Redundant Pipes
Can a routing failure (at a Qwest facility) knock out access to your network, even if you have redundant pipes?
Our upstream provider procures bandwidth for us from Qwest and others. Today, a network failure outside of our company disrupted service for over two hours. The disruption was not total -- some visitors did get through while those that reported failure could not get through at all, despite several retries.
The inevitable question was asked by one of my customers, "but don't you guys have redundant pipes?" I replied, "yes, of course" but then couldn't explain why he would not be rerouted around the ailing Qwest facility (in Burbank).
According to our upstream provider, a router (typically, responsible for switching from a slow or broken pipe to a good pipe) can fail, jamming access through any of the available pipes.
I'll buy that, but I still can't explain why my customer in Indiana would be routed through Burbank, CA and then hang up there on a failed router -- rather than be immediately rerouted through, say, Sacramento -- our nearest mega-POP.
Do these explanations add up? Or, am I paying for redundancy that I'm not getting?
Any input is greatly appreciated.
