Minutes of Genesee Free-Net Board of Directors Meeting
September 25, 2008
Flint Area Convention and Visitors Bureau
502 Church Street
PRESENT:
Dennis Cavanaugh, Chair
Larry Porn, Vice Chair
Solomon Johnson, Secretary
Janet Craig, Board
Scott Gifford, Board
Chad Cramer, Website
ABSENT:
Les LeMieux, Board
Jim Thomason, Board
Kenny Thomas, Systems
Call to order at 5:04pm. Chair Dennis Cavanaugh presiding.
New Server Problems.
There was considerable discussion of what could be server problems or network problems. Slow server/network speed has been observed over the last few days (Tuesday, September 23 through Thursday, September 25.) The MySql socket disappeared at times disabling Web Mail and Telnet access. There appeared to be a reverse DNS problem prompting other ISPs to block mail sent from GFN. An error message that the GFN mail certificate is not valid showed when members attempted to send mail through mail clients. Scott Gifford and Chad Cramer speculated that maybe the certificate was issued for mail.gfn.org rather than just gfn.org. It was suggested that the certificate be modified to cover both domains. Questioned was whether there was a network packet loss problem. Scott will investigate the problem.
Note: On Friday, September 26, Scott Gifford reported:
The network problems seem to have disappeared as mysteriously as they
started. I'm seeing 0-1% packet loss, which is within the realm of normal.
Yesterday I had good connectivity to our default router, which means
the switch is not the problem. I saw about 13% loss to the next hop,
205.145.143.101, which is somewhere in OTC's network. I don't know
enough about their network to say whether it's because we used up our
bandwidth, or because of problems on their network.
It would be great if we had an easy way to monitor our bandwidth
usage.
I think if it happens again we will have to talk to OTC and get help
troubleshooting.
-----Scott.
Note: On Friday, September 26, Janet Craig reported from the office:
I saw Scott’s email this am about the “Network Problems” the Board discussed Thursday.
I gave a copy of the email to Michael (OTC Systems Mgr.), who showed it to Ryan (OTC Network Mgr.) to
troubleshoot. Michael said GFN was dropping packets from late Tues. to 1-2am this morning. He said GFN
may have had a Spam attack or a network DOS attack. He said the limit we pay for is
2,500kb/s. Michael will send a Ticket to OTC and also send it to Larry.
***Please someone send it to where I can see here in the office***. I emailed Scott back.
Spam.
Discussed was the continuing problem with Spam. The Spam filters have been modified and some members cannot send mail. A lot of time is spent dealing with Spam. Suggested was recommending to members the Spam filtering program Xterminator by artplus.hr ($13.00 registration fee.)
Content Management System.
Discussed the content management program (CMS) on the GFN server and the Drupal demonstration setup for the Resource Center. Scott Gifford met with John Waldo of the Resource and sought feedback on what features would be of interest to non-profits. The Resource Center has access to about 500 non-profits to survey about Drupal features of interest. Scott hopes to develop sites for the Resource Center, C/CAN (The Consortium on Child Abuse and Neglect) and Lions Clubs.
Low Cost Templates for Non-Profits.
Discussed with Chad and Scott were Web sites providing templates that could be used in Drupal and GFN CMS to develop sites for non-profits. C/CAN is developing possible Web site links classified by age. Scott plans to set up a Drupal site which then could be replicated to develop other sites. Classes in Web site construction and maintenance could be offered and focus groups and users groups formed. Larry could work with the Lions Clubs state IT committee to develop Lions Clubs sites.
Office Committee Report.
More discussion of Spam. Recommend to members the Xterminator program by artplus.hr.
Systems Report.
Larry cannot access the database remotely. Denny could not to post to the GFN Web page. Scott will contact OTC about packet loss, bandwidth monitoring and network failures if his investigation reveals no problems on the GFN server. There is a new account representative for OTC accounts. Larry questioned connections from the OTC Cisco switch to GFN. What are the 3 lines for?
Matters Arising.
GFN needs to renew its Flint Area Convention and Visitors Bureau membership next month. Denny will check with Jerry Preston on the availability of FACVB facilities for the GFN annual meeting. Discussed announcing the annual meeting to the membership after the location is determined and issuing the annual call for Board members to be elected at the annual meeting. Discussed providing coffee, cookies and donuts at the annual meeting.
Discussed placing a tutorial on the GFN Web on how to prepare pictures for distribution in mail. Picture size should be reduced by re-formatting as JPEG images.
Chair Denny Cavanaugh distributed an ELGA Credit Union Transaction Register depicting account activity from 07/01/2008 through 09/24/2008. Register Balance was $424.20 with zero (0) pending transactions. Denny reported that $9000.00 remained in the ELGA Savings Account.
Adjournment: 6:18pm.
Next Meeting.
The Annual October Membership Meeting. Date, Time and Location remains to be determined.
Respectfully Submitted,
Solomon T Johnson, Secretary
