A Flexible Firewall

It has been a rough several months for the Harvard network. Back in September, extremely high traffic brought the network to a grinding halt. Earlier this month, Harvard Arts and Sciences Computer Services (HASCS) restricted outbound network traffic because of the extremely high load. Now HASCS is contemplating the creation of a firewall, a barrier that would prevent outside computers from accessing data on student computers. The firewall might help reduce the traffic that has been slowing and destabilizing the network for months, but it is vital that any firewall be designed to give students the maximum degree of flexibility in their network use.

Although the firewall has met with much student concern, we trust HASCS to ensure that it is implemented with a minimum of disruption and in a way that is fair to all Harvard students. As long as exceptions are made for commonly used services such as instant messaging, most students will be unaffected by the change and may experience some benefit--an increase in security. But those students who access their computers remotely, use them to share files or are merely interested in networking will need an easily accessible means of escaping the firewall and restoring outside access.

HASCS has suggested that students wishing to opt out of the firewall attend a regularly scheduled, no-questions-asked information session on network use and bandwidth consumption. Although we agree with HASCS that basic knowledge about the network is desirable, a short online reading and quiz--similar to the network quiz taken at the beginning of the year--would be more convenient and appropriate than a 20- to 30-minute lecture, especially since those asking for a firewall exemption will largely be familiar with the concept of bandwidth constraints. A system that enabled students to change their firewall status online, without human intervention, would also be extremely useful for students away from campus who realize that they need access to their machines. In any case, we are glad that HASCS has accepted the principle that students should have the final say on their computers' firewall status.

Yet the firewall is only a temporary solution. A properly implemented firewall would only block network traffic that students do not miss, such as outsiders' Napster downloads from student computers. If students actively decide to share their files and leave the firewall, the move will not accomplish much. With the price of bandwidth dropping rapidly, HASCS should increase network bandwidth so that there are fewer incidences of overload. Outages will only become more common if network capacity does not grow with increasing demand.