June 2008 - db-wg - mailman.ripe.net

<auto-dbm@ripe.net> is slow this afternoon.
by RIPE Database Administration 17 May '18

17 May '18

Dear Colleagues, Because of a very high level of use this afternoon, the response time of <auto-dbm(a)ripe.net> is longer than normal. I have made contact with those who are responsible and I expect the situation to improve as the machine works through the queue. Please be patient. Obviously we at the RIPE NCC Database Group are continuously working to make the performance of the database as good as possible. However, we cannot make improvements in zero time. We thank you for your co-operation up to now and we ask for your continued co-operation so that everyone receives the best possible service. If you have anymore questions, please contact <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net>. Regards, Ambrose Magee ____________________________ RIPE Database Administration.

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Re: [db-wg] Notification message change
by Thor Kottelin 19 Jun '08

19 Jun '08

> Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:04:16 +0200 > From: Denis Walker <denis(a)ripe.net> > To: Database WG <db-wg(a)ripe.net>, > ncc-services-wg <ncc-services-wg(a)ripe.net> > With most updates to the RIPE Database, notification messages are sent > out. Many of these notifications are hitting users' ticketing > systems or arriving in mailboxes with auto-responders. The "Reply-to:" > address in these notifications was <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net>. Our help desk > ticketing system was receiving hundreds of e-mails a month from these > auto-responders. This was causing a serious operational > problem for our > Customer Services Department. > > To solve this problem, we have changed the e-mail header in the > notification messages we send out. They now have the "From:" and > "Reply-to:" addresses set to <unread(a)ripe.net>. As the name suggests, > any replies to this address are not read by anyone and they are just > dropped from our mail system. Hello Denis, The local-part "unread" gives such a suggestion--at most--in English, and not because of any standard or other convention. The "Reply-To:" line, on the other hand, unequivocally (RFC 2822) states that replies are expected at the address it shows. As you probably know, localized mail clients often use it to display something along the lines of "your replies are invited to". While you are to thank for the heads-up, I would have expected RIPE NCC, of all organizations, to come up with a more stylish and exemplary solution to the problem. Also, assuming that "hundreds" stands for e.g. nine hundred, that would mean 900 / 30 = approximately 30 surplus messages per day. Does such a volume really cause serious operational issues on a departmental level? Some of us (tinu) receive hundreds of spurious messages every *day* into (or intended for) *personal* mailboxes, and are easily able to handle that noise, perhaps with a little help from filtering software. With regards, -- Thor Kottelin CISM, CISSP fax +358 102 961 064 thor(a)anta.net, PGP 0x327B7345 http://www.anta.net/

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Notification message change
by Denis Walker 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

[Apologies for duplicates] Dear Colleagues, With most updates to the RIPE Database, notification messages are sent out. Many of these notifications are hitting users' ticketing systems or arriving in mailboxes with auto-responders. The "Reply-to:" address in these notifications was <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net>. Our help desk ticketing system was receiving hundreds of e-mails a month from these auto-responders. This was causing a serious operational problem for our Customer Services Department. To solve this problem, we have changed the e-mail header in the notification messages we send out. They now have the "From:" and "Reply-to:" addresses set to <unread(a)ripe.net>. As the name suggests, any replies to this address are not read by anyone and they are just dropped from our mail system. We have also made a small change to the introductory text to make it clear that these e-mails are auto-generated. We also clearly show users the e-mail reply address to use if they have an issue with the notification. This change was implemented today. It should not affect any users unless they parse the mail headers or the introductory text in the notification. Examples of the old and new notification messages are shown below. Regards, Denis Walker Business Analyst RIPE NCC Database Group Old notification message ____________________________________________________ To: user(a)somewhere.com From: RIPE Database Notifications <bitbucket(a)ripe.net> Subject: Notification of RIPE Database changes Reply-To: ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net Precedence: bulk Auto-Submitted: auto-generated Dear Colleague, This is to notify you that some object(s) in RIPE database which you either maintain or are listed as to-be-notified have been added, deleted or changed. The update causing these changes had the following mail headers: > From: user(a)somewhereelse.com > Subject: > Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:18 +0200 (CEST) > Reply-To: user(a)somewhereelse.com > MsgId: <2008061622> For assistance or clarification please contact: RIPE Database Administration <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net> New notification message ____________________________________________________ To: user(a)somewhere.com From: RIPE Database Notifications <unread(a)ripe.net> Subject: Notification of RIPE Database changes Reply-To: unread(a)ripe.net Precedence: bulk Auto-Submitted: auto-generated Dear Colleague, This is to notify you that some object(s) in RIPE database which you either maintain or are listed as to-be-notified have been added, deleted or changed. This message is auto-generated. Please DO NOT reply to this message. If you do not understand why we sent you this message, or for assistance or clarification please contact: RIPE Database Administration <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net> The update causing these changes had the following mail headers: > From: user(a)somewhereelse.com > Subject: > Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:18 +0200 (CEST) > Reply-To: user(a)somewhereelse.com > MsgId: <2008061622>

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