[LINK] digital black screen and absolute data lines

[Adam Todd]

At 01:12 04/05/2008, Jan Whitaker wrote:
>At 08:06 AM 4/05/2008, Richard Chirgwin wrote:
>>Why the scepticism, Jan? The data service will have been something 
>>boring and non-Internet, like a DDS, Frame Relay or ATM connection 
>>- well, I guess ATM may not be present in Mildura, but DDS and 
>>Frame Relay will be. Both of these have something that Internet 
>>services don't get - service level guarantees in the four-nines 
>>class or better.
>>
>>Not all data is Internet data (in fact, at least the last time I 
>>looked, the private data services market was still slightly larger 
>>than the broadband market. It's just not as interesting).
>>
>>RC
>
>good point, Richard. Of course no one explained that during the 
>program, which in itself is a light program, not serious much of the 
>time. So what is the public going to think out in Mildura? Will they 
>have any idea that there is even such a thing as dedicated service 
>lines? particularly since there has been so much ruckus about the 
>failing of the digital mobile roll-out to meet the expectations that 
>Telstra 'sold' until the ACCC made them stop 
>lying/misleading/stretching the truth. Their track record has been 
>pretty dodgy: shift to CDMA, falling share prices on T2, Next 
>network, reducing technical support in the field, hike in line 
>rentals -- need I go on?

Bit hard to chomp this for archive purposes but here's a reply:

Jan, Richard.  You are both correct.

Internet services, at least the backbone infrastructure, runs all the 
time, it's carried over DDS, Frame Relay, ATM and other 
protocols.  These run pretty much 99.9999% of the time without 
fail.  They are afterall electrons being shoved down a cable.

Only breaks in the cable, as with fibre, are going to stop them.

The problem with internet reliability is the hardware, not the 
protocol or the cables the streaming electrons are passed over.

Often when a connection fails, it's not because the line is down, or 
the cable is broken, it's because buffers and cpu's in the low cost, 
fast made, no care and no responsibility is give the to manufacture 
of such equipment.

A computer processing streams of data, be it a PIC processor or the 
latest duo core, will have more chance of failure than a dedicated 
single purpose, electron pusher or modulator.

ATM and Frame Relay too can hang or stop functioning, but usually 
because again, people are using subprime hardware such as routers 
designed for IP handling in a SOHO or end uer environment rather than 
a box dedicated only to the task of Frame or ATM.

Needless to say, in my experience the less load on a box the better, 
and the less it has to think about the better.

Sadly today, we are told that one box can and will do it all for us - 
and we buy into that.

My phone hangs a few times a week when I'm online.  The outbound 
connection stays up fine, it' the phone going it's protocol 
conversions that fails, so a reboot is needed to get back online again.