On Fri, 1 Feb 2008 23:07:16 -0000 "Rod Beck" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi Steve, > > TransAtlantic cables average three repairs a year. That's the > industry average. So given 7 high capacity cable systems, that's 21 > repairs a year. > > Now, not all damaged cables go out of service. In fact, most stay in > service until the repair begins. > > But the public rarely hears about a TransAtlantic cable going dark. > Yet it does happen quite regularly in the business. > > Why? Because there are seven very high capacity (multi-terabit) > systems to route traffic across! There is no need to announce to the > public that a cable been cut. > > That is not the case in the Midterranean or the Persian Gulf. > > You have only a few systems (relatively low capacity) serving a huge > population. In fact, I suspect Flag is probably the sole provider for > many of these countries. > > So yes, when the only guy in town falls down, it's going to be > noticed. > I hope you're right. As I noted, by profession I'm paranoid. I've even contemplated the uses of deliberate cable cuts; see http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb/papers/reroute.pdf for some thoughts from five years ago. But I hope you're right. --Steve Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb
