[81372] in North American Network Operators' Group
Onsite Generation: A Reminder [was: Battery Maint in LEC equipment]
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Frank Coluccio)
Tue Jun 7 20:23:59 2005
From: Frank Coluccio <frank@dticonsulting.com>
To: nanog@merit.edu, Jerry Pasker <info@n-connect.net>
Reply-To: frank@dticonsulting.com
Date: Tue, 07 Jun 2005 19:23:31 -0500
Errors-To: owner-nanog@merit.edu
There's been much said here and over in the Cybertelecom list recently abou=
t=0D
battery provisions by telcos and cable operators, but relatively little has=
been=0D
mentioned about onsite generation. I sometimes point my staff and clients t=
o the=0D
messages that were posted here in NANOG, including those of my own, immedia=
tely=0D
following the attacks of September 11th and lasting into the next month or =
two.=0D
Many here will recall that at that time many hubs and enterprises alike in =
the=0D
downtown area of Manhattan, including the area's Internet exchanges and col=
os,=0D
received a first-hand lesson on the need to maintain preparedness with=0D
functioning generators, including fuel and spare parts. Not to mention the =
need=0D
to modify air intakes and exhausts for a new form of threat: Airborne Debri=
s.=0D
=0D
Frank =0D
=0D
On Tue Jun 7 15:34 , Jerry Pasker sent:=0D
=0D
>=0D
>Even though it is fed with N+1 UPS power, Qwest put N+1 rectifiers & =0D
>batteries for their fiber cabinet they installed for me a few years =0D
>ago. At the time, batteries were required no matter what, and they =0D
>say they will replace them every 5 years. A little-town independent =0D
>telco however, refused to even install a data center fiber shelf =0D
>unless I provided them with DC power. It just seems to depend on the =0D
>whim of the telco.=0D
>=0D
>As prices fall, so does level of service. NANOGers all know =0D
>providing uninterruptible power in the current evolving networks is =0D
>hard as the communications infrastructure continues to decentralize. =0D
>Providing non stop power for long term power failures with generators =0D
>scattered all over the place is insanely hard. Keeping them running =0D
>during a widespread 'event' is even harder. Everyone wants (expects) =0D
>"always on" dial tone. And everyone wants cheap calling and cheep =0D
>bandwidth. Batteries, generators, and their maintenance/operation =0D
>are expensive. A resilient built network is much more expensive than =0D
>a non resilient one. Eventually the public will start to realize =0D
>this, and start to demand laws to maintain certain minimum levels of =0D
>service. It won't happen until some large disaster, or touching news =0D
>story about some preventable tragedy brings it in front of the =0D
>public. People will have to die for this trend to change.=0D
>=0D
>The non-reliable VOIP as a lifeline, even if it's not intended as =0D
>one, is the tip of this iceberg.=0D
>=0D
>(by the way, like many other forms of regulation, the same goes for =0D
>internet regulation.... if some shady network somewhere ever turns =0D
>out to be the root cause of some incident where a number of deaths =0D
>occur, regulation will soon follow)=0D
>=0D
>Aside from human error, right now the weakest link in the net is the =0D
>grid, and that is a link that isn't apparently getting any stronger.=0D
=0D
=0D
