Please find new important information below concerning the upgrade to the TCP/IP network that we are now referring to as the Market Data Network (MDN).

Recent Network Issues/Fallback Contingency

Recently, we have experienced network issues that have affected the dissemination of market data over the MDN.  Senior Management has put in place a Task Force comprised of three separate teams to focus on identifying the root causes of these problems and develop a Resolution Plan ASAP. This is a number one priority for CME, and we will keep you apprised of our progress. 

While the MDN has been running without incident, since our last outage, we have made the decision to not move additional vendors into production, until our Task Force has completed their work. For existing data distributors, we are encouraging you to maintain the old network as a fallback through November 30th. Please be reminded, however, that if you have to failover to the old network during peak times, you may wind up queuing messages.  

Network Billing Issues

We had previously announced that, once your AT&T frame relay circuit was installed and you were converted, billing would commence. However, since we are now asking that you keep the old network as a back-up through November 2002, CME will pay for half of your monthly cost for November.  Your bill for the old network will reflect only half of your normal cost for those circuits.

Failover Testing of Gateways

For Market Data Distributors already on the MDN, we will be conducting gateway failover testing on Friday, November 1, 2002, at   approximately 4:50 P.M. (Chicago Time).

We will first bring down the primary gateways (198.212.155.140, 198.212.155.142 and 198.212.155.144).  We will leave them down for about five minutes and then bring them back up.  Next, we will bring down the back-up gateways (198.212.155.141, 198.212.155.143 and 198.212.155.145).  We will again wait five minutes and then bring those gateways up.

During that time period, we will be sending out line integrity verification messages.

There is a scheduled new product ticker test that same night at 4:45 P.M.  This test will only last for a few minutes, which is the reason for starting the gateway failover testing at approximately 4:50 P.M.

Reminder - Problem Notification

If a network problem occurs during regular business hours, we will send status update emails.  At any time of the day, CME Computer Room staff will transmit text messages over the network.   However, during a problem situation, we strongly encourage you to rely on our Market Data EmLine – 312/930-2026 -- for updates on network issues and status.   

Please contact one of the following individuals with any questions or issues you may have. Thank you!

Marilee Radecki                       312.930.8193

Lisa Amato                              312.338-2654

Michele Ivanski                        312.930.4523