To follow up on David's note, the increase in traffic was seemingly the result of our own Cyber Monday sales promotion. We're still looking into it. One of the design features with the Rackspace configuration was the ability to add server capacity relatively quickly, once identified, but not automatically. This was part of the reason that Jon Bloom created the configuration after the initial performance issues with the new web site several years ago. Might we have responded more quickly, possibly, and we will look into how best to do this short of running a 24/7 IT operation. 73, Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY Chief Financial Officer ARRL, Inc. The National Association for Amateur Radio (860) 594-0212 www.arrl.org From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 2:03 PM To: Weaver, James K8JE (Dir, GL); arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:21259] Re: Company Store Site Jim, the website at Rackspace was running slowly at times since yesterday afternoon. Additional server capacity has been added and it appears to be functioning normally now. Dave K1ZZ From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Jim Weaver K8JE Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 1:42 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:21256] Company Store Site All, I received a note from a rather irate friend who complained he was gave up trying to place an order through the ARRL online store because the system was running so very slowly. Being a good DXer, he tied this experience in with recent (as well as earlier) difficulty with LOTW. My Question: Was the store running slowly within the past 48 hours or so? If so, why? If there was a problem is it fixed permanently? This experience to me reminds me of an admonition my mother gave me many years ago -- i.e. "It takes a long time to develop a good reputation after a bad impression has been made. Between the bad impression made through the then-new web site and the repeated bad impressions made with LOTW, it seems imperative to me that we pull out all the stops to avoid putting the League in a bad light with the amateur radio public for at least many years to come. How many times must we shoot ourselves in the foot before we learn the lesson? Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE Director, Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 Tel. 513-459-1661; e-mail K8JE@arrl.org ARRL: The reason Amateur Radio Is Members: The reason ARRL is

Jim: Web site traffic is variable day-to-day. There weren't that many additional orders, actually fewer than last year's Cyber Monday, but when combined with all the other traffic, people surfing for deals, etc., it overwhelmed the servers. We now have 10 servers processing web site traffic. Should we have anticipated it? Maybe and I see the need for better internal communication to help avoid the situations. 73, Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY Chief Financial Officer ARRL, Inc. The National Association for Amateur Radio (860) 594-0212 www.arrl.org From: Jim Weaver K8JE [mailto:K8JE@ARRL.org] Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 2:40 PM To: Shelley, Barry, N1VXY; arrl-odv Subject: RE: [arrl-odv:21260] Re: Company Store Site Barry, Should "we" not have expected a very heavy response to our Cyber Monday promotion and anticipated the temporary need for added capacity . . . and at least monitored the situation closely? If one was to walk through a swamp known to be filled with water moccasins wouldn't they put on protective high-waders to avoid the possibility of being bitten before entering the water rather than to wait until seeing a bunch of snakes? Jim Weaver, K8JE Director, Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 Tel. 513-459-1661; e-mail K8JE@arrl.org ARRL: The reason Amateur Radio Is Members: The reason ARRL is ________________________________ From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Shelley, Barry, N1VXY Sent: 27 November, 2012 2:14 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:21260] Re: Company Store Site To follow up on David's note, the increase in traffic was seemingly the result of our own Cyber Monday sales promotion. We're still looking into it. One of the design features with the Rackspace configuration was the ability to add server capacity relatively quickly, once identified, but not automatically. This was part of the reason that Jon Bloom created the configuration after the initial performance issues with the new web site several years ago. Might we have responded more quickly, possibly, and we will look into how best to do this short of running a 24/7 IT operation. 73, Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY Chief Financial Officer ARRL, Inc. The National Association for Amateur Radio (860) 594-0212 www.arrl.org From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 2:03 PM To: Weaver, James K8JE (Dir, GL); arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:21259] Re: Company Store Site Jim, the website at Rackspace was running slowly at times since yesterday afternoon. Additional server capacity has been added and it appears to be functioning normally now. Dave K1ZZ From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Jim Weaver K8JE Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 1:42 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:21256] Company Store Site All, I received a note from a rather irate friend who complained he was gave up trying to place an order through the ARRL online store because the system was running so very slowly. Being a good DXer, he tied this experience in with recent (as well as earlier) difficulty with LOTW. My Question: Was the store running slowly within the past 48 hours or so? If so, why? If there was a problem is it fixed permanently? This experience to me reminds me of an admonition my mother gave me many years ago -- i.e. "It takes a long time to develop a good reputation after a bad impression has been made. Between the bad impression made through the then-new web site and the repeated bad impressions made with LOTW, it seems imperative to me that we pull out all the stops to avoid putting the League in a bad light with the amateur radio public for at least many years to come. How many times must we shoot ourselves in the foot before we learn the lesson? Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE Director, Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 Tel. 513-459-1661; e-mail K8JE@arrl.org ARRL: The reason Amateur Radio Is Members: The reason ARRL is

