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For about a year and a half the CSA Web site was hosted on a commercial server somewhere in cyberspace. There were some initial problems, but nothing major until July. Then, when the "code red" worm began to cause troubles on the Internet, our server went heaven only knows where, but somewhere beyond the reach of mere mortals. For more than a week access to the CSA site was impossible or so slow as to be impossible. Email access was spotty at best.
The "code red" worm was Windows-specific; that is, it could infect only Windows machines, specifically those machines that had not been properly prepared to withstand certain kinds of attacks. Having read the frequent comments in the computer press about Windows' vulnerability to attack, CSA personnel had specifically selected a Linux server, not a Windows server, so this particular worm should have caused no problems. Nevertheless, the Web site was unavailable.
Calls to the support desk were not helpful. After as much as an hour and a half on hold, the only response from the support personnel was a statement that their routers had been overwhelmed by traffic spawned by the "code red" worm. When repeated claims of "permanent fixes" proved to be inaccurate and the delays continued, a change to a new vendor became necessary. The change required more time than had been hoped, but, as of the Labor Day weekend, the CSA Web site was running on a new server, this one located in Philadelphia. That means nothing in terms of performance, but at least the company is less anonymous.
If you were unable to access the site late in July or early in August, please accept our apologies. Everything should now be working properly. Of course, if the site is not working properly, this article will not be accessible; so . . .
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Table of Contents for the Fall, 2001 issue of the CSA Newsletter (Vol. XIV, No. 2)
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