§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, on how many occasions since 31 August 2001 the PDVN server has been out of action; what defects he has identified; and what action is being taken to rectify such defects. [31113]
§ Michael FabricantI have been asked to reply.
The Parliamentary Data and Video Network (PDVN) consists of interconnected systems hosted on a large number of servers. Since 31 August 2001, the Parliamentary Data and Video Network (PDVN) has suffered three major failures affecting the whole of the 341W network. These occurred on 3 October 2001, 20 November 2001 and 21 November 2001. The PDVN had previously remained stable for 19 months. Subsequent investigation into these failures, which were related, identified saturation and overload of Central Processing Units as an immediate cause. Action was taken to rectify this and other faults. The Parliamentary Communications Directorate (PCD) has since asked the firm responsible for maintaining the PDVN to provide quicker on-site assistance in the event of a major failure. PCD staff have also been trained to respond more swiftly.
There have been other smaller-scale interruptions to individual services offered on the PDVN since 31 August. Some of these have occurred because of routine maintenance at weekends. If the hon. Gentleman has concerns about a specific service failure, he may like to raise them with the Director of Communications, Mr. Matthew Taylor.
§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what information he has collated about the time taken to log on to the Parliamentary Communications Network by hon. Members and their staff(a) within the Parliamentary Estate and (b) remotely; what defects he has identified; and what action is being taken to rectify such defects. [31114]
§ Michael FabricantI have been asked to reply.
The Parliamentary Communications Directorate does not routinely collate information on login times. However, poor performance with regard to the length of time it takes to log into the Parliamentary Data and Video Network (PDVN), whether from within the Parliamentary Estate or from elsewhere, will result in an increase in the number of calls to the Parliamentary Communications Helpdesk (extension 2001). Defects are then identified, enabling action to be taken.
The Citrix service which enables remote access to the PDVN has been enhanced over the past 12 months. Reliability has improved and login times have been reduced. However, if the hon. Gentleman is having difficulties, he might like to raise the matter with the Director of Communications, Mr. Matthew Taylor.
§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, when he last sought views on its performance from users of the parliamentary communications network. [31115]
§ Michael FabricantI have been asked to reply.
The Information Committee regularly passes on to officials in the Parliamentary Communications Directorate feedback from Members and staff on the performance of the Parliamentary Data and Video Network (PDVN). In December 2001, the committee e-mailed a bulletin to all Members with PDVN accounts, describing issues being considered by the committee. The bulletin was also publicised in the All-Party Whip. A number of Members responded with comments and suggestions, some of which related to the performance of the PDVN. These are actively being taken forward by the committee.
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