[Coral-List] update on list, technically speaking

[Mike Jankulak]

Well it's been an interesting few weeks!

I mentioned on July 31st that we would be conducting some tests:

http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/pipermail/coral-list/2018-July/019687.html

Which we did, and results were pretty much as we'd hoped. But of course
last week we had an unexpected situation when excessive spam (my current
numbers say we are receiving in excess of 50,000 messages per day from
the same spammer) overwhelmed the firewall that sat in between us and
the rest of the world.

So here's an update:

The list is now up and running behind a new firewall. Paradoxically this
means we are getting traffic more directly from spammers and
coral-listers alike, and our ancient server is struggling to keep up in
its higher-profile role. Messages that used to take only minutes to be
sent or received are currently taking up to half a day, and then factor
in the time for moderators to check the queue, and you might wait a day
or two to see each individual post.

The other surprise for me is that changing firewalls slightly changed
our "identity." Our message headers still say coral.aoml.noaa.gov but
with a different IP address. I believe for some subscribers this may
mean that our messages are delayed, or sent to spam folders, or even
refused outright.

[I was going to title this post "please contact me immediately if you do
not receive this message" but my quirky sense of humor doesn't always
translate well to public fora like this one.]

The good news is that we have a beefy new server all installed and
tested and ready to slip into place. I am super-curious to see how much
better it handles the traffic compared to the old hardware. I wasn't
100% convinced that this swap could occur without disrupting the list,
but considering what disruptions already exist I think any swap-related
disruptions are unlikely to be noticed.

We may go offline for a number of hours when we're ready to make this
switch. And because there are a lot of moving pieces (not to mention
people) involved, I can't be sure when exactly this will happen. I am
advocating for a.s.a.p., like maybe tomorrow or Friday. I don't think
I'll be able to give a more exact heads-up to the list before it
happens, especially considering these longer delays in getting our
messages into your inboxes.

I do apologize about the delays, and for whatever messages might be lost
entirely. For those of you who have contacted the moderators, thanks so
much for your reports! It really does help a lot to know in as much
detail as possible what's going on at the receiving end. Keep those
reports coming, either to me directly or to
<coral-list-owner at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>.

And as always if you have any questions about whether you've missed any
of our messages, or whether your own message has made it onto the list,
our online archives tell the full story about what's been sent out and when:

http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/pipermail/coral-list/

Thanks for your patience and I hope and expect to have good news in my
next update.

Mike J+