OK....here's an interview with the guy running AOLNet. Some of you find Meg's style to be gratingly cute..... Maybe so....but focus on the numbers...the numbers....the numbers....
Adios,
Brian (Joe AOL)
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On Friday I introduced you Insiders to the man behind the Chief Tech Bwana moniker. His real name is Matt Korn, he's the father of AOLNet, and he's Vice President of Operations here at AOL. You can meet him at the Web site I created as a result of my tour of AOL's Network Operations Center (http://members.aol.com/talktomeg1/NOC/index.html).
Matt's definitely what I call "a big kahuna" here at AOL. Pritnear everyone involved in the expansion of the system works directly with him, because he steers that ship. He controls the operation of the computing and network facilities which provide the ENTIRE ONLINE SERVICE, and he's also responsible for internal computing, the local access network, and telephone facilities to support all of us employees. Fortunately, the busy guy always takes a few minutes when I need him to answer my critically important questions....
Meg: I just hiked in the mud around the new Data Center. They say it won't be ready until next year. Tell me, is that enough time? Will we run out of data space before it's ready?
Chief Tech Bwana: [grins widely] Don't worry. Construction will actually be complete much earlier -- in October. Until then we have plenty of space to grow out the system. We've got ten computer rooms right now which are definitely NOT full, and we intend to stay ahead of schedule with everything. Plus, we've been introducing space-saving changes in technology. We used to need one square foot per simultaneous user. Nowadays we can accommodate more members with the same amount of space.
Meg: Tell me, why do people here call you the father of AOLNet?
Chief Tech Bwana: Well, I've been working on networks for more than ten years, which probably makes me more of a grandfather in Internet years! ;) In terms of AOLNet, when I came to AOL we didn't own our own data communications network. But as AOL grew we realized we needed a lot more connections for our members. We wanted to give members speeds of 28.8 and above in a cost effective fashion that would eventually allow us to offer unlimited pricing. The only way that we could increase the speed and lower the cost was to run the network ourselves. It was then that I began the planning for AOLNet and soon after that we got it up and running.
Meg: But this isn't your first taste of networking and all that fun stuff. You were doing this at IBM years ago.
Chief Tech Bwana: That's right. I used to work with Sensei-O-L and Wired Wizard before I came to AOL. We built the NSF (National Science Foundation) network backbone together. And years before THAT I wrote mail gateways between the Internet and BITNET. I've done a massive amount of work scaling mail gateways.
Meg: You must find that talent handy here!
Chief Tech Bwana: You bet. 28 million pieces of email came in from the Internet yesterday. We scale to those kinds of numbers. Now, a good deal of that mail comes from junk emailers, who are working hard to get around our PreferredMail blocking controls. Part of my job is to help implement even tighter controls, because members have overwhelmingly told us that they don't want junk mail. It detracts from the online experience when you log in and there are 15 letters you didn't even want.
Meg: So, Matt, what are your favorite features on AOL?
Chief Tech Bwana: My favorite features are community and communication oriented. I have a very large buddy list, I use Instant Messages like crazy and I depend on my email. I also think NetFind is really cool. My kids haven't needed the library for homework assignments in years because we find everything we need on AOL and the Web. Now NetFind will make it even easier.
Meg: Success story! So tell me, what's your ultimate AOL dream?
Chief Tech Bwana: One million members logged in at the same time. I started here four years ago when we could handle 2300 simultaneous users. I saw us grow from 2300 to where we are today, which is well more than 300,000. I think that one million is coming a lot sooner than anyone ever thought. That's only tripling where we are now, and we tripled to THIS in less than a year. We're working to bring everything together to make it a reality.
Meg: Is there anything else you'd like to say directly to the members?
Chief Tech Bwana: Yes. :) There are almost one thousand folks who are directly responsible for scaling the network. These are the folks who are working around the clock, from constructing machine rooms to installing modems around the country. I'm so proud of this team's achievement over the past six months, and they continue working day and night to continue ramping it up. You members should feel very comfortable knowing that the people who are scaling this network are passionate about making it work. We take it very personally when we know that members are having problems, because we and our families and friends are all members, too. |
