Information Technology Services is advising faculty and staff to be cautious when sending bulk e-mails through the university system.
Recently e-mail service was severely impacted when students replied to a departmental memo that had been sent to 4,000 recipients, creating an e-mail storm that resulted in the denial of service to many NAU computer clients.
To prevent such problems in the future, do not use the “Reply to All” function on your e-mail unless it is a departmental necessity or you have created the list yourself. To send an e-mail to a large group—more than 50 people—use the instructions on creating a “list-serv” for your group or department.
For information visit the ITS web site or call Information Technology Services at (928) 523-1911 for instructions on how to create a bulk mailing.
Departmental mailings and class lists should always use list-serv. If you are sending an e-mail to several people, it’s a good idea to put most of them on the “bcc” line so that a reply to all won’t inundate the system.
And if you have a large document to send remember it’s better to post it on a web site and then send out the URL as a link in the body of your message.