FIBER CUT: Dallas to West Coast

Thu Aug 30 23:45:59 UTC 2001

On 30 Aug 2001, Sean Donelan wrote:

>
> On Thu, 30 August 2001, Patrick Greenwell wrote:
> > > I don't know what the goal of "basement dual-homers" is.  I think that
> > > is the other thread, which I haven't been keeping up with.
> >
> > My point was simply that the "basement dual-homers" probably want the same
> > thing as the "people that matter", which is disparate paths to the
> > Internet.
>
> Maybe Bill Gates' or C. Michael Armstrong's homes have dual-entrance
> cable vaults, but I suspect most basement dual-homers don't have
> disparate paths to the Internet nor or really looking for that level
> of reliability.

Sean, I think there is a disconnect in definitions. Randy's orignal rant
defined anyone that didn't have >= /20 worth of space and  2xDS3's as a
potential "basement dual-homer."

By that definition there are a large number of "basement dual-homers" out
there.

> So what do basement dual-homers really want?  Most folks seem to be
> trying to protect themselves from the business practices of their provider,
> not necessarily the physical problems.  Are we solving the wrong problem
> precisely?

Well, as a "basement dual-homer"(by Randy's definition), I want disparate
paths, as well as insulation from poor service and/or the complete
failure(as a business) of a given organization. Having suffered at the
hands of various bandwidth and large colo providers over the years("yes
your service was down for 3 hours, where would you like your check for $27.12
sent?") I would never in good conscience recommend that an organization
which wishes to provide 24/7 availability single-home, and based on my
experience I reject the notion that there are magic providers out there
that never go down.