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Question of the Day: Did you buy your last car with cash or on a finance plan?
Lessons learnt from SEACOM downtime.
- Thread starter DeSLAM
- Start date
Simple really, have a backup plan in place.
At our offices we make use of Afrihost Capped ADSL, ie. Internet Solutions and therefore SEACOM. When the shiz hit the fan I quickly signed up for a WebAfrica ADSL Capped account, ie. SAIX and was up and running as soon as I changed the username/password on my routers.
First off I think if you dont understand the network topology then you need to spend some time researching to get a better understanding, that will allow you to quickly make a decision when there are problems such as the SEACOM repairs.
At our offices we make use of Afrihost Capped ADSL, ie. Internet Solutions and therefore SEACOM. When the shiz hit the fan I quickly signed up for a WebAfrica ADSL Capped account, ie. SAIX and was up and running as soon as I changed the username/password on my routers.
First off I think if you dont understand the network topology then you need to spend some time researching to get a better understanding, that will allow you to quickly make a decision when there are problems such as the SEACOM repairs.
Personally I think since the launch of Seacom, and even prior to that, since the announcement of Seacom started to bring the cost of SAT3 down when the realized their monopoly was over, we have had a major increase in high traffic adsl users, and also in adsl users in general, both here in south africa, and in the rest of africa. As a result I do not think that Sat 3 is enough to support everyone on its own anymore, regardless of affordability. Therefore there quite simply just is not enough redundancy available if the Seacom service is interrupted. Therefore there really is nothing that he ISPs or individual users can do, beyond what they are doing currently.
As for what the undersea cable providers can do, there is a bit more leeway. Sat 3 intends to upgrade its service considerably, thereby offering greatly increased capacity. Naturally this is a good solution to the problem above. Seacom on the other hand has no capacity issues as of yet. I understand that they are thusfar only making use of about a twelfth of their capacity. Even though it was not their cable that was damaged, the failure of their supplier in the Mediterranean is crippling to them. Cable damage of this kind can take place anywhere, and if either of our cable routes to the rest of the world go down, those being Sat3 and Seacom, then there needs to be enough spare bandwidth for either one to be able to carry the full traffic load. As one might imagine, this is not necessarily economically viable, since it effectively means that we would need to have at least double the capacity that we use.
There is however some hope with further cable providers starting to service the region. Eassy launches in July. I am not sure of their route, and whether they rely on the same SEA ME WE 4 cable that Seacom relies upon for their link from Egypt to Europe, or indeed if they rely on any other provider for that part of their route, but I believe that in any event it does offer more options for data routes, and that it offers us greater contingencies.
With even more cable networks on the way it can only get better.
As for what the undersea cable providers can do, there is a bit more leeway. Sat 3 intends to upgrade its service considerably, thereby offering greatly increased capacity. Naturally this is a good solution to the problem above. Seacom on the other hand has no capacity issues as of yet. I understand that they are thusfar only making use of about a twelfth of their capacity. Even though it was not their cable that was damaged, the failure of their supplier in the Mediterranean is crippling to them. Cable damage of this kind can take place anywhere, and if either of our cable routes to the rest of the world go down, those being Sat3 and Seacom, then there needs to be enough spare bandwidth for either one to be able to carry the full traffic load. As one might imagine, this is not necessarily economically viable, since it effectively means that we would need to have at least double the capacity that we use.
There is however some hope with further cable providers starting to service the region. Eassy launches in July. I am not sure of their route, and whether they rely on the same SEA ME WE 4 cable that Seacom relies upon for their link from Egypt to Europe, or indeed if they rely on any other provider for that part of their route, but I believe that in any event it does offer more options for data routes, and that it offers us greater contingencies.
With even more cable networks on the way it can only get better.
The_Unbeliever
Honorary Master
Best thing to do is to sign up for an uncapped adsl account which goes via satellite - use this for your emails.
Then have two other ADSL accounts, one which goes via SAT3, and the other which goes via SEACOM. Then you might be able to set up a Linux router to do load-balancing between these two ADSL accounts. Should one go down, then all traffic should be routed via the other account.
Then have two other ADSL accounts, one which goes via SAT3, and the other which goes via SEACOM. Then you might be able to set up a Linux router to do load-balancing between these two ADSL accounts. Should one go down, then all traffic should be routed via the other account.
If you are a ISP subscriber in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, which rely on the availability of the SEA-ME-WE 4 cable for global connectivity you are buggered if its down.
If you are an ISP in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, which rely on the availability of the SEA-ME-WE 4 cable for global connectivity via SEACOM and you have no EFFECTIVE redundancy network to manage your user bandwidth requirements you are buggered if its down.
