FC: NYC network problems after 9-11, and how providers are responding

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Wed Sep 12 2001 - 11:10:53 PDT

  • Next message: Declan McCullagh: "FC: Politech photos of DC after attack, and many, many links"

    [This is a heartening thread from the nanog network operators list. Kudos 
    to those firms like XO Europe who are taking extra steps to help their 
    colleagues keep the Internet, especially New York City's portions, running 
    during this difficult time. Without the Net, it would be more difficult for 
    friends and family to keep in touch with their loved ones in the city. And, 
    as Sean Donelan points out, sites like nyc.gov (now, alas, offline) are 
    being used to provide vital information about emergency response and 
    shelters. --Declan]
    
    ***********
    
    From: "Vincent J. Bono" <vbonoat_private>
    Subject: Re: 32 Old Slip AC Outage and 60 Hudson Verizon failure
    Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 09:28:24 -0400
    
    Status:
    
    We are at 32 Old Slip on the 4th floor.  AC power is down and our generator
    air intake is clogged and the sensors shut it down.  Batteries are fine (we
    have 27 hours left) but the HVAC is on generator only.  Since we are south
    of 14th street we are awaiting permission to enter the area to effect
    repairs.  Luckily our staff members who were outside during the collapse are
    fine which was our main concern.
    
    Sincerely,
    GLOBAL NAPS, INC.
    
    Vincent J. Bono
    Vice President
    Engineering
    
    ***********
    
    From: "Vincent J. Bono" <vbonoat_private>
    Subject: Re: 32 Old Slip AC Outage and 60 Hudson Verizon failure
    Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 12:58:18 -0400
    
    We have a man back at 32 Old Slip now.  Most of our issues came from
    overheat.  The generators are now up but utility power is still out.  There
    is emergency lighting only.  The generator ran our of fuel once and has been
    refilled from the building reserve but we are unsure about getting
    addiitonal fuel at this time.
    
    Sincerely,
    GLOBAL NAPS, INC.
    
    Vincent J. Bono
    Vice President
    Engineering
    
    PS
    
    FOCAL is on the 4th floor with us as well as TCG (AT&T Local).  AT&T seems
    to have an equipment failure.
    
    -vb
    
    ***********
    
    From: robertat_private
    Subject: 32 Old Slip AC Outage and 60 Hudson Verizon failure
    Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 22:36:18 -0400
    
    Our equipment at 32 Old Slip is not operational. This is apparently
    due to AC power failure and an inability to start the generators due
    to ash in the air (this may be a choice as well). Anyone running at
    32 Old Slip (TCG/Eagle/Focal/GNAPs are the four I know of on the
    fourth floor) on DC power is on battery or offline.
    
    Our POP at 60 Hudson is up with the MFS/WorldCom provided backhaul
    circuit to our 34 Exchnage Place Jersey City location, but all
    Verizon circuits terminating at 60 Hudson are down/down. All MFS/WCom
    circuits seem to be ok so far...
    
    -Robert
    
    ***********
    
    From: Sean Donelan <seanat_private>
    Subject: NYC city net 161.185.0.0 off net
    Date: 11 Sep 2001 20:21:54 -0700
    
    New York City's primary network 161.185.0.0/16 including the
    www.nyc.gov web site is off the net this evening.  It was up
    all day, and providing public information about emergency
    response, shelters and transit status.  I've tried from
    two different network providers.
    
    Applied Theory, NYC's primary name server, is up.
    
    ***********
    
    From: Alex Bligh <alex.blighat_private>
    Subject: [nom-steer] Disaster in New York; offer of assistance
    Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 09:43:00 +0100
    
    No doubt everybody reading this will alread be aware of the disastrous
    events unfold in New York and WDC, and untold human cost.
    
    As we try and focus back on running networks, it has become evident that
    much of downtown NY is currently without power, and many telco hotels are
    running on backup generators. Some are not being started, or cannot start,
    due to the ash in the air, and some may stop. At least three colo
    facilities (WTC obviously, 7 WTC next door, Old slip) are down. 25 Broadway
    (at least) is running on generator power. It is unknown at this stage how
    much diesel existing facilities have. At least one C/O is gone, and Verizon
    is having extensive problems in the downtown area.
    
