance. Perhaps it would be best to stop processing data and really fix the problems! As an engineering manager who has had to deal with this type of IT instability, shuting SETI down and fixing the problem may be the only way to resolve these continuing problems.
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David Moritz

I am running SETI and 4 other projects on a small cache (0.25 days). When a WU is finished it is uploaded and I get a new one. If one of the projects has a blackout, the other four are running. In the worst case I have 2 projects running and three idling, so the 2 cores of my Opteron 1210 running Linux are always busy 24/7.AQUA@home alone grabs both cores since it is multithreading but it switches every hour, like all others, since they made it checkpointing according to our requests.
Tullio
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Patience Daniel- san. Posts crying for an update make me laugh. When its up, it will be up. Do like I did and pick another project to volunteer for or donate a buck or 2 to try to help out( did both mind). Posting your opinion about what they should or shouldnt do to inform you is silly.

Enhance your calm John Spartan.
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Plantery Society Member

It is obvious that Matt could spend ten minute break a day to keep the contributors up to date. Both my posts took well under 10 minutes to submit. Keeping the contributors informed does not slow down the process of "fixing" the problems SETI is encountering. As I said, shut it down and fix it. Tell the contributors that the system will be down and get on with it. Give the contributors an update (5 mins?) daily as to the best guess when the system will be up. This does not keep the staff from fixing the system.

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David Moritz

Patience. You must learn patience.
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Hmmm, let's see, an update? Well, for the last two hours they were chasing cat-5 from router A to switch B then for the next two they checked the connections on all the servers, then they sat down and scratched their a... uhh heads and started all over again.

Come on guys, even with the little home set up I have I know how much little stuff has to be done to keep it going. These guys put in more hours than anyone should have to and do a fantastic job with what they've got. Give them a break and let them get this thing fixed! That is if it's even something with their equipment and not out beyond their control on the web somewhere.
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PROUD MEMBER OF Team Starfire World BOINC

I have been more than patient, as this is my 7th post since 1999! How long do the contributors need to wait for SETI management (not Matt) to fix the issues?
A lot of money has been spent to develop recievers based upon Allen's money. Could it be that processing data has taken a back seat to new antenna and reciever funding by a single contributor? Where is SETI headed? I believe that a "systems" approach is needed blending current data crunching with advances in reciever capability. If there is no way to analyze the data collected, should we spend money to collect more? Matt and staff should be applauded. They have done a great job, with limited funds and with out proper management direction or oversite. Fix the management and SETI will do beter science!
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David Moritz

First I want to say...SETI is awesome. I went down Puerto Rico 2 years ago, and after doing the obligatory "let's lie on the beach and take in the culture" for my wife, I convinced her to go to Arecibo to see the radio telescope. It was incredible and an inspiration. A giant satellite dish in a mountain.

Secondly, to the users that are complaining, SETI has had outages multiple times in the past. "All this has happened before and it will happen again." If you really feel upset by it, let it inspire you to donate cash as well as time to them. Trust me, they can use it. They have a small staff and PCs that are aging. They do the best they can, and many of the staff are volunteers. If you truly believe in this project, understand it is not about stats, but about hope.

Finally, to SETI, I know you must be working hard, especially with such a small staff that can't give round the clock support. I want to thank you for your effort. I think everyone is here just looking for the same thing. A simple note on the site that says - "The site is down due to server issues, we will post a new message on this page once the servers are fully functional. Please remember this is primarily a volunteer project. Any donations to help replace damaged servers, cooling units, and upgrade technology would be appreciated." The only message on the site that I could find said the site would be back up Thursday morning. I think this is the problem, I learned from my own IT experience, never promise. Just say you are doing your best to get it up as soon as possible. If the team could find 5 mins to post something like this, I think people would relax. I think we all know how hard it is to find that time during a crisis. Good Luck!
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A lot of money has been spent to develop recievers based upon Allen's money.

It is 7:34 Am in Berkley, No response is what is expected. Give Matt the benefit of coming to work at a normal hourt.
Should we expect continous updates? No! let Matt and the staff work. Complain about Matt's management their bad management oversite that drives Matt's response. Can we identify a forum that Matt's boses will respond to?
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David Moritz

Looks like the problem is solved for now for most people. Has there been a post-mortem and if so what was the result?

At least not from Europe/Germany (or my home.. ;-).

Give Matt the benefit of coming to work at a normal hour

... SETI has had outages multiple times in the past. "All this has happened before and it will happen again." If you really feel upset by it, let it inspire you to donate cash as well as time to them.