Re: [OPINION] Best place in the US for NetAdmins

[AMuse <nanog-amuse () foofus com>]

Don't forget that, while Virginia has MAE-EAST, the Bay area was the 
sister location: MAE-WEST.  MAE WEST now sits on the property of the 
NASA Ames Research Center, another excellent local employer and center 
for high-tech research and development.  They do ultra-high-speed 
networking research in particular, and have lots of interconnects down 
south to JPL and other universities and centers.


On 7/26/14, 10:13 AM, Owen DeLong wrote:
> Personally, I think the SF bay area has you beat.
>
> Bill, on your list of not so wonderful things in DC, you left off:
>
>         Weather
>                 In the sumer, the DC area is, well, what you’d expect from a hot, humid, fetid swamp.
>                 In the winter, you can make ice cream outside without rock salt (though there’s plenty of
>                         salt available on the roads).
>                 The spring and fall aren’t bad (for about 2 weeks each). Otherwise, the weather is not
>                 at all wonderful in that area.
>
> SF has a very wide variety of cultural exhibitions, activities, and institutions. We also have nearly as wide a variety 
> of ethnic cuisine as you can find in New York (wider than DC/NoVA from what I’ve seen, actually). We also have a major 
> concentration of technology and internet-oriented startups, including such iconic names as Google, Facebook, Adobe, 
> Dropbox, Netflix, Apple, Fry’s Electronics, and more. We’re the only region to have three TechShops in addition to a 
> number of other makerspaces and hackerspaces, including the original Noise Bridge SF (to the best of my knowledge, the 
> first public maker/hacker space in the US, having opened its doors in 2008 (or possibly earlier), patterned after such 
> spaces in Europe.
>
> The bay area has great cultural diversity, lots of fun things to do, and is within a relatively short drive of 
> mountains, desert, ocean (beaches and cliffs available), awesome SCUBA diving, great downhill and XC skiing, hang 
> gliding, sailing, and more. There’s a strong and active General Aviation community and lots of places to rent airplanes 
> and helicopters.
>
> Contrary to Bill’s claims, we have nearly as many data centers housing lots of interconnect, content providers, etc. 
> out here, too. We’re also a primary gateway to Asia and the Pacific as well as Australia.
>
> Our weather is pretty much temperate year round.
>
> Owen
>
>
> On Jul 25, 2014, at 2:31 PM, William Herrin <bill () herrin us> wrote:
>
> > On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 7:20 PM, Nolan Rollo <nrollo () kw-corp com> wrote:
> > > I've been trying to decide for a while what makes a good
> > > home for a Network Admin... access to physical, reliable
> > > upstream routes? good selection of local taverns? What, in
> > > your opinion, makes a good location for a Network Admin
> > > and where in the US would you find that?
> > Hi Nolan,
> >
> > Back in the days of lore when the Internet ran over telephone lines
> > instead of the other way around, the most substantial long haul
> > communications hub in the country was Northern Virginia's Dulles
> > Corridor. More than any other area, leased lines to and from anywhere
> > transited northern VA because that's how the long distance telephone
> > infrastructure was built. Move the call here, switch it, move it back
> > out. This made it the cheapest place to hub your Internet backbone.
> > Indeed, the first large Internet Exchange Point, MAE-East was
> > originally a FDDI ring at 8100 Boone Blvd, Vienna VA in the area known
> > as Tysons Corner.
> >
> > The Internet is much more distributed now, but the area still retains
> > its legacy. Lots of Internet companies continue to house major
> > facilities here and operations such as ARIN are headquartered here.
> > More, many of the folks you've come to know on NANOG and in other
> > forums live and work here.
> >
> > Bonuses:
> > With the possible exception of NYC, nowhere in the U.S. has more or
> > finer quality cultural institutions than DC and its suburbs (Northern
> > Virginia). The Smithsonian's extensive network of museums, the Kennedy
> > Center, and so on.
> > Federal money tends not to wander far, so you'll never want for paying
> > work in Northern Virginia.
> > Nowhere I've traveled has a broader selection of good restaurants.
> > Most places have a local food with a bunch of good restaurants for
> > that food, but we have all the foods and at least a few restaurants
> > for each which are exceptional.
> > Casual conversation is heavy on politics and matters of import
> >
> > Less than wonderful:
> > Not the worst traffic in the nation but not far from it
> > High rent, high cost of living
> > Political conversation is inescapable
> >
> >
> > > good selection of local taverns?
> > Octoberfest at the German embassy annex at Dulles Airport. ;)
> >
> > Regards,
> > Bill Herrin
> >
> >
> > --
> > William Herrin ................ herrin () dirtside com  bill () herrin us
> > Owner, Dirtside Systems ......... Web: <http://www.dirtside.com/>
> > Can I solve your unusual networking challenges?