Re: How relable does the Internet need to be? (Was: Re: Converged Network Threat)

["W.D.McKinney" <dee () akwireless net>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steve Gibbard [mailto:scg () gibbard org]
> Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 12:30 AM
> To: nanog () merit edu
> Subject: How relable does the Internet need to be? (Was: Re: Converged Network Threat)

<snipped>

> > So, it appears that among general infrastructure we depend on, there are
> probably the following reliability thresholds:
>
> Employees not being able to get to work due to snow: two to three days per
> year.
> Berkeley storm sewers: overflow two to three days per year.
> Residential Electricity: out two to three hours per year.
> Cell phone service: Somewhat better than nine fives of reliability ;)
> Landline phone service:  I haven't noticed an outage on my home lines in a
> few years.
> Natural gas: I've never noticed an outage.
>
> How Internet service fits into that of course depends on how you're
> accessing the Net.  The T-Mobile GPRS card I got recently seems
> significantly less reliable than my cell phone.  My SBC DSL line is almost
> to the reliability level of my landline phone or natural gas service,
> except that the DSL router in my basement doesn't work when electric power
> is out.  I'm probably poorly qualified to talk about the end-user
> experience on the networks I actually work on, even if I had permission
> to.  Like pretty much everybody else here, I'm always interested in doing
> better on reliability.  And, like many of my neighbors, I'd like to be
> able to store stuff on my basement floor.  In comparison to a lot of other
> infrastructure we depend on, it seems to me the Internet is already doing
> pretty well.
>
> -Steve

With BPL on the horizon and the Electric Utils looking to de-regulate in some areas, it will be interesting to watch 
infrastructure adapt accordingly.
I think the Internet is doing pretty well save some IOS code problems from time to time, and the typical root server 
hicups.

Dee