If you are an ISP in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, which rely on the availability of the SEA-ME-WE 4 cable for global connectivity via SEACOM and you have no EFFECTIVE redundancy network to manage your user bandwidth requirements you are buggered if its down.
and what does it cost?
But if SEA ME WE 4 is the only route available, then what redundancy can ISP's use? I know there is SEA ME WE 3 as well, but as far as I understood it its a much lower capacity cable. Checking the big graph with all of the world's current and future cable systems is a strain on the eyes, but I am fairly sure they are adding more cables on that route as well, so that would present a solution I suppose.
Well said, I agree.
Just so you know EASSy is using SMW4 as well, see below for further information on the plans for undersea cable plans for Africa:
There are quite a few cables running through that area that Seacom could tie in with.
CVRChameleon
Well-Known Member
Agreed!
I got an Unshaped SAIX account from Axxess earlier this month, so when I noticed IS accounts failing (both my Axxess and Afrihost accounts), I switched over to the SAIX account, and played some Guild Wars.
However, it is quite irritating to manage and switch over accounts...
The other thing is, it is unfair from ISPs to charge you for accounts, and can't use it. My friend added a new IS capped account from Axxess last week (he is aware that it should be used at the end of the month). Over the weekend, with Seacom down, he couldnt really use it, but are charged for it.........
As for me, I still have 2Gb on my one IS Afrihost account and 1Gb on my Axxess Lite (so called UNSHAPED IS - however its the same as the Afrihost account ----- NOT unshaped quality; compared to the ping times I got on the SAIX unshaped account.). ...... SO SOMEWHERE in two days I should use it inbetween all the downtime, or LOSE OUT....
Well said, I agree.
Just so you know EASSy is using SMW4 as well, see below for further information on the plans for undersea cable plans for Africa:
Wow brilliant graph Kamos. I got immediately aroused when I saw the capacity WACS is brining in. So by next year failing any major problems we should be enjoying access to Sat3, Seacom, Eassy, ACE and WACS. Seems like the world finally got our SOS call and are it is now pouring in to drag us out of the dark ages.
The major question I have is if I-ME-WE is such a large capacity cable compared to SEA ME WE 4 (which has the same capacity as Seacom), then why aren't we using it? It is apparently operational - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-ME-WE
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When this cable comes back on-line every capped user that has not been able to get international access is going to try to use their CAP.
Two words: Contention ratio's & throttling come to mind.
I always find it interesting on this forum how some people believe that the only way to resolve these issues as a user is to throw more money at it....amazing.
We are paying way too much for connectivity as it is.
Two words: Contention ratio's & throttling come to mind.
I always find it interesting on this forum how some people believe that the only way to resolve these issues as a user is to throw more money at it....amazing.
We are paying way too much for connectivity as it is.
CVRChameleon
Well-Known Member
When this cable comes back on-line every capped user that has not been able to get international access is going to try to use their CAP.
Two words: Contention ratio's & throttling come to mind.
I always find it interesting on this forum how some people believe that the only way to resolve these issues as a user is to throw more money at it....amazing.
We are paying way too much for connectivity as it is.
I agree with your point for people throwing more money to resolve the problem, but I only have a 'backup' Unshaped SAIX account, which I use for Guild Wars; as all IS accounts are generally weaker in performance (ping times overseas) than the SAIX account. I find it sad that its called 'unshaped'
; but the possible problem is like others have stated here, the IS network is so congested because of the cheaper accounts - and lots of uncapped users...But, \you are correct ; I for sure am going to somehow use my unused IS caps!
CVRChameleon
Well-Known Member
Like baahd sheep...South Africans are accustomed to throwing money into a black holes.
This is merely another one; where the consumer has to sign away his rights to receiving any guaranteed benefit from topping up their DSL caps.
Best effort service? Define the benchmark.
This is merely another one; where the consumer has to sign away his rights to receiving any guaranteed benefit from topping up their DSL caps.
Best effort service? Define the benchmark.
SabreWolfy
Expert Member
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Do you even know what you are saying? What are you on about? We've hashed and rehashed this "Seacom" cable outage over and over again on these forums. Read the T&C from Telkom for the ADSL itself and the T&C from your ISP. Everyone is frustrated; everyone wants the repairs completed soon. And soon they will be. And then everyone can complain about something else.
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hambone
Expert Member
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Out of interest, why does SEACOM only use SEA MW etc? Will SEACOM and EASSy have redundancy agreements? It would make sense? Surely? I know little though.
EDIT: http://www.safe-sat3.co.za/; what a joke.
EDIT: http://www.safe-sat3.co.za/; what a joke.
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