ATTENTION: dial-up PPP users


   Some PPP users are experiencing dropped connections due to the
inability of their machines to respond to PPP keepalives in the
required amount of time.

   The Cisco terminal servers (eg. curly.ts, morticica.ts etc.) send a
PPP keepalive every 10 seconds and expect a response within 10
seconds.  The servers will attempt this process 3 times, at which
point, the connection will be dropped if a response has NOT been
received.

   It is conceivable that machines with slow processors and/or
insufficient memory could be busy performing local functions and would
be unable to respond within the required time of 30 seconds.

   To alleviate this problem, CCS will be removing keepalive
initiation from the terminal servers on Monday, Nov. 27th.

   Please note that it has been these keepalives that have allowed PPP
users to defeat the 30 minute idle job killer.  Therefore, PPP users
who remain idle for more than 30 minutes will now be disconnected.
Please forward all concerns to the CCS Helpdesk.

                                Thank You