Patrick W. Gilmore wrote:
We talk a lot about what is on-topic. I get why there is a question
about botnets - they affect the network, but don't really relate to
routing, so there are arguments on both sides. I'm a bit more confused
about spam, since the biggest spam run against the biggest mail servers
in the world won't even be noticed by the underlying network. But
whatever, we are (supposed to be :) adults, we can discuss it.
While spam bots may not be relevant to network operations, that's only
one type of botnet. Many of them are used to in attacks, usually of the
ddos variety. This certainly has the potential to affect the network
and has, in fact, affected the network. These have been discussed
before at the community meetings, as well as some of the measures to
protect against it. Some of these attacks are great enough to criple
even multiple oc48s. I think that this SHOULD be discussed more, as it
is an increasing role of network operators.
Spam, on the other hand, always seemed to be a scarlet topic here. If
someone mentions spam or mail servers, there are those here that start
breathing fire and claiming that their email should not be subject to
spam filters. I don't know that it's really a relevant topic, as not
all network operators provide email services to their customers, and the
number that actually do seem to be getting smaller and smaller.
It seems to me that NANOG should be concerned with the following:
1) How to design/install/operate a multi-service network
2) How to achieve efficient network operation through the use of network
protocols
3) What is/How to peer, and why settlement free peering is a good thing
4) How to protect your network assets from the bad guys
Other topics that MIGHT be discussed:
1) IPv6, how the Mayan Calendar predicts IP exhaustion by December 21, 2012.
2) Voice over IP.
3) Video over IP.
4) Multicast (does anyone really use this?)
5) What versions of vendor X's code really sucks
6) Why hard drives in routers are both the best and worse thing ever
conceived.
7) etc.
It also seems to me that increasing the meetings from 2 days (plus
Sunday night) to 3 days may be costing NANOG more for facilities. Are
all topics interesting to everyone, or is it possible to have a couple
different tracks? As I'm presently in a security role, I'd actually get
more use out of security tracks that I will out of IPv6 and routing, and
thus have not been able to justify NANOG to my present employer.
Just some thoughts.
-Sean
(Please respond through the list)
