At 06:17 PM 11/8/02, Nick Arnett wrote:
> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:brin-l-bounces@;mccmedia.com]On > Behalf Of Kevin Tarr... > I understand that, but does the telex have full UPS, probably generator > based? How big of an outage would there be before you couldn't > send anything? > > Wondering if this is the same around the country: I can think of 4 local > telex buildings I know, they are completely windowless, not even mail > slots. Is it that way everywhere? Why? Um, you mean "telco," I think. And yes, telco central offices (where all the wires go) tend to have no windows, no signs, and since 9/11, their locations are kept relatively secret, although it's pretty darn easy to figure out where they are.
Follow the wires, for instance . . .
They don't usually have windows because they don't need them, and for security. They've always been somewhat security-conscious, if only because they are vital infrastructure -- and there's no redundancy. Take out a CO and everybody served by it is dead until it is replaced. In order to reach everyone with maximum DSL speeds, telcos are installing "mini-DSLAMs" in various places, so that there's a DSLAM (that's the DSL interface at the telco end) within 5000' of every customer (in theory). I don't know if there are redundant Internet connections to those DSLAMs, but I suspect their might be... in which case DSL would have more redundancy than POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). COs have big battery backups and generators with many days of fuel. Bearing in mind that among othing things, the 911 emergency phone system depends on them, they've been required for a long time to have reliable emergency power. And their power needs are relatively low, at least compared with the typical office or factory. Furthermore, I believe that they always have incoming power from at least two grids, so that a failure on one grid doesn't force them to switch to backup power. Thus, only a widespread power failure will cause the battery and generator system to go into action. Speaking of such things, I grew up near the Westinghouse Telecomputer Center, where the company kept all of its computers -- all seven of them -- back in the 60s and 70s. Those big iron machines had flywheel-powered generators to keep them going long enough to either switch grids or fire up the generators. They really hummed! But when it took days to do relatively simple calculations, nobody wanted to start over after a power failure -- since booting was also a relatively painful and slow process.
Now we have Windows, making RE-booting a relatively painful and slow process which must nonetheless must be performed frequently . . .
--Ronn! :)
I always knew that I would see the first man on the Moon.
I never dreamed that I would see the last.
--Dr. Jerry Pournelle
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