IP: Tunnel fire derails Internet service: [risks] Risks Digest 21.54

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 08:52:50 -0700
>From: "NewsScan" <newsscan@newsscan.com>
>Subject: Tunnel fire derails Internet service
>
>Derailed train cars burning in a Baltimore tunnel have seriously damaged the
>area's fiber-optic cables, slowing Internet service and other communications
>traffic in the Mid-Atlantic states, with a ripple effect across the
>country. WorldCom, PSINet and AboveNet all reported problems with service,
>but said they had not yet been able to quantify the severity of the
>problems. Keynote Systems, which measures Web site performance, said the
>delay experienced by Internet users was the worst it has ever seen.  "What
>we're seeing is a problem in the handshake between the backbones which serve
>as the Internet's infrastructure," said a Keynote spokeswoman.  "These
>backbone providers hand off traffic to travel between them across the
>country." Keynote reported major slowdowns as far away as Seattle and Los
>Angeles that may be attributable to the train wreck [or Code Red? The fumes
>also resulted in cancellation of Orioles games.  PGN]. [AP Jul 19 2001
>http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010719/18/train-derailment-communications
>NewsScan Daily, 20 July 2001]



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