Feeling like your e-mail is faster since break? It's not just because you're back on Ethernet after your modem connection at home.

Over winter break, Harvard Arts and Sciences Computer Services (HASCS) completed a piece of a planned system update that had been dependent on the arrival of new technology.

"The equipment arrived during break," said Franklin M. Steen, director of Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) computer services. "We have installed about half the upgrades," he said.

So far, this update has prevented any more slow-downs--caused by trying to move too much information in the system at once--because now there is more space for data storage.

HASCS has also replaced the traditional bus lines, which are responsible for transfer of data, with a fiber channel, which can carry information more quickly.

"Most of the problems that people were feeling have been eliminated," Steen said.

But HASCS will continue to work on improvements to the system. Every few years, they upgrade the central processing units (CPU) on their main computers, which are the computer chips responsible for the speed of actual processing. Pine mail should be faster, and access to e-mail through programs like Eudora and Outlook should also increase in speed.

By the end of January, the rest of the improvements should be completed.

--Shira H. Fischer