Does the limit
include my traffic to sites on campus?
The one GB limit is on traffic in and out of the University. Traffic
within the University's domain is currently exempt and unrestricted.
If
there are no restrictions on campus network activity, why can't I get to my
mail?
You may be forwarding your mail to another service provider, e.g. AOL or
Hotmail. These services are located outside of the Udel domain. Try accessing
your mail from a public computing site. You can change your forwarding options on
line at www.udel.edu/network
I
can't possibly be using more than 1GB, I haven't downloaded a file for days!
When you install file-sharing programs, you
create a folder for your shared files. Anyone else in the world with the
same software can copy files out of that folder. The program runs in the
background quietly serving files without the user’s knowledge. Let’s say
Tom downloaded 100 songs last week. Suddenly he is a very popular
server. UD has a very fast connection. Other users go to Tom’s
computer to download their favorite tune. So while Tom did not download
anything in the last 3 days, he served several gigabytes. Students need
to remove the programs entirely.
How do I remove
the file sharing programs?
Windows 98 and 2000 users: click on Start, choose Control Panel, Select
Add/Remove programs. Scroll down the list and select the program you wish to
uninstall (the most commonly used P2P applications include KaZAa, Morpheus,
Aimster, and Audiogalaxy). Follow the prompts on your screen. You may be asked
to restart your computer after the program is uninstalled. See http://www.udel.edu/topics/bandwidth/disabling.html
for more complete information. If you are unable to remove the program
yourself, call x8825 for assistance.
How
do I know how much bandwidth I am using?
If you follow the directions above and remove your file sharing programs
such as Kazaa, Aimster, Morpheus and Sharebear, you will not have a problem.
The 1GB limit is not intended to imply that transferring 990 MB is permitted.
One GB is far more than any student should need to complete their coursework.
If your situation is an exception, call the Help Center - if you use your
network connection for entertainment- STOP IT. You are denying access to
students doing legitimate work and if you share copyrighted material you are
breaking the law.
How much is 1GB?
One Gigabyte is 2 to the 30th power (1,073,741,824) bytes. One gigabyte
is equal to 1,024 megabytes. To put this in perspective, it takes one byte to
store one character. Imagine 100 file cabinets in a building, each of these
cabinets holds 1000 folders. Each folder has 100 papers. Each paper contains
100 characters - A GB is all the characters in the building. An MP3 song is
about 4MB, the same song in wav format is about 40MB, a full length movie can
be 800MB to 1000MB (1000MB = 1GB).
I
should be able to download as much as I want because I only share files in
the public domain!
That may be true, but the vast majority of
file sharing in the residence hall is of copyrighted
material. Sharing copyright material is illegal. Students who
share copyrighted material expose themselves to potential fines and litigation.
System Security, Access, and Help Services