When we talk about reliability, we mean carrier class reliability.
- We mean a network that runs all day, every day, without fail.
- We mean 99.9999% uptime.
- No single points of failure. The network is redundant and diverse at all stages.
- Proactive monitoring of all points and services in the network. If any point in the network is in trouble, we’ll know. We’ll rapidly take corrective action, any time day or night to keep the network running smoothly.
How do you build a carrier class network? Well, it’s not easy. It must be designed from the floor up (literally) to allow any single piece of equipment to fail and not take down the entire network. Individual switches may fail. Individual routers may fail. Individual back haul links (from the tower to the NOC) may fail, but the network will stay up.
We use the techniques that are recommended in Bellcore standards, as well as the knowledge we have gleaned from years of running a successful major league ISP.
All our routers have live standby backups. All switches are duplicated with automatic failover. All our network paths from the time your packets hit the tower are redundant. It goes without saying that all network equipment has backup power. We have multiple redundant paths to the Internet from our NOC.
While this is all well and good, it doesn’t mean anything without dedicated people to watch over it like a mama bear watches her cubs. We have those people. You might not ever meet them or know their names, but they are on the job 24 x 7, 365 days a year, watching over the network.