OIT Reports Sluggish Blackboard System -- UPDATED

Monday, September 10, 2007

Note to Editors: UPDATE -- A patch supplied by Blackboard Inc. to fix data was applied to Blackboard Course Management System Thursday evening by OIT. Based on system monitoring since then, it appears this patch has fixed the problem which rendered the system unusable during peak load. OIT continues to monitor system performance and work closely with Blackboard technical support on other ways to tune the system for optimal performance during peak use periods.

Durham, NC -- Office of Information Technology staff members have determined that the sluggish performance of the Blackboard system is because of an apparent bug in the program triggered by its large volume of users.

Slowdowns are typical at the beginning of the school year and other busy times (finals, for example), but this level of delay is beyond what users typically encounter. Based on the information Duke currently has, the problem is with Blackboard and is not specific to Duke.

Further complicating matters is the fact that the large volume of traffic has hampered the very diagnostic capabilities OIT runs so that Blackboard can assess these underlying technical issues. OIT has been working closely with Blackboard to ensure that the program operates flawlessly even during periods of heaviest use.

OIT implemented a "data fix" supplied by Blackboard to the program's Gradebook application and performance did improve during peak hours.

OIT is advising users who experience delays to return later, as Blackboard has continued to work smoothly during low- traffic periods. Looks like the best times are before and after business hours -- 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. appear to be the low-use periods.