At 10:49 AM +1200 21/6/05, jamie.baddeley(a)vpc.co.nz wrote:
Some good points Michael, but I suspect your analysis doesn't include failure doesn't include a visit from Mr FatFingers and friend at the Operations console.
Actually, it does. I don't say that I have all the answers to layer 8 problems though :)
The only way downstream can protect itself from Mr FatFingers at Upstream is through institutional diversity, and no amount of network architecture within an single management entity can avoid that. And really that's a decision based on the the premise that people do stupid stuff in different organisations at different times. And I know we all make mistakes.
Yes, but when you do a risk analysis, you need to: 1. Do the risk analysis (obvious? Well, most people don't do it). 2. Identify the risks 3. *Quantify* the risks If you have insulated yourself from Clotus Ineptus at Upstream, through institutional diversity, have you also insulated yourself from the bumbling building manager who is about to throw the wrong breaker in the basement---or your own PhatFingerz sysadmin? I'm not necessarily arguing against institutional diversity---it may well be appropriate--just that institutional diversity, in itself, is not a silver bullet. -- Michael Newbery IP Architect TelstraClear Limited Tel: +64-4-920 3102 Mobile: +64-29-920 3102 Fax: +64-4-920 3361