Thought you may be interested in the following - Predictable no doubt. A few messages from the Listowners List. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Word is out that BT have actually pulled the plug on the site due to risk to other customers' services. Certainly this afternoon and evening the server is not even communicating with the outside world so if anyone was contemplating staying up to night in the hope of getting on forget it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Situation The 1901 Census Online system was designed to accommodate 1 million users a day. This figure was developed from benchmarking other popular sites and increased to be well in excess of expected demand. It was anticipated that there would be early excitement and interest in the site when it was launched but the numbers have been unprecedented. Actual figures are suggesting 1.2 million users have been trying to use the site at the same time, as opposed to across a whole day, and even more when the USA 'woke up'. This led to substantial overcrowding of the gateway to the site, resulting in overload and the disappointment for many of not being able to gain access. Solutions under way The project technical team (Amey Technology Solutions, BT, QinetiQ and Sopheon) are working closely together, and in consultation with the PRO, to improve the service and a number of technical modifications have already taken place. For example, we are currently simplifying the design of the pages (images and frames not real content or search capacity) as a short term measure, just as BBC Online did after September 11th, to increase throughput. BT is also increasing the bandwidth over the weekend to ease any congestion and to help to meet this high demand temporarily. At the same time, we will also be agreeing a method for increasing the bandwidth longer-term. Technical details Software Oracle Operating system UNIX Hardware SUN ============================================================= Beryl O'Gorman Greensborough Victoria Australia