To follow up on Jim and Barry's discussion: What would it cost, if anything, to have the Rackspace configuration set to automatically add server capacity when the load exceeds the standard configuration's capacity? Jim's observations about the difficulty of undoing a bad reputation have merit. Due to the extent the world wide web has intruded into all aspects of the average American's life, people now often judge organizations - their worth, reliability, trustworthiness and value --- based on their experience with the organization's website and particularly its e-commerce section. If the e-commerce section is slow, difficult to navigate, prone to mistakes and incapable of providing verification of the receipt of an order and the shipping of the order, the website/organization is often abandoned in the future. We live in a world of speed and we --- whether we agree or not --- are held up to the standards established by the best on the Net. If we do not measure up, we irrevocably damage our present and our future. We are not a rich organization in terms of funds, but we cannot afford to act as if we are poor. If the cost is not staggering, it might behoove the ARRL to spend-up to avoid the capacity issues in the future. The improvement in the perception of the Members' interaction with the ARRL's "face" to the world would, I expect, be out of proportion to the cost. 73 *-----------------------------------------------------* ** John Robert Stratton N5AUS Office telephone: 512-445-6262 Cell: 512-426-2028 PO Box 2232 Austin, Texas 78768-2232 *-----------------------------------------------------* On 11/27/12 1:52 PM, Shelley, Barry, N1VXY wrote:

Jim:

Web site traffic is variable day-to-day. There weren't that many additional orders, actually fewer than last year's Cyber Monday, but when combined with all the other traffic, people surfing for deals, etc., it overwhelmed the servers. We now have 10 servers processing web site traffic.

Should we have anticipated it? Maybe and I see the need for better internal communication to help avoid the situations.

73,

Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY

Chief Financial Officer

*From:*Jim Weaver K8JE [mailto:K8JE@ARRL.org] *Sent:* Tuesday, November 27, 2012 2:40 PM *To:* Shelley, Barry, N1VXY; arrl-odv *Subject:* RE: [arrl-odv:21260] Re: Company Store Site

Barry,

Should "we" not have expected a very heavy response to our Cyber Monday promotion and anticipated the temporary need for added capacity . . . and at least monitored the situation closely? If one was to walk through a swamp known to be filled with water moccasins wouldn't they put on protective high-waders to avoid the possibility of being bitten before entering the water rather than to wait until seeing a bunch of snakes?

/*Jim Weaver, K8JE*/

/Director, Great Lakes Division/

------------------------------------------------------------------------

*From:*arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org <mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org> [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] *On Behalf Of *Shelley, Barry, N1VXY *Sent:* 27 November, 2012 2:14 PM *To:* arrl-odv *Subject:* [arrl-odv:21260] Re: Company Store Site

To follow up on David's note, the increase in traffic was seemingly the result of our own Cyber Monday sales promotion. We're still looking into it. One of the design features with the Rackspace configuration was the ability to add server capacity relatively quickly, once identified, but not automatically. This was part of the reason that Jon Bloom created the configuration after the initial performance issues with the new web site several years ago.

Might we have responded more quickly, possibly, and we will look into how best to do this short of running a 24/7 IT operation.

73,

Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY

Chief Financial Officer

I agree with John and Jim here ladies and gents. For future reference we might look at a similar configuration to handle the LoTW year end crunch! More thoughts on this later ! 73 David A. Norris, K5UZ Director Delta Division Sent from my iPhone On Nov 27, 2012, at 2:31 PM, "Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ" <dsumner@arrl.org> wrote:

John, we are looking into that precise question.

Dave

From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of JRS Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 3:29 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:21264] Re: Company Store Site - Server Capacity Allocation Set to Automatic?

To follow up on Jim and Barry's discussion:

What would it cost, if anything, to have the Rackspace configuration set to automatically add server capacity when the load exceeds the standard configuration's capacity?

Jim's observations about the difficulty of undoing a bad reputation have merit. Due to the extent the world wide web has intruded into all aspects of the average American's life, people now often judge organizations - their worth, reliability, trustworthiness and value — based on their experience with the organization's website and particularly its e-commerce section. If the e-commerce section is slow, difficult to navigate, prone to mistakes and incapable of providing verification of the receipt of an order and the shipping of the order, the website/organization is often abandoned in the future.

