4 ms·

In the 90s, I would sometimes trip over ethernet cables that had been strung between server racks, across an aisle. Will this be the decade where I get to expe

In the 90s, I would sometimes trip over ethernet cables that had been strung between server racks, across an aisle. Will this be the decade where I get to experience being struck by falling routers and switches, far from any data center? (EDIT: Simply remarking on novelty of problem and upward growth of network. No criticism of any firm implied or intended.)

robin_reala 12y ago
I took down an AS/400 server once by tripping over two Type 1 token ring cables[1] that had been plugged together in the middle of a walkway. No-one ever owned up to that setup. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IBM_hermaphroditic_connector.JPG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IBM_hermaphroditic_connect...
- jgrahamc 12y ago
  Given that it was token ring that might have isolated the AS/400 but the MAU would have healed the ring and everything would have been fine.
  - robin_reala 12y ago
    Oh god, I’d blocked from my mind the pain of ring dropping. We had MAUs for the servers, but for some reason ran the rest of the office on CAT-5 TR gear from Madge without any MAUs. Just took someone to unplug and that section of the office would lose network connectivity.
    - jgrahamc 12y ago
      :-) I used to work for Madge. Why were you running without MAUs?
      - robin_reala 12y ago
        Possibly the more important question is ‘Why were you running a token ring network in 1999?’! I have no idea why our network was structured like that, this was my first job in the industry and I was a lowly PC tech at the time. If I had to guess, the word that springs to mind is ‘legacy’.
        incision 12y ago
        >'Possibly the more important question is ‘Why were you running a token ring network in 1999?’!' I've worked on a token ring network as recently as 2006. Thankfully, part of the project was migrating off of it.
        sk5t 12y ago
        Eh, I was a user on a token ring university network almost that late, and it was superior to the congestion-crippled ethernet networks at more 'advanced' institutions. That said, I definitely didn't enjoy all the practice I got in building token ring-enabled Linux kernels.
- jbigelow76 12y ago
  My hands down favorite Dilbert comic ever was a token ring joke: http://dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/000000/10000/8000/200/18264/18264.strip.gif http://dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/...
trhway 12y ago
>Will this be the decade where I get to experience being struck by falling routers and switches, especially if the falling equipment identifies you as the softest landing spot in the vicinity (thus providing for lesser damage to / higher chances of the equipment survival :) > far from any data center? until off course it is the air borne (near-space) datacenter itself.
partomniscient 12y ago
The children's story will have to be revised. Chicken little decided to go for a walk outside and was killed when the internet fell on him. The sky continued unabated.

robin_reala 12y ago

I took down an AS/400 server once by tripping over two Type 1 token ring cables[1] that had been plugged together in the middle of a walkway. No-one ever owned up to that setup. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IBM_hermaphroditic_connector.JPG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IBM_hermaphroditic_connect...

jgrahamc 12y ago
Given that it was token ring that might have isolated the AS/400 but the MAU would have healed the ring and everything would have been fine.
- robin_reala 12y ago
  Oh god, I’d blocked from my mind the pain of ring dropping. We had MAUs for the servers, but for some reason ran the rest of the office on CAT-5 TR gear from Madge without any MAUs. Just took someone to unplug and that section of the office would lose network connectivity.
  - jgrahamc 12y ago
    :-) I used to work for Madge. Why were you running without MAUs?
    - robin_reala 12y ago
      Possibly the more important question is ‘Why were you running a token ring network in 1999?’! I have no idea why our network was structured like that, this was my first job in the industry and I was a lowly PC tech at the time. If I had to guess, the word that springs to mind is ‘legacy’.
      - incision 12y ago
        >'Possibly the more important question is ‘Why were you running a token ring network in 1999?’!' I've worked on a token ring network as recently as 2006. Thankfully, part of the project was migrating off of it.
      - sk5t 12y ago
        Eh, I was a user on a token ring university network almost that late, and it was superior to the congestion-crippled ethernet networks at more 'advanced' institutions. That said, I definitely didn't enjoy all the practice I got in building token ring-enabled Linux kernels.
jbigelow76 12y ago
My hands down favorite Dilbert comic ever was a token ring joke: http://dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/000000/10000/8000/200/18264/18264.strip.gif http://dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/...

trhway 12y ago

>Will this be the decade where I get to experience being struck by falling routers and switches, especially if the falling equipment identifies you as the softest landing spot in the vicinity (thus providing for lesser damage to / higher chances of the equipment survival :) > far from any data center? until off course it is the air borne (near-space) datacenter itself.

partomniscient 12y ago

The children's story will have to be revised. Chicken little decided to go for a walk outside and was killed when the internet fell on him. The sky continued unabated.