James Calladine:CBSMarketWatch8/18: WCOM debacle casts pall on telcos:
cbs.marketwatch.com
( NN to benefit? Answer, I believe: yes.Read on ).
First, let me say that there is a definite reason for posting news on the WCOM debacle.
I think that when that reason is found, we will discover that NN builds a better mouse-trap and
folks will befit from buying it and lessen the chance of debacles.
From the following article it is clear to me that carriers like MCIWCOM have been sold on the idea of
basing their networks on flimsy routers and frame relay and flimsy ATM switches which
can only expand by virtue of even flimsier, and more complex software.
The article below is beginning to confirm my suspicions.
TMatthews has been trying to tell folks that giant, carrier-class ATM hardware plus IP software
is the way to go. ( somebody correct me if I am wrong here ).
I think reality ( the laws of physics ) are now starting to tell carriers that TM was correct.
They need to do understand TMs ideas of Carrier class ATM + IP ( as from Nn ). Not only will that be more
scalable for future growth but it will aslo be cheaper, and even the back up system will be cheaper and more reliable.
So James I think we should talk here about the WCOM debacle, the CSCO debacle and any other
debacle and see how could that have been avoided going with NNs ideas.
TA
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MCI WorldCom network woes cast pall
cbs.marketwatch.com
Complex high-speed networks more prone to trouble
By Jeffry Bartash, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:02 PM ET Aug 18, 1999
NewsWatch
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- MCI WorldCom's network breakdown
over the past two weeks was by far the industry's largest yet, but it
certainly won't be the last.
In the past few years, Bell Atlantic (BEL: news, msgs) , AT&T (T: news,
msgs) and now MCI WorldCom have all encountered major disruptions
in the high-speed data networks. While such troubles have generally been
infrequent, they've caused much hardship for corporate clients, who've
increasingly come to rely on them.
Though network failures often involve complex software and
hardware issues, the root causes are actually quite simple.
Carriers are trying to make large upgrades
to intricate data networks to meet skyrocketing growth, especially for Internet
access. At the same time, they are trying to keep networks up and running
nonstop to meet the omnipresent needs of corporations.
"It's like changing jet engines in mid-flight," said John Ryan, chief analyst
and founder of RHK Inc., a telecommunications consulting and market
research firm.
Complex issues
The difficult is compounded by the complex nature of the systems
involved. Many high-speed networks are based on "packet-switching," a
form of data transfer in which a message is broken into small parts and
sent via the best available route to the recipient, where the message is
reassembled.
Packet-switching networks are like the hare in the famous fable. They
allow more data to be sent at greater speeds than older, traditional
circuit-switched networks. Yet while circuit-switched systems, like the
tortoise, are slow, they are also steady. Network failure is almost
non-existent on the older networks.
As high-speed networks expand, moreover, their increasingly complex
nature requires increasingly complex software to run them. "Clearly the
networks are becoming much more automated and dependent on
software," Ryan said. "It?s very difficult to produce software that works
for the very first time."
In MCI WorldCom's case, the carrier was upgrading its so-called
frame-relay network with Lucent Technologies software so it could handle
more traffic in the future. Though it was removed to end the crisis, new
software will eventually have to be installed to allow for expansion.
That's because demand for frame relay is growing
60 percent a year, figures Lisa Pierce, director of
global telecommunication services at Giga
Information Group.
Trail of trouble
MCI WorldCom (WCOM: news, msgs) said its
network woes began Aug. 5. But there had been
several significant disruptions in the weeks leading
up to that date. "Customers were reporting
problems before that," Pierce said.
On July 22, MCI WorldCom's Boston switch
experienced trouble and disrupted service
throughout the morning, according to a letter
written by Kerry Casey, executive director of
service support at MCI WorldCom, a copy of
which was obtained by CBS.MarketWatch. The
Philadelphia switch then had a hardware problem,
causing delays on Aug. 2. Casey also mentioned
that MCI WorldCom was working to fix a
"software error that had intermittently affected our customers."
"It is important to note that although the software error retains the
potential to affect service until this (upgrade) work is completed, the risk
of service impact is proportionately reduced as the upgrade moves to
completion," Casey wrote in the Aug. 4 letter.
