Internet could catch the flu, too

StarTribune ^ | 10/29/09 | BOB VON STERNBERG

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

If the flu pandemic becomes as severe as some experts fear, it could end up infecting the Internet.

That's the conclusion of the General Accountability Office, which issued a report this week that warned about a potential meltdown of the Web.

If the H1N1 flu strain spreads widely enough, keeping millions of workers and students confined to their homes, the Internet's infrastructure could be overwhelmed by people logging in from home.

That surge in telecommuting, the report concluded, could slow down local networks to the point of gridlock.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, "increased demand during a severe pandemic could exceed the capacities of Internet providers' access networks for residential users and interfere with teleworkers in the securities market," the report concluded.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

I had this pegged as a satire piece, at first.

But, no.....

[I Buried My Guns]

Well then, the gov't better step in and regulate the internet, because, well, we're all idiots and need hand-holding.

My biggest fear is that Obama will federalize or otherwise interfere with the Net. It's how many patriots will recieve a call to arms when the time comes, and liberals "do not want".

It's the opposite of centralization. Libs want centralization; conservatives do not.

[Lucky9teen]

[1rudeboy]

Full disclosure: I am not a computer nerd.

Is this because ISP's distinguish between residential and business access? Why would a person who is not surfing from the office gum-up the works because he is surfing from home?

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

“Never waste a good crisis....”

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Actually, more resources are alloted for business and education use than home access.....

This makes no sense to me.....

[GeronL]

did I just hear that right??

The HealthCare plan is up to 1990 pages???

say what??

[IrishPennant]

[kevao]

The HealthCare plan is up to 1990 pages???

That's only the Executive Summary of the plan.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

HAH!!

[savage woman]

I guess the H1N1 doesn’t really make you that sick...
if you can still get up and get on the Internet...LOL

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

the Internet's infrastructure could be overwhelmed by people logging in from home.

Non sequitur.

An ill worker staying home and logging in...is a worker who would be using the internet at work anyway. Net difference...0.000.

[Pessimist]

That was my first thought too. But consider that if you normally communicate with many other people in one location at your firm, your traffic does not traverse the internet: it simply stays on your subnet.

So actually, if huge quantities of people stayed home and logged in, it would increase the traffic on the internet.

I doubt if it’s anything to seriously worry about though.

[ShadowAce]

[TSgt]

Non sequitur. An ill worker staying home and logging in...is a worker who would be using the internet at work anyway. Net difference...0.000.

Their total bandwidth usage would be higher as most telecommuters establish a virtual private network (VPN) to their company via the Internet for access to corporate systems. General Internet surfing would be a zero sum however there would be increased network use from multiple VPN's.

[AdmSmith]

Check the spread of A(H1N1) http://www.google.org/flutrends/intl/en_us/us/

It has peaked in Texas, but stay away from Rhode Island...

[Gondring]

Using myself as an example, when I'm in the office, multiple gigabytes get transferred internally between servers and users, on the "corporate intranet."*

When at home, accessing the corporate network, all my interactions with the servers or other users must go over the (shared) Internet. *I know that's an old term, but there's no need to abandon it.

[1rudeboy]

Ah . . . that makes sense.

[LearnsFromMistakes]

I use a cable modem. If they take down msnbc, that should free up a little bandwidth.