A maximum size limit of around 2.4 Megabytes (2400 Kilobytes) has been set
for all e-mail messages sent through any of UTC's public e-mail servers.
(The exact size limit varies somewhat on the different servers).  The
Novell servers have enforced a size limit for some time.  To avoid
confusion, we have set similar limits on the Cecasun and Moccasun.  This
should reduce the number of instances in which the Cecasun appears to
accept a message for transmission only to return it several days later with
a misleading error message such as: "The following addresses had permanent
fatal errors" or "I/O error: Illegal Seek".  Very few people will be
affected by the change, since almost no one sends messages of this size.

Microsoft documents and executable files, when attached to e-mail messages,
may be rejected if their size exceeds around 1.7 Mb.  This is because they
are usually encoded before being transmitted, significantly increasing the
size of the message and causing it to exceed the size limitation.

In a Windows environment, you can find out how large a file is before
attaching it to an e-mail message by pointing to the file icon, clicking
the right mouse button, and choosing Properties from the popup menu.  On a
Macintosh, you can find the size of a file from the Desktop by highlighting
the file icon and choosing "Get Info" from the File menu.

When possible, you should break up very large documents into smaller
subdivisions before e-mailing them even if they don't exceed the size
limit.  This conforms to generally accepted rules of "netiquette" and makes
e-mail and the network function more efficiently.  If you have a file which
exceeds the size limit but cannot be broken into smaller parts, there are
several alternate means of transferring it to another person.  Perhaps the
easiest is to put the file on a World Wide Web site and then send the URL
of the file, rather than the file itself, to the other person.  As an
example, if your Web site is on the Cecasun, the URL for a file called
"EntireDatabase.mdb" would look something like this:
http://www.utc.edu/~delrod/EntireDatabase.mdb.

Anyone with an account on the Cecasun automatically has a Web site.  Any
UTC employee who doesn't have a Cecasun account but would like one can use
Netscape or MS Internet Explorer to fill out the request form at:
http://www.utc.edu/helpdesk/facacct.html.

Karen Adsit has provided instructions on how to "upload" a file to a Web
site.  These can be found at:
http://www.utc.edu/Teaching-Resource-Center/uploading.html.  If you have
trouble following the instructions, please call Laura Murphy at x4002,
Karen Adsit at x4026, or Brenda Cummings at x4765.

When putting a file on a Web site, you should keep several things in mind:
1.  Never put a file on a Web site unless you have the owner's permission.
In particular, be very careful not to violate copyright or software
licensing restrictions.  Other criminal and civil laws pertaining to
published materials may also apply.
2.  Most Web sites are not secure; anyone with a Web browser can download
any file from the Web site.  E-mail isn't all that secure either.  If you
need to share confidential files with others, you should look into using
more secure means of file sharing and file transmission.  Please contact me
or one of the other Computing Services staff if you are concerned about
sharing confidential information in a secure manner over a network.
3. Caution should be exercised when publishing personal information about
yourself or others on a Web site.

Finally, any time you plan to send a large file to more than one person,
even if it falls well within the size limit, you should consider putting it
on a Web site and sending the URL of the file rather than the file itself.
As an example, if you send a 1.5 Mb screensaver to 30 people on the
Cecasun, the Cecasun has to process and store all 30 copies.  If you put
the file on your Web site, only one copy is stored on our server.  As an
added advantage, all recipients can decide before downloading the file if
they want it, have room for it, and have the patience to transfer it over
the network connection they are using.

Don Elrod
UTC Computing Services
[log in to unmask]
755-5324