response 40 of 91:

May 21 03:12 UTC 2000

(It's not an issue of optimal routing.  I'm convinced InterNAP can do pretty
well with that.  The issue I'm concerned about is a single point of failure,
and a lack of control over their own network.  With connections from multiple
providers, an ISP can just route around it when one of them has problems, and
it will route around it automatically if the connection goes down.  With a
connection to a single provider, all the ISP can do is fingerpoint.)

response 42 of 91:

May 22 03:22 UTC 2000

Well, yes and no.  You can pull circuits to multiple InterNAP POPs, and if
one of the POPs goes down your connectivity will still be up.  You've still
got room for problems beyond your control, though.  A system wide software
update or configuration change could go wrong.  The billing could get screwed
up resulting in both connections getting cut off simultaniously.  The company
could hire incompetent engineering people, or get bought by somebody who
doesn't understand good network design, both of which have caused other
formerly good providers I've been paying attention to go down hill very
quickly.  Or, with a provider whose POPs are more interconnected with
themselves than InterNAP's are, a one or two line configuration screwup in
one router could take down large chunks of the network (although InterNAP's
architecture probably makes that significantly less likely).

Are any of these things likely to happen in this case on a regular basis? 
Probably not.  But getting redundant connectivity from different providers
and talking BGP over them is just basic good network design.  It's also easy
to see from the outside.  When you see somebody who isn't doing that,
generally they're cutting corners in many harder to see ways as well.

response 44 of 91:

Jun 12 17:53 UTC 2000

If there are network problems, I'm sure that Voyager will be contacted
about them.

Aside: the DSL line order is still being processed, but the ameritech
line has been ordered, but no due date is available yet.

response 46 of 91:

Jun 23 04:50 UTC 2000

Next BoD meeting, I should give a dsl update I suspect.

response 48 of 91:

Jun 23 16:24 UTC 2000

The official issue is "problem obtaining line".

I'm on the phone with Covad right now attempting to get an update
on the order status.

response 50 of 91:

Jul 6 21:56 UTC 2000

Covad is still not giving a due date, and they are not able to provide
a line yet...

I've escalated the issue (again) in order to determine what can be done
to provide the DSL line.  Because of your short distance from the
Central Office, i would have never expected there to be any problems,
but I'm becoming amazed at the problems with getting your line.

response 52 of 91:

Jul 12 01:25 UTC 2000

I can be available that day, but my router knowledge is pretty limited.
I work about 1.5 miles from the Pumpkin, though.

response 54 of 91:

Jul 12 05:58 UTC 2000

You won't have to know anything about routers for the router configuration
either, since the Covad person will do that.  Grex's IP address should get
changed before that at some point, though.  Again, that's something I'm not
really comfortable doing when I can't get to the Pumpkin and fix it if I
screw up, so it should be done by somebody in Ann Arbor.

response 56 of 91:

Jul 13 11:12 UTC 2000

Jared,  I'll send you email with my contact info.

response 58 of 91:

Jul 14 15:54 UTC 2000

I haven't read through all of this, but at some point scg said price is
not as important as the "best support".  That is not quite true; Grex
needs high quality support, but not assistance for the totally ignorant.

response 60 of 91:

Jul 17 02:04 UTC 2000

AADS is Ameritech Advanced Data Service.  They run the NAP in Chicago, and
do a bunch of other stuff.  I forget whether ISDN is part of AADS at this
point or not.

A lot of stuff is required to build a DSL network.  You need the copper from
the LEC (local exchange carrier, in this case Ameritech).  You need a DSLAM
to terminate those copper pairs in every telco central office that you're
service.  You then need a network to transport the DSL traffic.  This could
consist IP router in every CO, but in most cases there's an ATM or Frame Relay
network linking the CO equipment together.  The DSL traffic then gets handed
off to the IP router at some central point, and the data gets routed onto the
Internet.

Building a network like that is a lot of work, and is expensive, both in terms
of the regulatory stuff the companies need to go through to get space in the
COs and copper, and in terms of putting the network itself together.  There
are also some big economies of scale involved.  This isn't something that
small ISPs offering DSL service could afford to do.  Even the really big ISPs
(UUNet and so forth) have decided it's not something they're going to do. 
But there are three companies that are, Covad, Northpoint, and Rhythms.  They
deal with the copper pair to the customer, the ATM or Frame network needed
to haul the data to the central location where they do the handoff, and the
ATM or Frame Relay handoff to the ISP.  That leaves the ISP to focus on
Internet access, which is what the ISPs are tehoretically good at.  In theory,
these companies are selling the DSL lines to enough different ISPs that they
will be able to afford the cost of building and running their networks, while
a single ISP would have a lot of trouble with that.

response 62 of 91:

Jul 22 00:35 UTC 2000

No. There was some problem, but I don't know what the details are.
I hope it is rescheduled soon.

response 64 of 91:

Jul 26 11:11 UTC 2000

Nobody ever called me on the "install day".