Many colleges are plagued by network-clogging filesharing, and Boston University is one of them.
The executive director of Information Technology, Michael Krugman, confirmed that filesharing among students is affecting the network here at BU.
According to Krugman, a large part of the problem is caused by programs that provide worldwide access. For example, downloads on KaZaa are available to a worldwide community whenever the program is running. Krugman said the network is built to provide for 11,000 servers but is not intended to support the tens of thousands of non-BU servers that are accessing files.
The network has trouble compensating for this demand which increases the cost of the network, and eventually affects tuition prices.
Krugman said, “Contrary to popular belief, filesharing is by no means free.”
Currently, Krugman said there are no limitations on the size of files that students can receive, nor is there a cap on the amount of bandwith students can use.
However, IT has considered these options, and may employ them if filesharing continues to be a persistent problem, Krugman said.
Andrew Roynestad, a senior at Ohio-Wesleyan, said that his college has taken many measures in the past few years to limit filesharing.
“When Napster was big, it was blocked on weekdays,” said Roynestad. “Back then, students and the administration were on the same server, so filesharing was affecting teachers by slowing down their computers during the workday. Now, there are two separate servers, but if you try to use KaZaa or another program with a large bandwith, it gets impossible and doesn’t work like it should. I don’t know if that is because our Internet is slow or because filesharing is being inhibited.”
For now, Krugman said that IT is interested in managing congestion, although it does not look at the specific software being downloaded. Krugman knows, however, that much of the traffic is created by material downloaded illegally or for entertainment purposes.
Krugman urged that students keep in mind what is in BU’s interest, and stick to filesharing for research or educational purposes.
“I encourage students to recognize the fact that this is an educational community,” he said.
Matt Picard, a College of Arts and Sciences freshman, said he has used filesharing correctly.
He said, “I have downloaded songs for school projects before.”
Krugman also warned against filesharing that is illegal under copyright laws. He said that there is importance in students “understanding the benefits of intellectual property.”
No matter what is being downloaded, Krugman said that network clogging can be greatly improved if students configure the filesharing to turn off access to outside users.