Hi Richard,
Below are the answers to yours (and I'm sure others' questions.)
Why do I see few problems and others see many?
Depends on many factors...
1) The more demanding the workspace is, the more added delays one can see. The most expensive to the servers is the workspaces that contain charts that have a high numbered interval in them (i.e. the infamous 390 minute chart.) Hotlists, and having numerous charts also add to the demand. A high number of symbols on a quote sheet is only demanding when a workspace is first loaded up, or when a new server is logged into. After that the server, just has to send updates (relatively inexpensive to the server.)
2) Poor connectivity can add to the delays. Any type of packet loss, or high ping time (over 300) hinders one performance as does a high number of hops (more than 12 or so.)
3) What server a user is connected too affects the outcome as well. There is no all-around best server to connect to. Everyone will have a different peering relationship to our routers and servers.
You feel new servers will help - GET THEM
Part of the hold-up has been the approval process for the funding of the requested 3rd farm. Once the Lycos merger has gone through, we should have approval shortly there after. We are very aware of how critical adding capacity is, and are doing everything we can to keep ahead of the demand.
...what are some of the things people can do to get a good connection and full service from Qcharts.
- Keep your workspaces limited at the open, and near the close of the markets when demand is high.
- Obtain a back-up ISP that uses a different backbone provider than your main ISP. You can see what backbone an ISP uses by either calling them, or viewing it in a program like PingPlotter. In PingPlotter it will show up as the first couple of hops (rows.)
- Try to refrain from using high interval charts as these increase the demand on the servers. It will not only help you, but also neighbor.
What should we expect given the NET at this time in its development?
Queuing will continue until we increase capacity, or the demand goes down. Predicting when this will happen is a tall order. This is our highest priority, so it will be done as soon as possible... my best guess is that improvements will be seen in early January to mid January. Of course, there is always the possibility of it being sooner.
As stated before, please feel free to let me know of any questions or comments you have.
Thanks,
Jay |