Linda Laughlin, a spokeswoman at MCI WorldCom, said she is not
aware that those problems had anything to do with the network
breakdown that occurred Aug. 5.
After the initial congestion, it took 10 days for MCI WorldCom to shut
down the network to remove the problematic Lucent (LU: news, msgs)
software. The company has come under intense fire for how it handled the
situation. Many customers were without service for large portions of that
time and they had difficulty extracting information from the carrier.
By contrast, when AT&T's frame-relay went down in April 1998, the
carrier immediately went public with the news and focused entirely on
getting most customers reconnected within a day or two. It then
immediately offered a full month of free service, far more than the 20 days
offered by MCI WorldCom to clients who had been disconnected for
much of 10 days.
"We went very public with the situation because of the thousands of
customers it was affecting," said Darrell Sagehorn, director of data
marketing at AT&T. "Most customers were up within 24 hours."
Said Pierce of Giga: "You?ve noticed how both companies treated it
differently."
The aftermath
Some industry observers wonder if MCI WorldCom was trying to do
online diagnosis of the software -- a charge the company denies. Instead,
these critics argue, MCI WorldCom simply should have removed the
software and focused on getting customers back up.
MCI, which says its problems were different from those experienced by
AT&T, has defended its actions. Spokeswoman Laughlin said technicians
couldn't identify the problem right away. In addition, the carrier appeared
to be making progress stabilizing the network in the first week, before
another blowup occurred.
It was only then, eight days after the problem started, that the carrier
decided to pull the plug on the entire frame-relay network, one of four it
operates. "That's a critical decision -- anytime you affect all customers,"
Laughlin said.
The aftershocks of MCI WorldCom's network breakdown are likely to
be felt for a while. Already, rivals are aggressively targeting MCI
WorldCom customers, and fielding inquiries from irate WorldCom clients.
"We?ve gotten more calls in the past few days in light of the troubles,"
spokesman Tyler Gronbach of Qwest Communications acknowledged.
Still, the one thing you won't hear Qwest (QWST: news, msgs) or any
other data carrier tell potential clients is that networks are foolproof.
"Qwest is not saying it?s not going to happen to us," Ryan said, "because
they think it could happen to them."
Gronbach concedes the point, but notes that Qwest is newer than its
bigger rivals, uses the latest technology and runs a more uniform network.
"We?re all vulnerable, but companies using new technologies and fewer
platforms ... could be less susceptible. When you do it (upgrades) in a
larger environment, there are more variables," he said.
Yet the simple fact is, frame-relay and related packet-switching networks
are not 100 percent reliable. "They aren?t as good as circuit-oriented
networks. There is a tradeoff," Pierce said. "It?s called a 'virtual' network
because it?s not real."
Backup plans
As a result, carriers are likely to take further steps to avoid costly
blowouts in the future. AT&T created a 13-point blueprint for dealing
with such situations after the April 1998 failure. Qwest runs a site in
Arlington, Va. that extensively monitors the health of its network. MCI
WorldCom is almost certainly going to strengthen its procedures for
handling network failure.
"We all are striving for the reliability of a circuit-switched network,"
Sagehorn of AT&T said. "Across the industry this is another wakeup call
that we have to be better attuned to outages. We did a year ago. Our
competitors are learning this week."
Countered Pierce: "When it happened to AT&T a year ago, it should
have been a wakeup call for the entire industry then."
Despite precautions being taken by carriers, analysts expect occasional
network failures to occur in the future, given the nature of the technology
and the intensifying demand. "We?ve seen explosive growth in the frame
relay sector," Gronbach of Qwest said.
With that in mind, most businesses ought to protect themselves by using
two carriers, at least for critical operations, or in rarer cases set up
expensive but more reliable private networks. While the cost may be high,
the cost of not doing so may be higher, analysts warn.
"You better have an excellent contingency plan," Pierce summed up.
Jeffry Bartash is an online reporter for CBS MarketWatch.
Guys,
Can we lighten up on the MCI/Worldcom items?
It takes a lot of time trying to find the directly related
NN content in all of this.
Best wishes,
Jim |
