COVID-19 vs. our Networks

Mon Mar 16 18:08:08 UTC 2020

Mike-

The TSP program provides for priority treatment for only 2 things :
provisioning of new capacity, and restoration of capacity. It provides no
accommodations for intermittent degradation events upstream.

Source :

DHC Office of Emergency Communications, TSP Program Office, TSP Vendor
Handbook.

https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OEC%20Service%20Vendor%20Handbook%20for%20TSP%2010-23-2017%20FINAL%20508C.pdf

On Mon, Mar 16, 2020 at 10:42 AM Mike Bolitho <mikebolitho at gmail.com> wrote:

> I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding of what I'm trying to say
> here. We have dual private lines from two Tier I providers. These
> interconnect all major hospitals and our data centers. We also have a third
> metro connection that connects things regionally. We have DIA on top of
> that. I think people are vastly underestimating just how much $aaS there
> is within the medical field. TeleDoc, translation services, remote
> radiologists, the way prescriptions get filled, how staffing works, third
> party providers basically hoteling within our facilities, critical staff
> VPNed in because the government has locked things down, etc. Then there's
> things that we don't use but I'm sure other providers do, GoToMeeting,
> O365, VaaS, etc. There's no practical way to engineer your WAN to
> facilitate dozens of connections to these services.
>
> This extends beyond just hospitals as well. Fire departments, police
> departments, water treatment etc. Regardless of whether or not those
> entities planned well (I think we did), the government should and will
> step in if critical services are degraded. And for what it's worth,
> Stephen, I know how things are built within the ISP world. I spent four
> years there. That doesn't change the fact that we're possibly heading into
> uncharted waters when it comes to utilization and the impact that will
> have on $aaS products that are interwoven into every single vertical,
> including entities that fall under TSP, critical national security and
> emergency preparedness functions, including those areas related to safety,
> maintenance of law and order, and public health. It's easy for all you
> guys to sit here and armchair quarterback other people's planning but when
> things really start to degrade, all bets are off. If you don't believe
> that, just look at the news. States are literally shutting down private
> businesses (restaurants, bars, night clubs, private schools) and banning
> people from associating in groups of larger than 50.
>
> *The opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent my employer
> or their views.*
>
> - Mike Bolitho
>
> On Sun, Mar 15, 2020 at 6:12 PM Stephen Fulton <sf at lists.esoteric.ca>
> wrote:
>
>> In $dayjob I constantly see the lack of understanding of the difference
>> between what the Internet is and what a path engineered private circuit
>> is (eg. pseudowire, wave, whatever).  The latest fight is over SD-WAN
>> and those who think it will replace MPLS entirely and they won't need
>> those expensive routers anymore.  But I digress.
>>
>> Mark's comment and others like it are the correct approach Mike.  If
>> your private WAN is most critical, then invest in and manage user
>> complaints about poor Internet service.  ISP's, IXP's and CDN's are not
>> going to twist themselves into knots to solve your problems, even if
>> someone calls it an emergency.  Sorry.
>>
>> Stephen
>>
>>
>> On 2020-03-15 02:01, Mark Tinka wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> > On 14/Mar/20 19:14, Mike Bolitho wrote:
>> >
>> >>     /
>> >>     /
>> >>
>> >> I work for a hospital, we ran into some issues last week due to
>> >> congestion that was totally outside of our control that was off of our
>> >> WAN (Thanks Call Of Duty). Now, the issue we ran into was not mission
>> >> critical at the time but it was still disruptive. As more and more
>> >> people are driven home during this time, more and more people will be
>> >> using bandwidth intensive streaming and online gaming products. If
>> >> more and more TSP coded entities are running into issues, ISPs, IXPs,
>> >> and CDNs will be forced to act.
>> >
>> > Hmmh, if that level of priority is required, I'd probably build my own
>> > network, and not rely on public infrastructure like the Internet.
>> >
>> > Mark.
>>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.nanog.org/pipermail/nanog/attachments/20200316/82c4b0e4/attachment.html>