[OPINION] Best place in the US for NetAdmins

Fri Jul 25 21:31:02 UTC 2014

On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 7:20 PM, Nolan Rollo <nrollo at kw-corp.com> wrote:
> I've been trying to decide for a while what makes a good
> home for a Network Admin... access to physical, reliable
> upstream routes? good selection of local taverns? What, in
> your opinion, makes a good location for a Network Admin
> and where in the US would you find that?

Hi Nolan,

Back in the days of lore when the Internet ran over telephone lines
instead of the other way around, the most substantial long haul
communications hub in the country was Northern Virginia's Dulles
Corridor. More than any other area, leased lines to and from anywhere
transited northern VA because that's how the long distance telephone
infrastructure was built. Move the call here, switch it, move it back
out. This made it the cheapest place to hub your Internet backbone.
Indeed, the first large Internet Exchange Point, MAE-East was
originally a FDDI ring at 8100 Boone Blvd, Vienna VA in the area known
as Tysons Corner.

The Internet is much more distributed now, but the area still retains
its legacy. Lots of Internet companies continue to house major
facilities here and operations such as ARIN are headquartered here.
More, many of the folks you've come to know on NANOG and in other
forums live and work here.

Bonuses:
With the possible exception of NYC, nowhere in the U.S. has more or
finer quality cultural institutions than DC and its suburbs (Northern
Virginia). The Smithsonian's extensive network of museums, the Kennedy
Center, and so on.
Federal money tends not to wander far, so you'll never want for paying
work in Northern Virginia.
Nowhere I've traveled has a broader selection of good restaurants.
Most places have a local food with a bunch of good restaurants for
that food, but we have all the foods and at least a few restaurants
for each which are exceptional.
Casual conversation is heavy on politics and matters of import

Less than wonderful:
Not the worst traffic in the nation but not far from it
High rent, high cost of living
Political conversation is inescapable

> good selection of local taverns?

Octoberfest at the German embassy annex at Dulles Airport. ;)

Regards,
Bill Herrin

-- 
William Herrin ................ herrin at dirtside.com  bill at herrin.us
Owner, Dirtside Systems ......... Web: <http://www.dirtside.com/>
Can I solve your unusual networking challenges?