    Most transatlantic circuits land in Manhatten, and most are routed through
    down town area. Though we didn't see much circuit disruption yesterday
    (apparently UUnet lost some transatlantic capacity - no doubt they can
    provide more details), I expect more disruption as generators run dry.
    
    This is likely to be a difficult week for transatlantic operators. In the
    spirit of cooperation in adverse circumstances, XO Europe would like to
    offer free transit to any European ISP with a presence in the UK, in case
    of any emergency outage caused by the NY / WDC events (i.e. total lack of
    transit or severe degredation through). We can bring this up quickly in
    either Telehouse or Harbour Exchange. Obviously we will need to capacity
    plan this. Please email or ring me first. Don't just point default.
    XchangePoint has similarly offered to put in private interconnects at
    minimal notice if required under similar circuimstances (please contact
    Brett Wilde there). I would encourage other large ISPs with transatlantic
    capacity spare to join us in this offer.
    
    Please feel free to redistribute this message intact.
    
    Alex Bligh
    Senior Technology Officer, Europe
    XO Communications - http://www.xo.com/
    (formerly Nextlink Inc, Concentric Network Corporation
    GX Networks, Xara Networks)
    
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    From: dennis opacki <dopackiat_private>
    Subject: Reducing power consumption in generator-supplied facilities
    Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 07:31:21 -0700 (PDT)
    
             What steps are folks taking to maximize run time of emergency
    generator equipment and battery in NY facilities currently facing diesel
    supply issues? Are second halves of redundant systems being temporarily
    taken off line and non-essential loads being shed in a effort to stretch
    the time to failure? In a previous life, such precutions were referred to
    as "rigging for reduced electrical power" and proved quite effective.
    
    Thanks,
    
    -Dennis
    
    ***********
    
    From: "Vincent J. Bono" <vbonoat_private>
    Subject: Re: Reducing power consumption in generator-supplied facilities
    To: "dennis opacki" <dopackiat_private>, <nanogat_private>
    Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 10:47:23 -0400
    
    Hundreds of generators are not even running thanks to debris in the intake
    paths.  At least in the area as close as our building was.  I shudder to
    think of what's happening in the way of Carbon Monoxide gas release and
    general overheating issues for those units that do not have smart sensors on
    them.
    
    -vb
    
    ***********
    
    Return-Path: <jlapolitat_private>
    Subject: Re: World Trade Center attack
    Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 22:07:50 -0400 (EDT)
    
    Avi can you post this to nanog for me, my post access is gone:
    
    We have started to lose equipment at 32 Old Slip.  The site is not
    currently off the air, but it is getting hot and several boxes have
    shut off due to heat.  The site is currently (and understandably)
    unmanned, so we cannot get a status on the site from GNAPS our
    provider.
    
    We are a dial provider and have started to see a drastic reduction in
    inbound calls.  It's unclear what is causing this at this point.
    
    -Joe
    
    ***********
    
    From: "Stephen J. Wilcox" <steveat_private>
    Subject: Re: Horrible world trade center crash, traffic effect (fwd)
    Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 13:57:29 +0100 (BST)
    
    So let see, this concerns North America, theres operators
    involved.. sounds nanogish. Just to double check the relevance heres a
    snippet from Telehouse
    
    The commercial power supply to 25 Broadway was lost at about 16:35 EDT
    today. We are continuing to support those loads on generator.  We are
    conservatively stating that we have sufficient fuel for 24 hours or more,
    but actual fuel usage seems to indicate that could possibly continue for
    as long as 70 hours.  Unfortunately, if the commercial power outage
    continues for a longer period, we may not be able to replenish the fuel
    given the state of the streets, etc. in the area.  We'll watch this
    situation closely
    
    So yup, theres a good chance everyone will be affected sooner or later.
    
    Does that qualify as relevant!?
    
    FYI, good stories, pictures and video on www.sky.com
    
    Steve
    
    ***********
    
    
    
    
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