[outages] Communication Infrastructure [was: Ok, ok; Jeezus, people... it was a joke.]

[Patrick W. Gilmore]

On Feb 07, 2013, at 23:07 , Stephen Wilcox <steve.wilcox at ixreach.com> wrote:

>> This list is for notification.  And I would like to be notified if 8.8.8.8 or Netflix is down.
> 
> And I would like to be notified if my local Papa Johns has any specials on combo pizza and chicken strips...

Fair rejoinder.

Allow me to rephrase: I think it is important to a significant fraction of the 'Net when something that is used by a significant fraction of the 'Net goes down.  The examples above are usually more relevant to more people than a single fiber cut.


>> The list owners (or a vote of the members? I don't know how this works) can decide otherwise.  But your arguments are unpersuasive.
> 
> I'm just quoting what the mailman page says the list is for.... if that description is wrong, then I'm on the wrong list. 

And I gave you reasons why the above fits that description, which you conveniently snipped.

However, you may be right.  Or you may well be on the wrong list.  Or maybe the definition needs massaging.

Shall we define things like "infrastructure" better?  I would call the Domain Name System "communications infrastructure".  As a trivial (and hyperbolic) example, would you argue all 13 root servers going down should not be on topic?

Shall we modify the part about "traffic-carrying capacity"?  Fewer Mbps are transmitted on one of the many fiber paths between Sprint & UUNET (which are typically redundant) than Netflix pushes.  However, Netflix doesn't "carry" any traffic.  Are you going to argue Netflix is not relevant to the readers of this list?  Many (most?) see a larger traffic shift from a Netflix outage than a cut between Sprint & UU.

Then there is the fun around the word "major".  It could go on for weeks!


But let's short-circuit this entertainment and ask a more basic question: Who defines these things, and by what process?  If this list is only for fiber cuts & router crashes, then let's say so and be done with it.

-- 
TTFN,
patrick