IP: Tunnel fire derails Internet service: [risks] Risks Digest 21.54

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 08:52:50 -0700
> From: "NewsScan" <newsscan () newsscan com>
> Subject: Tunnel fire derails Internet service
>
> Derailed train cars burning in a Baltimore tunnel have seriously damaged the
> area's fiber-optic cables, slowing Internet service and other communications
> traffic in the Mid-Atlantic states, with a ripple effect across the
> country. WorldCom, PSINet and AboveNet all reported problems with service,
> but said they had not yet been able to quantify the severity of the
> problems. Keynote Systems, which measures Web site performance, said the
> delay experienced by Internet users was the worst it has ever seen.  "What
> we're seeing is a problem in the handshake between the backbones which serve
> as the Internet's infrastructure," said a Keynote spokeswoman.  "These
> backbone providers hand off traffic to travel between them across the
> country." Keynote reported major slowdowns as far away as Seattle and Los
> Angeles that may be attributable to the train wreck [or Code Red? The fumes
> also resulted in cancellation of Orioles games.  PGN]. [AP Jul 19 2001
> http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010719/18/train-derailment-communications
> NewsScan Daily, 20 July 2001]



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