[Here's the latest message on behalf of the 1901 census helpdesk.] 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 SUNl [Bob suggested a prize to the first successful searcher but the glory may well be sufficient!]