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Maybe we should be filing abuse reports about Level3 at their abuse report form.

First, I think that Level-3 is within it's legal rights in terms of dealing with Cogent, but is probably in trouble with it's customers. I am a customer of Level-3 and of Cogent (in the same facility). When I buy IP transit from Level-3, I am not buying "part of the internet". This peering issue places 45+ Million IP addresses out of reach of the Level-3 network (and vice versa). Level-3 did not notify me that they were making this type of change. There is nothing on Level-3's website that even implies that everything is not hunky dory. If you buy a Level-3 line today, will they disclose to you that you are not connecting to the entire internet. I know I am being a little niave here, but not disclosing such a large change of policy is unconscionable.

Second, it is dishonest for Level-3 to blame Cogent for this exclusively. Level-3 had a peering arrangement with Cogent for a long time. If you look at Level-3's interconnection policy page:

    http://www.level3.com/1511.html

It still looks like Cogent and Level-3 could peer under these terms. It was Level-3 that pulled the plug, not Cogent.

What is really annoying is that this is only traffic from Level-3 to Cogent, not to other parts of the internet. Level-3 wants money for Cogent customers to connect to Level-3's network but does not understand that this is a two-way connection and that Cogent's customers and Level-3's customer both benefit from this equally.

Up until this point, I was very happy with Level-3. They run an excellent network and I pay top-dollar to be on it. This blatent disregard for the impact on their customers is a diservice to their customers, to their reputation, and only begs for regulation.

might some of these providers help?

http://www.rcn.com/business/index.php
http://www.abovenet.com/products/maps.html
http://work.comcast.net/smallbusiness.asp
http://www.level3.com/3385.html
http://www.cogentco.com/htdocs/map.php#

The class I'm referring to is the Datacentre Class.

All those hardworking infrastructure people who've managed not to be outsourced to the Cayman Islands.

All those admins who surf to TheRegister from their Win2k3 Advanced Server terminals IN the datacentre via their KVM.

Some SysAdmins don't, granted, but SOME do. When I was doing Unix work at Level3 and Colt, we did it all the time. It's a per company, per employee based decision as to whether it occurs.

These servers are much more likely to have gone unpatched due to availability/stability concerns.

So here you have important computers left on all the time, with ph@t bandwidth exposed. Not just some home win98 pIII over a 56K link.

A bit worrying.

Should stand up to a /.ing fairly well, they seem to be coloed at Level3.net in Seattle.

http://www.level3.com/userimages/dotcom/images/map s/Colocation_Map.GIF

~Lake

My server (which I have easy access to if necessary) is on a GigE feed from the guys over at Level3. I have all the bandwidth I _need_ for "leet" warez.

My point is that it's a shame I can't access the content that _is_ there because my ISP doesn't carry it, and I was wondering if there was any content really worth having that I was missing.

Oh really?

The real problem is large ISPs/backbones like UUNet/MCI, Cogent, Comcast, Level3, China Netcom, AT&T, Brasil Telecom, and Above.net (among others) who flat-out refuse to do anything about the spammers to whom they provide connectivity.

Complaints sent to any of them are promptly auto-acked and then /dev/nulled (if they don't bounce) and so the spammers keep on spamming, most likely due to ephemeral pink contracts and the crooked marketing/sales departments that agree to them, who then put pressure on abuse personel and network admins to ignore complaints about the contracted spammers.

Because of this, those large ISPs and backbones end up on blacklists, DNS blocklists, and a wide variety of other filters. For them, the money they make off the spammers seems to be of greater concern than the money they make off legitimate customers, i.e. those who end up with their netblocks on every blacklist because of who their providers are.

If it weren't for rogue ISPs and backbones, there would be little use for blacklists or blocklists. However, those reprehensible companies do exist. And because of their policies on spam, they continue to be blocked. Money gained from spammers guarantees the blacklists' continued existence.

It's all just cause and effect. As much as it sounds like a conspiracy theory, I truly believe that it isn't, after fighting spam, one email at a time, since 1997.

Not to cause trouble, but Vonage doesn't maintain the gateway, Level3 does.. But damn does Level3 they have some serious equipment..

Level3 Network Map. I've physically inspected or have (or had) equipment or connectivity in their New York, San Diego, Los Angles, Tampa, and Frankfurt.. I've brought guests into the Tampa colo, and into one of their private peerings, and just watched their jaws drop.. Those who weren't impressed had no clue what any of the equipment did.. I have (and had) equipment in quite a few other companies facilities, or toured. L3 is very good. I'll save my negative comments for another day. :)

Did you know that computers like this use real much power? Like, *real* much?!

In Amsterdam (the Netherlands), no more computer-centers (e.g. co-locations where you can put your servers with a fast net connection) can be built because there is not enough power for them! Level 3 Communications has a co-location building there which is about 10.000 meters square (this is not as big as it sounds, it's just 100x100 m), filled up with ISPs servers and the like. This single building is actually using more energy than Schiphol airport (which is rather big - many trans-athlantic flights go through Schiphol. If you've ever been in the Netherlands you'll know)

They also have a diesel power generator that can power the entiry building in case of a blackout - it burns around 1000 liters (about 250 gallons or so) a day.

Needless to say, my experience at SoftAware in Los Angeles and Above.Net in San Jose was very good.

So here's what you need from a CoLo vendor besides the obvious stuff (bandwidth, etc):

• Clean power. Be wary of a fast growing CoLo space like Level 3 where contractors will plug their circular saw into the same outlet your servers are plugged into. Not good.
• Good air ventilation- look for hot spots vs cold spots. And make sure that air is clean! With all the construction at most CoLo facilities, this can be a serious issue.
• What kind of backup power do they have? Do they have enough fuel on site? Level 3 SF brags about having SLAs in place with a Barge company that will bring fuel to the dock behind their building but they forget to mention that a drawbridge, electrically operated, must go up before a boat can go in.
• Is the building strong enough? With all those EMCs going into CoLo these days, there are large loads on the floors and they may not be seismicly adequate.
• Ease of getting stuff in and out of the building. If you're going to swap out machines after hours, do you have to go through several mazes to get your new equipment in? Does the freight elevator work at night? Is it located right next to a Ball Park causing gridlock on game days?
• Operational issues: One Bay Area CoLo provider (a highly ranked one but not Level 3) had a power outage when their cleaning staff pushed the emergency power off buttons thinking it was the exit door open button.
• Response from on-site staff. If you have a problem, do they offer to help or refuse to talk to you until you have obtained either a trouble ticket number or a work order number?

In all due fairness, Level 3 runs a good network. But there is so much more to CoLocation than bandwidth.