We live in a world of speed and we — whether we agree or not — are held up to the standards established by the best on the Net. If we do not measure up, we irrevocably damage our present and our future.

We are not a rich organization in terms of funds, but we cannot afford to act as if we are poor. If the cost is not staggering, it might behoove the ARRL to spend-up to avoid the capacity issues in the future. The improvement in the perception of the Members' interaction with the ARRL's "face" to the world would, I expect, be out of proportion to the cost.

73

----------------------------------------------------- John Robert Stratton

N5AUS

Office telephone: 512-445-6262 Cell: 512-426-2028 PO Box 2232 Austin, Texas 78768-2232

-----------------------------------------------------

On 11/27/12 1:52 PM, Shelley, Barry, N1VXY wrote: Jim:

Web site traffic is variable day-to-day. There weren’t that many additional orders, actually fewer than last year’s Cyber Monday, but when combined with all the other traffic, people surfing for deals, etc., it overwhelmed the servers. We now have 10 servers processing web site traffic.

Should we have anticipated it? Maybe and I see the need for better internal communication to help avoid the situations.

73, Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY Chief Financial Officer

From: Jim Weaver K8JE [mailto:K8JE@ARRL.org] Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 2:40 PM To: Shelley, Barry, N1VXY; arrl-odv Subject: RE: [arrl-odv:21260] Re: Company Store Site

Barry,

Should "we" not have expected a very heavy response to our Cyber Monday promotion and anticipated the temporary need for added capacity . . . and at least monitored the situation closely? If one was to walk through a swamp known to be filled with water moccasins wouldn't they put on protective high-waders to avoid the possibility of being bitten before entering the water rather than to wait until seeing a bunch of snakes?

Jim Weaver, K8JE Director, Great Lakes Division

From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Shelley, Barry, N1VXY Sent: 27 November, 2012 2:14 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:21260] Re: Company Store Site

To follow up on David’s note, the increase in traffic was seemingly the result of our own Cyber Monday sales promotion. We’re still looking into it. One of the design features with the Rackspace configuration was the ability to add server capacity relatively quickly, once identified, but not automatically. This was part of the reason that Jon Bloom created the configuration after the initial performance issues with the new web site several years ago.

Might we have responded more quickly, possibly, and we will look into how best to do this short of running a 24/7 IT operation.

73,

Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY Chief Financial Officer

_______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org http://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv

