Is the Internet melting?
Some recent Internet trouble, ranging from equipment failures on UUNET Technologies' network to a fiber cut on Sprint Corp.'s network in Louisiana to the Internet Domain Name System mishap (NW, July 21, page 8), may lead users to believe this is true.
The fact is the Internet is still a "best effort" network, but it is better than it was six to nine months ago, said Eric Paulak, senior analyst at Gartner Group, Inc., a Stamford, Conn.-based consulting firm.
The Internet is expanding with most Internet service providers adding bandwidth and high-capacity switches, Paulak said. But "problems will continue with every ISP," he added. With the incredible growth of the 'Net, industry watchers sometimes forget it has only been used for commercial purposes for a few short years.
ISPs will ultimately have redundant networks that will move the Internet from a best effort to a solid, more reliable network, but it is a work in progress.
"Look at today's [public switched telephone network (PSTN)]," Paulak said. "It's taken 140 years to build out that network to its full capabilities, yet we still have fiber cuts."
But the reason why we rarely lose phone service is because the PSTN is redundant. Telephone traffic on a fiber optic linethat has just been cut by a construction crew is automatically rerouted to another fiber ring. Paulak believes the Internet will have similar support further down the road.
"We expect the outages regardless of the source," said Dave Pivelait, vice president for media and community relations at BOAT/U.S., the boat owners association of the United States in Alexandria, Va. "If it's an InterNIC problem or a specific ISP problem, we take them in stride," he said.
BOAT/U.S., a UUNET Web hosting customer, sees about 1,500 users on its Web site daily, Pivelait said. Although UUNET's network woes have been frequent recently, BOAT/U.S. said it has not experienced any major disruptions, he added.
In the last month, routers in several UUNET hubs experienced memory failures and shut down causing the routers to drop lots of traffic. (NW, June 23, page 16). UUNET also had trouble with its frame relay switch just a couple of weeks later that were the cause of further networking woes for the Fairfax, Va.-based ISP. (NW, July 7, page 10).
What users have to keep in mind is that "the Internet is only going to be as good [as the company that] provides the network service," Paulak said. "The Internet is not perfect, so your ISP should offer you the next best thing."
If your company is looking to put some of its business applications or services on the 'Net, analysts recommend you take the time to find out which ISP is going to offer you the best service level agreement.
Do not settle - sign with an ISP that will offer you network availability and even latency, Paulak said.
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