Through the years, I have written a number of posts about improving network resilience. About a dozen years ago, I wrote “Cradling your eggs”, writing about me telling the Canadian president of Digital Equipment Corporation that his CIO should be fired for placing 100% of their corporate communications in the hands of the company I then worked for. “It doesn’t matter how good we are, networks can fail. When that happens, do you really want all your eggs in one basket?”
That story came to mind when I was reading a news story about the US Secret Service dismantling a hidden telecom network that had the potential to jam cellular networks, 911 emergency response centres and overwhelm networks with 100,000 simultaneous calls. The system consisted of more than 300 servers loaded with over 100,000 SIM cards, located in New York, with many of the world’s leaders participating in this week’s United Nations General Assembly.
What would have happened if emergency communications were disrupted coincident to a threat or actual disaster condition?
It got me thinking about what options would exist had the rogue network become operational. My daughter reminded me that “All good dystopian novels involve using dead technology to save the day.” Improving network resilience through old-school CB radio? Would the fax machine prove to be the real hero?
I have been an advocate of embedding the public safety broadband network within the public network, leveraging the scale and scope made possible by billions of dollars in annual investments by the private networks.
Still, in the face of all potential threats, resilience needs to be a factor when examining the architecture of networks, including planning for complete system outages.
A dozen years ago, I wrote “reliability and overall capacity can be enhanced through interoperability with commercial networks.” It is also important to recognize that all networks will fail. So, as I wrote before, “carrier diversity provides improved reliability.” Colloquially, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.