Server issues for multiple requests

[ChiaraPalladino]

We are experiencing some significant slow-down and irresponsive server while using Peripleo in class. There is about 15 computers connected to the website, sometimes it gets stuck or incredibly slow.

I know this is a server-side problem, is there a way to make things easier for us to work in class?

[rsimon]

Hi @ChiaraPalladino,

unfortunately, not really. Peripleo is still in a protoype-ish state. We haven't developed it any further in the past two years, and had to keep maintainance to a minimum. (We basically just kept it running, restarting it every now and then, and added the occasional new dataset.)

Regarding performance: while number of users is a big factor, of course, it is (perhaps even more) a question of what types of queries you are running, and which result sets you are hitting. Can you give some examples of the kinds of exercises you are using Peripleo for? I admit I probably won't be able to do much about it. But in the longer run, having better insight into what you - and other instructors - find useful could be a good basis for a future funding pitch.

[eltonteb]

Just to add to what Rainer has said: for the last round of funding from the Mellon all the tech development has been focused on making Recogito more useful / robust for folks, because that's where our user-base lies. Your group are the first people we know of who are using Peripleo. Getting your feedback and some more knowledge of how you're using it will be really important for any future development - and, as Rainer says, for a funding proposal. Indeed, as the coordinator of the "visualisation and search" activity, I would be very interested in exploring opportunities.

[ChiaraPalladino]

for now, they are just exploring around. Mostly they'll just look for different things in the search bar and more or less casually clicking on the results :)
Later on they should focus on the results themselves, which will make things lighter for Peripleo.

So far they're pretty happy, if something significant comes up by the end of the semester I'll make sure we write something down collectively.