Re: Internet FUD Abound

[David Charlap <david.charlap () marconi com>]

Sean Donelan wrote:
> Andrew Bender wrote:
> > Another lapse in editorial integrity... this time, Reuters:
> >
> > http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/reuters/REU20000726S0007
>
> The Reuters article skips over some of the important qualifiers
> in the Nature letter.  Read the entire letter on the Nature
> website.  http://www.nature.com/
>
> The conclusions are interesting, but I think missing a few pieces
> of data.  Every major public NAP has had service affecting incidents,
> and so far we have not seen the partioning effect Albert et al write
> about.

Note also that the graph they examine is one of web pages linked to each
other.  Not the underlying network of fibers and routers.

And, as you said, there have been catastrophic failures in the past
(even as recent as last month), none of which fragmented the internet. 
Sure, some sites got isolated, but the majority of users didn't notice
anything more than longer response times.

I think there are much more important things to be worried about, like
the security of the DNS system, than a coordinated attack on multiple
major switching centers.

-- David