Its all risk and cost. You possibly couldn't have spent enough to stop this event. The outside plant wasn't at fault, highly motivated and informed individuals were. Pretty much a non issue, IMHO.
Best, Martin On 4/9/09, Charles Wyble <char...@thewybles.com> wrote: > Seriously though I want to start some discussion around outside plant > protection. This isn't the middle of the ocean or desert after all. > > There were multiple fiber cuts in a major metropolitan area, resulting > in the loss of critical infrastructure necessary to many peoples daily > lives (though twitter stayed up so it's all good). :) It would appear > that this was a deliberate act by one or more individuals, who seemed to > have a very good idea of where to strike which resulted in a low cost, > low effort attack that yielded significant results. > > > So allow me to think out loud for a minute.... > > 1) Why wasn't the fiber protected by some sort of hardened/locked > conduit? Is this possible? Does it add extensive cost or hamper normal > operation? > > 2) Why didn't an alarm go off that someone had entered the area? It was > after business hours, presumably not in response to a trouble ticket, > and as such a highly suspicious action. Does it make sense for these > access portals to have some sort of alarm? I mean there is fiber running > through and as such it could carry the signaling. Would this be a > massive cost addition during construction? > > 3) From what I understand it's not trivial to raise a manhole cover. > Most likely can't be done by one person. Can they be locked? Or were the > carriers simply relying on obscurity/barrier to entry? > > > > > -- Martin Hannigan mar...@theicelandguy.com p: +16178216079 Power, Network, and Costs Consulting for Iceland Datacenters and Occupants
