UUNET is not the Internet (and neither is AOL)

Mon Oct 7 20:32:23 UTC 2002

> The assumption that it was untested is probably an unfair one.  Once a
> network reaches a certain size, it is very difficult to simulate it in
> a lab.  Number of routes/updates, variety of packet destinations,
> different card revisions and layouts...  heck, even statistically, you
> have problems.  An issue that appears 5% of the time will only show up
> in a a 10-router test lab half the time, but in a 400-router network
> it'll pop up on about 20 routers and wreck your whole day.  And when
> you're out of cash, you can't really afford to devote lots of hardware
> to a lab.
>
Having a lab does help you but usually (this might be different if you
are WorldCom) vendors are not too interested in fixing problems you
unearth in a lab but instead only agree to raise priority of issues if their
boxes fail in production. I´ve been hearing that the change in economic
situation has been improving the response, but haven´t tried it personally.
Not too many years back, a "P2 case" could take a year to get a fix where
"P3" rested in never-never land longer. "P1" worked.

Pete