Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Slow Downloads

This is topic Slow Downloads in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 02-08-2001, 01:29 PM:

Am I the only one recently experiencing slow downloads?

I access Film-Tech at work using a IBM Thinkpad Laptop with Windows NT and Netscape 4.6 via an ethernet line to a Kodak proxy server (and firewall). At home, I'm using a new Dell desktop with Windows ME and Internet Explorer 5, using a cable modem and Time-Warner RoadRunner with a personal firewall.

During the last few weeks, Film-Tech has been very slooooooooow at times on both systems, and at other times, its usual fast self. The Film Handlers Forum Menu (less than 50K) has sometimes taken several minutes to display. Other sites have been consistently fast.

Any chance the recent huge video downloads on the interlocking and IMAX booth tour are bogging down the server(s) when lots of people get on? Or are these on a separate server from the Forums?

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 02-08-2001, 01:49 PM:

"What we-ah have he-ah is a... failyawh to communicate!"

I've found the same thing lately. Maybe Brad can slide the forums to a seperate server? As I mentioned before, having the photos in a rouge's gallery and off the threads would keep the forums loading faster.

"So nobody argues with the landlord?"

Posted by Mark DeLettera (Member # 125) on 02-08-2001, 01:51 PM:

As John stated: Film-Tech has been really slooooow for me too. I observed John's computer to verify it wasn't a unique problem to my computer or his.

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Mark DeLettera
Eastman Kodak Co.
Worldwide Technical Svs.
Rochester, NY
mark.delettera@kodak.com
716-588-4189

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-08-2001, 04:09 PM:

Yep, slow up here in rainy Washington state too.

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Greg Mueller
Amateur Astronomer, Machinist, Filmnut

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-08-2001, 04:57 PM:

To answer the question...the manuals are on one server, the video downloads are on another and the forum (along with small things like the links page, chat room, reviews and tips page) are on a third.

There is really nothing I can do at the present time to remedy this. The site is slow everywhere and is not a problem of anyone's particular location nor ISP. These changes which resulted in the recent slowness were absolutely necessary and could not be avoided, but are only temporary. I can assure everyone that a very major and ludicrously overkill solution has already been signed off on and is just a matter of time before it will be implemented. I expect full implementation by the end of March/first of April. Just hang on a little bit longer.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 02-08-2001, 06:12 PM:

Thanks, Brad. What times and days are the servers the least busy? Can you share the latest figures on "eyes", "hits", registered participants, "lurkers", etc.?

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 02-08-2001, 06:31 PM:

Actually the reason the forums are so slow is because of all the lurkers from Christie snooping around (just kidding, guys!)

Keep in mind that Film-Tech is run entirely from Brad's basement computer which is hooked up to a 14.4kbps modem and running Windows 3.1.1. His cat started chewing on the phone wire one day and frayed it up. That's when things got slower. The "ridiculous overkill" Brad is talking about is indeed overkill! He is upgrading to a 33.6kbps modem at the end of March or early April, whenever he can find one on sale used.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 02-08-2001, 07:17 PM:

Thanks Joe.

I was really worried that Brad's pet hamster was getting so old that it couldn't run fast enough in the treadmill power generator, so the servers were suffering a "brownout", and the drives were slowing down, affecting access time.

Of course if he had a pair of hamsters, he'd have a UPS (Uninterruptable Pet Supply).

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-08-2001, 09:47 PM:

John, I'm really not sure of the hits the site has been getting over the last couple of months, as I've been without stats pages on the main 2 servers. The only stats I have access to are on the video download server. What I can tell you was that the Interlock video was downloaded approximately 3500 times the first 3 days. It's amazing that poor overloaded and shared server didn't explode due to the size of those downloads!

From past experience, mornings, late afternoons and most of the evening/late evening are high traffic points for the site. Basically the best times to download a large file are from about 2-6am Central Standard Time. Again, none of this will be an issue any more soon.

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 02-08-2001, 09:58 PM:

Be careful using terms like, "major and ludicrously overkill" to describe servers. They never seem to be enough. Remember last year when you redid everything? You probably thought THAT was going to be the last time!

We bought 3 Gateway 7250r servers last June, and thought; "That's that, at least for a year." Then we needed another two in Sept.

Now, we have 11!

Posted by Michael Barry (Member # 237) on 02-08-2001, 11:36 PM:

Joe and John: Too funny!

I got a big laugh out of those two responses. I needed that!

I've been experiencing some slow-downs too, but I managed to get both videos without a hitch. For large downloads, I thoroughly recommend a download manager such as Gozilla (www.gozilla.com). This can be set to switch to a mirror server when the one you're downloading from drops below a certain rate, and can resume broken downloads. If your ISP drops your line, it will automatically reconnect and resume.

Greg Mueller: You mentioned that you had a slow dial-up account...try using a download manager. It will still take time, but it will succeed!

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-08-2001, 11:46 PM:

John W, had it not have been for an unaccounced massive rate increase on bandwidth, I would still be working off of the solution that was arrived at last fall. This will not be a problem.

Posted by Colin Wiseley (Member # 247) on 02-09-2001, 11:40 AM:

I haven't noticed any significant slow down in the past few days, but I mostly view the site at work where we have a T1. I did read today that an undersea cable was cut near Japan slowing internet traffic in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Exactly where are the film-tech servers located?

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Colin Wiseley
Lyric Theatre
Blacksburg, VA
www.thelyric.com

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-09-2001, 11:52 AM:

They are in the states.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 02-11-2001, 06:56 PM:

Brad --- I don't know what you have done, but the site is really flying tonight! Accessing from home using a Dell Dimension desktop, with Windows ME and IE5.5, and a cable modem with Time-Warner Road Runner. Thanks.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-12-2001, 12:38 AM:

I haven't done a single thing. It's these incredibly crappy servers that I am using temporarily. As you can see, some times they are super fast and other times you cannot even connect. It'll all be solid soon.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-12-2001, 08:30 AM:

"...an undersea cable was cut near Japan slowing internet traffic in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan...."

no wonder my spam slowed down for awhile

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Greg Mueller
Amateur Astronomer, Machinist, Filmnut