Jay, Your comments hit the proverbial nail on the head (obviously, it isn't a finish nail). I will say further only that one of the main reasons I pushed so hard a few years ago for the CEO to develop and provide the Board (through A&F) with quarterly activity reports was to get both the Board and Staff to think twice about adding/accepting new work at HQ. As I stated at the time, one intent was to promote dialogue between the Board and Staff concerning the organization's capacity to continue to do more without growing in size, or just how much growth would be needed to support new projects. (In saying capacity, I refer to equipment needs as well as personnel needs.) So far, I have seen limited implementation of this process. I have the temerity to suggest that the principal group responsible for any over-reaching of Staff's capacity is the Board by not probing sufficiently to see just what the capacity is. Secondly though, I also believe Staff has been overly timid in telling the Board they have full plates and in providing alternate solutions to situations the Board proposes. Provided I am at all correct in these beliefs, I further suggest that Staff is demonstrating it lacks confidence in the Board to understand the problems it faces and will react appropriately (not capriciously) to being told "we can do what you want, but to do this, we will need to . . ." Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE Director, Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 Tel. 513-459-1661; e-mail K8JE@arrl.org ARRL: The reason Amateur Radio Is Members: The reason ARRL is _____ From: John Bellows [mailto:jbellows@skypoint.com] Sent: 27 November, 2012 4:07 PM To: 'Jim Weaver K8JE'; 'Shelley, Barry, N1VXY'; 'arrl-odv' Subject: RE: [arrl-odv:21261] Re: Company Store Site Good questions that lead to the following questions that the Board may want to consider in preparation for reviewing in the 2013/2014 Budget/Plan: 1. What level of Web, eStore and LoTW capacity should ARRL provide? 2. Should that capacity and processing speed be geared to the seamless, immediate processing at the highest and most intensive usage? 2a. If yes, what level of “excess capacity” should the system add to meet occasions of extraordinary usage? 2b. How much will such “excess capacity” cost? 3. How would ARRL pay for the additional capacity? 3a. Raising Membership Dues: If dues are to be raised are there other member services that have equal or higher priority than increased additional capacity? How much would ARRL need to increase dues to meet these needs? Do we really want to raise dues now?? 3b. Reducing existing member benefits or services: If services must be reduced to provide for additional capacity which member services are of lesser priority than increased additional capacity? How many ARRL member services will we need to decrease or eliminate to provide for this additional capacity? Those are just a few questions that come to mind. ARRL isn’t a perfect world and despite all our efforts it isn’t ever likely to reach that level. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. We expect and the members expect constant improvement. Expectations among ARRL members are high, very high. Why; because in large measure because the Board has authorized and to a much greater extent the ARRL Staff has implemented a ton of new benefits. We as ARRL members have had a “free lunch” for the past 10 or 11 years and now expect to keep getting more and more freebies. Ten or so years ago was the last time ARRL dues were raised. At that point there was no full color QST; QST was only a paper magazine; there was no ARRL web page we relied on bulletins and the ARRL News; there was no LoTW, remember when we waited for years for QSL’s or had to shell out postage and a green stamp or two for the QSL? Those are just a few of the benefits added in the past 10 years and that doesn’t even touch on the frequency defense and additional spectrum at home and around the world Yes we need to listen to members when things are slower than we have come to expect. And yes, I was as impatient as the next person because my uploaded LoTW logs took more than a few hours to proces, but it is equally important to provide some perspective. Perhaps ARRL is the victim of its success as the most successful, stable, innovative amateur radio society in the world. While we don’t see that because it is our norm, I can assure you we are the envy of most every society in the world. Perfect we aren’t, but nobody gets better value for their amateur dollar. If we want more something has to give, either more dues or loss of some services. At least that is how I see it. Jay, KØQB -----Original Message----- From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Jim Weaver K8JE Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 1:40 PM To: 'Shelley, Barry, N1VXY'; 'arrl-odv' Subject: [arrl-odv:21261] Re: Company Store Site Barry, Should "we" not have expected a very heavy response to our Cyber Monday promotion and anticipated the temporary need for added capacity . . . and at least monitored the situation closely? If one was to walk through a swamp known to be filled with water moccasins wouldn't they put on protective high-waders to avoid the possibility of being bitten before entering the water rather than to wait until seeing a bunch of snakes? Jim Weaver, K8JE Director, Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 Tel. 513-459-1661; e-mail K8JE@arrl.org ARRL: The reason Amateur Radio Is Members: The reason ARRL is _____ From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Shelley, Barry, N1VXY Sent: 27 November, 2012 2:14 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:21260] Re: Company Store Site To follow up on David’s note, the increase in traffic was seemingly the result of our own Cyber Monday sales promotion. We’re still looking into it. One of the design features with the Rackspace configuration was the ability to add server capacity relatively quickly, once identified, but not automatically. This was part of the reason that Jon Bloom created the configuration after the initial performance issues with the new web site several years ago. Might we have responded more quickly, possibly, and we will look into how best to do this short of running a 24/7 IT operation. 73, Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY Chief Financial Officer ARRL, Inc. The National Association for Amateur Radio (860) 594-0212 www.arrl.org From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 2:03 PM To: Weaver, James K8JE (Dir, GL); arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:21259] Re: Company Store Site Jim, the website at Rackspace was running slowly at times since yesterday afternoon. Additional server capacity has been added and it appears to be functioning normally now. Dave K1ZZ From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Jim Weaver K8JE Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 1:42 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:21256] Company Store Site All, I received a note from a rather irate friend who complained he was gave up trying to place an order through the ARRL online store because the system was running so very slowly. Being a good DXer, he tied this experience in with recent (as well as earlier) difficulty with LOTW. My Question: Was the store running slowly within the past 48 hours or so? If so, why? If there was a problem is it fixed permanently? This experience to me reminds me of an admonition my mother gave me many years ago -- i.e. "It takes a long time to develop a good reputation after a bad impression has been made. Between the bad impression made through the then-new web site and the repeated bad impressions made with LOTW, it seems imperative to me that we pull out all the stops to avoid putting the League in a bad light with the amateur radio public for at least many years to come. How many times must we shoot ourselves in the foot before we learn the lesson? Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE Director, Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 Tel. 513-459-1661; e-mail K8JE@arrl.org ARRL: The reason Amateur Radio Is Members: The reason ARRL is No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.2793 / Virus Database: 2629/5922 - Release Date: 11/27/12