Program Manager message

To: Grants.gov Users

From: Philip W. Clark, Grants.gov Program Manager

Subject: Grants.gov Update on the "Boost"

This is the first in an irregular series of updates that I plan to provide to the Grants.gov community on topics of general interest. I encourage your replies regarding specific topics addressed, suggestions for future topics, and whether you find this mode of communication useful to you.

While Grants.gov has been operating very quickly and smoothly over the last several months as a result of improvements made in the April/May 2009 time period, we still needed to do a "boost", consisting of additional server capacity, improved networks, etc. to increase the reliability and sustainability of the system during peak workloads. The boost is being implemented in two phases. The first phase, which went into production on schedule Feb 10 (despite the snowstorm), was focused on the production environment. The second phase, which is expected to go live in late April, will improve our test and training environments.

Since the 10th, the system has run smoothly and we have seen significant increases in speed for a number of processes . Behind the scenes, the system integrator has been working diligently to monitor internal system operations and to make “fine-tuning” adjustments as needed to either achieve optimal performance, or to reset warning thresholds, file sizes and other aspects of the system in response to the higher speed and greater volume experienced in our new environment. Literally hundreds of those adjustments have been made, and they can only be made as we monitor production processing.

Unfortunately, one such adjustment was overlooked. As a result, on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, the Find functions and agency functions such as posting opportunities and downloading applications were affected. We were able to receive applications throughout the outage period, but were unable to process them. All applications submitted to us were received and placed in queues that were cleared by 5 pm the same day.

We are on the equivalent of a system “shakedown” cruise and are continuing the fine-tuning activity to prevent outages like the one we experienced yesterday. While this major system upgrade has gone remarkably smoothly as such upgrades go, there is still some chance, despite our best efforts to avoid it, for another minor glitch to cause an interruption over the next week or two as the system settles in.

Should another outage occur, we will make every effort to communicate with you quickly after confirming the outage and will share what we know with you as soon as possible as we work to resolution, focusing on providing you with the information you need to take appropriate action on your end, whether it is to hold tight, retry, reopen browsers, etc. We are making additional efforts to keep the Contact Center updated as well so they can provide more helpful information to callers.

Work is proceeding on the next and final phase of the boost and will be the subject of a future message.

Sincerely,
Philip W. ClarkProgram Manager,
Grants.govHHS Division of Grants

System status

The Grants.gov website went offline at approximately 10:00AM and came back online at approximately 10:30am.

There was a connectivity problem into the system; however the servers were not down. Applications continued to process.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Grants.gov Offline.

The Grants.gov website went offline at approximately 10:00AM and can not be accessed; the PMO is looking into the cause and will send an update as soon as more information is available.

Grants.gov Experienced System Difficulties on 2/23/2010

Grants.gov experienced system difficulties on Tuesday, 2/23/10 from 12:00 AM - 12:00 PM which affected the following:

- Searching and downloading grant opportunities
- Accessing the system as a grantor and associated grantor functions
- Accessing the system as an applicant and associated applicant functions
- Accessing applications for download by agencies

Applications submitted during this period by applicants are being reprocessed. All system issues have been resolved. Should you continue to experience any problems with the above, please try the following:

1. Clear the Cookies from your browser,
2. Clear the Cache from your browser,
3. Exit and restart your browser, or
4. Reboot your computer and try again.

Instructions for #1 & 2 can be found here: http://www07.grants.gov/help/trouble_tips.jsp
We apologize for any inconvenience.

Alert-Grant.Gov-Back on Line February 10, 2010

The major upgrade to the Grants.gov system (referred to as the “boost”) was completed and the system put back into production on 12:01 AM ET on February 10, 2010. The Grants.gov system is available for all users.

The upgrade increased the capacity of Grants.gov, along with the system’s reliability and its ability to sustain continuous high volume activity.

The PMO worked closely with agencies that previously posted closing deadlines during the outage period to minimize any impact on the agencies or their applicants. Agencies with previously posted closing deadlines on February 6 – 9, 2010 took appropriate steps to ensure applicants are able to apply for these posted opportunities. Please note the outage period, and any agency instructions for particular grant opportunities, and plan accordingly when applying for grants in the early February time period.

We apologize for any inconvenience this outage period may cause.

Regards,
Grants.gov PMO