[51110] in North American Network Operators' Group
Shared facilities (was Re: your mail)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sean Donelan)
Wed Aug 21 02:04:31 2002
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 02:03:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: Sean Donelan <sean@donelan.com>
To: nanog@merit.edu
In-Reply-To: <200208210432.AAA02350@sigma.nrk.com>
Errors-To: owner-nanog-outgoing@merit.edu
On Wed, 21 Aug 2002, David Lesher wrote:
> Unnamed Administration sources reported that N. Richard Solis said:
> > If you haven't worked in an environment where you had to turn in your
> > cellphone and pager at the front desk, show a badge to a camera around every
> > corner, and get your office keys from a vending machine you dont know what
> > real security looks like.
> You missed the places w/ real security. That's where the very
> polite Marine Security Guard with the 870 shotgun asks to see
> your badge again...
Sigh, and in places with "real security" you rarely find enemies/competitors
sitting in the same room. Exchange points are like the United Nations,
not high security military bases. AMS-IX, Equinix, Linx/Telehouse, PAIX,
etc provide a neutral facility for competitors to exchange network traffic.
The facility operators provide a reasonable level of security, and try to
keep the diplomats from punching each other. Its in all (most?) the
competitors' self-interest to follow the rules.
Let's not lose sight of the purpose of colocation/exchange points.
If we start requiring you to be a US citizen and have top secret
clearance in order to enter a colocation facility, we've probably
decreased the usefulness of the exchange points.
