Posted on 10/08/2005 7:17:54 PM PDT by MissouriConservative
A three-day dispute between large Internet network backbone companies came to a quiet end on Friday, restoring normal Net service to thousands of customers who had Web sites and e-mails sporadically blocked.
Level 3 Communications, which had cut off a direct connection between its network and that of rival Cogent Communications on Wednesday morning, restored normal service late Friday afternoon.
But the decision was temporary, made to let Cogent and customers find alternative arrangements, Level 3 said. The link between the two networks will be cut again at 6 a.m. EST, Nov. 9, unless Cogent agrees to pay for the connection.
"As has always been the case, we are willing to work with Cogent to reach a contractual arrangement that is equitable to both parties," Level 3 Executive Vice President Sureel Choksi said in a statement. "If this is not possible, we expect that Cogent will make arrangements with one of the numerous alternative carriers currently offering such services."
The situation stems from the breakdown in a so-called peering arrangement, in which companies of similar sizes agree to exchange data traffic across their networks without compensation.
Level 3 contends that it is larger than Cogent, and so a free peering relationship is no longer appropriate. It has asked Cogent to start paying for the connection, but Cogent has so far refused, saying that it is of comparable size to Level 3.
Because both companies rely heavily on direct connections, there was no alternate route for data to travel between the networks when the link was cut. That meant that customers on Level 3's network could not visit Web sites or send e-mail to people on Cogent's network. Thousands of people, including Time Warner's Road Runner cable modem customer base, were affected.
Cogent released a terse statement Friday, saying that it had only had time for short technical dialogue with the other company.
"We are pleased that Level 3 has taken the necessary actions to restore the full Internet to their customers and ours," a Cogent spokesman said. "We welcome this move, and hope and expect the peering connections will be maintained."
I wonder if that's why when I opened up some of my e-mail, I got a blank page with "No Subject" in the subject line.
But I was able to read the same e-mail when I switched over to hotmail from my msn account.... very confusing
TW/Road Runner was affected by this as the story says, we could not access Drudge or other sites. Very annoying.
Jen
I'm not sure I buy the "fragility" argument. The Internet is remarkably resilient -- the DOD designed it that way. If there's an outage, traffic just goes another way. It's when 2 carriers get in a tiff and start denying service to each other's subscribers that there's a problem.
Now if you're a RoadRunner subscriber (or quite a few of my customers for that matter), that rationale doesn't really mean a whole heck of a lot if you can't get to anything. But it's not really a case of the Internet being frail, but rather 2 ISP's trying to make a point at the expense of their customers (and their customers' customers...).
I just had the cable replaced to my home on Saturday because RR said it wasn't doing the job . . . perhaps they don't even know what was happening in the bowels of the internet.
But at least I have a new cable . . .
Could be. I had all sorts of trouble reaching a few much needed sites. Ticked me off to no end when I found out it was two companies have a p*ssing contest.
If enough people complain and ISPs start switching companies to get what they need, then the p*ssing ends and customers can once more get what they want.
I have Road Runner and I didn't have any problems...
it was a regional thing.
When I worked for DISA, I remember having issues with Level 3, mainly they couldn't ever believe something of theirs was down.
I guess RR was affected quite a bit. Things are fine now, but it seems there is another deadline and if it happens again, I can see government stepping in, which is a big mistake.
If these companies don't pull their heads out of their rear ends, then government is gonna do things neither will like.
Level 3 pulled a bonehead play. It reminds me of when I was a kid....well if you don't play my way I'm taking my ball home and no one can play.
Childish behavior from companies that should know better.
yeah...
they forget that people will eventually find a way around and move on and they will get stuck with no customers....
Yeah, I used to love that when I was on Cox many years ago. No matter what I called about, they'd send out a "cable" tech to check the signal level on the line. Even though all of the lights were sync'ed on the cable modem and I could reach their web site, the fact that I couldn't get any e-mail must mean the signal was bad on the wire. That's when I immediately started demanding to talk to a Tier 2 or Tier 3 as soon as they answered the phone...
"...but rather 2 ISP's trying to make a point at the expense of their customers (and their customers' customers...)."
Yeah it is pretty low. But I think the two companies are NAP's, not ISP's. NAP's are the ones who control parts of the backbone.
"yeah...
they forget that people will eventually find a way around and move on and they will get stuck with no customers...."
Actually Level3 is a little to big for that. Majority of the telephony traffic and a good chunk of the data traffic goes through their network. They are a pretty important part of the backbone that can't be replace easily.
I didn't say easily, and it wouldn't be, but you better believe that if they pull this stunt a couple more times they will be stuck like that at some point....
Those of us with Yahoo/SBC DSL connections had problems this morning and in the early afternoon.
It reminded of when college students take spring break or a major holiday break and tie up their parents computers and the internet.
SHHHH....don't tell the UN. They'll just try that much harder to take the internet from the US.
Let's all play nice and wait for them to allow genocide or the proliferation of nuclear weapons by terror-run states again so that they forget about trying to take control.
all due respect Mike, but you have about every fundamental misunderstanding of how peering works as can possibly be counted, and in the space of only a few comments! most untech-nerdy people understand the trouble from their own anecdotal perspective: IE i can't get to drudge so level 3 or cogent is bad/evil. the business aspect of it could not be more clear, and the press releases by both parties during the fiasco showed the blatant ludicrousy of cogent's position.
think of it like this: you and i each own a used car lot, next to each other. however, i keep selling cars off your lot for half the price.
how long will you allow me to do that?
and this one particularly tickled me:
"When I worked for DISA, I remember having issues with Level 3, mainly they couldn't ever believe something of theirs was down."
the irony there is that i have worked with DISA in a similar capacity before, and it almost always WAS DITCO/DISA's fault, or their failure to select anyone other than Verizon as a local carrier.
The whole networking thing is beyond my understanding. I do know though that we are fortunate to have people like you guys who make it work.
The other thing I believe(hope) is that if enough people cannot get to their desired site, all hell will break loose. We must have our FR fix or get to the Drudge so a fix will be found. (Hopefully not costing US more $$ but probably a futile hope.)
Jen
From article:
But when these relationships go sour, the feuding parties' lack of flexibility can result in blackouts like the one that occurred this week.
This is why we need the U.N.,they can fix it for us!
Well we do send them a lot of money each year. Just what is it they do at the UN, I forgot.
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