Focus on Issues:
The Public Internet, Private IP Networks and the
Need for Fiber Route Redundancy
by: Hunter Newby - PTC Advisory Council Vice-Chair, Chief
Strategy Officer, Telx, Inc.
Over the past few years, a logical
transition of technology and responsibilities has shifted
from the traditional telecom networks and operators over
to the packet networks and IT folks in ever increasing
numbers. This is not any one particular person or groups'
preference although it is most likely very satisfying for
some and painful for others. Rather,
it is an almost inevitable conclusion. In the early days
of the shift from circuit to packet, it was all about the
public Internet. Business case decisions were easier to make
when all of the applications were loaded up on the same common,
shared network. As a result, email, the web and several
other things cohabitated. With that gave rise to the need
for Internet security. This came in the form of tunnels,
VPN's and many varieties of software-based protection that
still exist and are more necessary than ever today out there
on the cloud.
Within the last few years, there has
been a migration within the greater packet transition towards
private IP networks and away from the public Internet.
This too was a logical, evolutionary conclusion based on
the inherent security of transport networks using IP rather
than shared transit networks. Private IP connections also
eliminate the need for ISP's thereby avoiding their fees
and potential associated regulation, or control of what
the users can and can't see. The Ethernet LANs of the world
and the organizations that run them are the ultimate buyers
and decision makers. The desire
to connect those LAN’s (100meg to 100meg, 1Gig to 1Gig
and beyond) has forced the telcos to leave their rigid legacy
networks and step in to the Ethernet world. Soon, application
development, use and growth will drive enterprises and carriers
to use wavelengths almost exclusively in the core.
Private enterprise, government, research
and education networks have been around for a very long
time and this has not changed in the IP realm. What is
interesting and new is the rise of private, application
specific Internets. This is certainly a development worth
watching and one that is sure to bring tremendous benefits
and challenges. However, as we
all witness, participate in and are catalysts for the transformation
of multiple networks, protocols and applications in to the
future that we create, we must not forget about what holds
it all together – the physical layer. The path
that must be followed to determine the true issue begins
with the Internet and its associated security, latency and
quality. The path then moves down through to the transport
networks with their inherent security, improved quality and
predictable speeds ending up with a common problem that they
both share; fiber routes and physical interconnection points.
Our global vulnerability of fiber
paths in single-threaded building points of entry, common
trenches and ducts and even buildings is mainly a product
of cost savings and the need for profitability. In the
same way that the business case was easier to make for
the leasing of an Internet connection based on the number
of applications that could be accessed, the fiber networks
usually all shared build costs to make the business case
for each and all to enter a facility, or project. This
history has put us all in a situation where we must be
very diligent in building our own knowledge base of the
existence of every network path that we use. Only
when we know our true paths and each potential point of failure,
or loss will we be able to protect our networks and all that
ride and rely upon them.
It is almost human nature to not prepare for something
in the future until it has already happened. Whether it is
from a belief that it won’t happen to you, or that
you think you are prepared, or that someone else is handling
it, or will respond it makes no difference. No one is prepared
until the questions are asked and the scenarios thought through.
So, for everyone’s benefit I give you the “wake
up call”. On December 26th 2006 a major earthquake
hit just off of Taiwan’s southern coast. Numerous undersea
cables representing several different networks (including
the Internet), countries, governments, companies, people,
applications and economies were immediately taken out of
service. In this scenario, what is the plan? Who creates
the plan? Who executes on it? Who is in charge? What’s
the restoration time? Who gets restored first? Was there
even a plan to begin with?
The truth is that this can happen
anywhere. No matter how the tragedy comes about, it is
abrupt and disrupts everything including the Internet,
email, international calling, banking transactions, private
networks, etc. This is why physical layer network redundancy
must be THE priority for 2007. It
supersedes all applications, IP VPN’s, security software,
layer 3 routing and layer 2 switching. Without the fiber,
none of the above exists.
Attached please find the final report published Andrew Pang
of HKCOLO, Sino Favour Centre, Hong Kong. HKCOLO is a major
interconnection facility servicing various networks in Asia.
This report details the events that took place immediately
following the earthquake and the actions taken by HKCOLO
to restore affected networks. I personally believe that this
is one of the most valuable pieces of information we can
all utilize to learn from and assist us in dealing with and
hopefully avoiding physical layer network disasters to come.
It is not only worth reading, it is worth building an entire
strategy around.
The views expressed are those of the
author and do not necessarily reflect PTC as an organization. Questions
or comments can be sent directly to hunternewby@telx.com
|
