[EAS]Backbone Pain

[pjk]

Subject:   Backbone Pain

(from NewsScan Daily, 20 July 2001)

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. (AP Jul 19 2001)
http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010719/18/train-derailment-communications