Angus
27-08-2006, 06:48 AM
Sites on the server are currently not visible to those with the above providers and ISPs who use the same network
For those who are unsure of what the problem is I'll try and explain how the internet works :)
An ISP in Australia has a network around Australia or buys bandwidth from a major carrier who does eg Telstra or Optus
In order for their clients to be able to surf the net and view sites all over the world the link up with carriers overseas
For example in the US there are loads of them and as a free market each Australian company my use different ones and in the US this can involve a multiple different carriers
In the case of iinet and optus they use a carrier called global crossing for their central and Eastern US traffic
These are the people who are having the problem and as such it is entirely up to them to fix it and iinet and optus are actually powerless to do anything about it until they do
The reason people like ourselves for example can see the data cetre and all the site with no problems are because we are with different carriers - Telstra in our case - who have arrangements with different carriers in the US and not Global Crosssing so as a result we are unaffected
The latest information I have been able to obtain is slightly contradictory I am afraid as this issue is still not resolved it seems
As I mentioned previously the problem lies with the Global Crossing Network in the US one of the networks used by Optus and iinet among others for connections through the central US
Obviously this is a major issue as they have not been able to resolve it yet
That much is certain
As far as the contradictory information goes iinet have posted on their site that they expect service to be restored by around 10am - http://www.iinet.net.au/status/faultinfo.cgi?19138
A rep from Optus on the other hand, in response to this, states
"iiNet have posted an ETA of 10am tomorrow... Don't know where they got that from though.."
Lets hope iinet know more than Optus and there is a quick resolution
To give you an idea of how the net works, in Windows go to Start > All Programmes > Accessories > Command prompt
When this windows opens type in
tracert yourdomainname.com and hit enter
Replace yourdomainname.com with your domain name obviously
You will now see the actual path and networks your PC (and ISP) takes to get from you to a web site in a data centre
Each stage is called a Hop
Each stage is a point of potential beakdown in this situation you will actually be able to see where it breaks down before reaching the data centre and your site
For a comparison now type in
tracert alpinehosting.net.au and hit enter
This shows the reduced number of hops and therefore reduced potential failure points when connecting to a server in Australia
Around the world anyone trying to access your site will experience a different version of this
I hope this goes some way to explaining the current problem
Angus
For those who are unsure of what the problem is I'll try and explain how the internet works :)
An ISP in Australia has a network around Australia or buys bandwidth from a major carrier who does eg Telstra or Optus
In order for their clients to be able to surf the net and view sites all over the world the link up with carriers overseas
For example in the US there are loads of them and as a free market each Australian company my use different ones and in the US this can involve a multiple different carriers
In the case of iinet and optus they use a carrier called global crossing for their central and Eastern US traffic
These are the people who are having the problem and as such it is entirely up to them to fix it and iinet and optus are actually powerless to do anything about it until they do
The reason people like ourselves for example can see the data cetre and all the site with no problems are because we are with different carriers - Telstra in our case - who have arrangements with different carriers in the US and not Global Crosssing so as a result we are unaffected
The latest information I have been able to obtain is slightly contradictory I am afraid as this issue is still not resolved it seems
As I mentioned previously the problem lies with the Global Crossing Network in the US one of the networks used by Optus and iinet among others for connections through the central US
Obviously this is a major issue as they have not been able to resolve it yet
That much is certain
As far as the contradictory information goes iinet have posted on their site that they expect service to be restored by around 10am - http://www.iinet.net.au/status/faultinfo.cgi?19138
A rep from Optus on the other hand, in response to this, states
"iiNet have posted an ETA of 10am tomorrow... Don't know where they got that from though.."
Lets hope iinet know more than Optus and there is a quick resolution
To give you an idea of how the net works, in Windows go to Start > All Programmes > Accessories > Command prompt
When this windows opens type in
tracert yourdomainname.com and hit enter
Replace yourdomainname.com with your domain name obviously
You will now see the actual path and networks your PC (and ISP) takes to get from you to a web site in a data centre
Each stage is called a Hop
Each stage is a point of potential beakdown in this situation you will actually be able to see where it breaks down before reaching the data centre and your site
For a comparison now type in
tracert alpinehosting.net.au and hit enter
This shows the reduced number of hops and therefore reduced potential failure points when connecting to a server in Australia
Around the world anyone trying to access your site will experience a different version of this
I hope this goes some way to explaining the current problem
Angus