Real-Time Mitigation of Denial of Service Attacks Now Available With AT&T

Thu Jun 3 19:10:53 UTC 2004

On Thu, Jun 03, 2004 at 10:55:14AM +0200, Erik Haagsman wrote:
> > > Only very small ISPs relying on 36xx's or multilayer switching instead
> > > of larger, more powerful might be still valid cases where ACL's are a
> > > problem. 
> > 
> > Interesting assertion.  Care to support it?
> 
> It's not unusual for smaller ISP's and small hosting companies [...]

You missed what I was getting at.  You asserted that only very small
ISPs (i.e., those using 36xx-class hardware) are subject to ACL
problems.  There are many large-ish ISPs still stuck with some
amount of obsolete hardware.  My point was that while it's easy for
someone whose network consists of 10 routers to say "well gee,
upgrade already" it's not that easy when your network includes
hundreds or thousands of components that need to be upgraded or
replaced, to the tune of several million dollars.  This is especially
true if you're simply upgrading old hardware; in addition to pouring
money into an obsolete platform (is that a wise business decision?),
the investment of new capital dollars doesn't directly generate
additional revenue, which makes it harder to sell to the folks who
hold the purse strings.

--Jeff