Re: Internet Backbone Index

[Tim Flavin <tim () i1 net>]

On Fri, 27 Jun 1997, Sean Donelan wrote:

> Ok, so I said I wasn't going to comment on the methodology, I lied.
> I wouldn't say the Keynote study is the worst ever.  There are some
> really rotten studies in the fields of psychology and sociology.
>
> Since the Boardwatch/Keynote study didn't 'test' DRA Net, I guess I'm
> one of the few independent, disinterested parties to comment on the
> study's methods.
>
> A problem with the Keynote study is it seems very dependent on the
> location, type and connections of the testing platforms.  Keynote
> mentions that connections from Dallas and Phoenix were slow to 'every'
> backbone site.  This would indicate some systematic problem with
> the testing sites.  Perhaps the results are even more dependent on
> the testing systems than the systems under test.  There are also
> problems with outlier data points.  For example, elsewhere on the
> Keynote site, the MCI web site had very fast access from 28 test
> sites (< 4secs), and very slow access from one test site in
> philly (> 14secs).  Mixing and matching data points, if you left
> out the one outlier data point, MCI would have been faster than
> Savvis.  So I don't know if the rankings are very meaningful if a
> single test site can have such a pronounced effect.
>
> -- 
> Sean Donelan, Data Research Associates, Inc, St. Louis, MO
>   Affiliation given for identification not representation

I would really like to know how Boardwatch can continually say Savvis is a
national backbone provider when they peer with nobody, and that is part of
their business plan, and only buy transit from the big 5.  Then they
neglect to list DRA as a backbone provider, when DRA appears at many major
exchanges and peers with damn near everyone under the sun from what I can
tell.  DRA has a high speed cross country network and many international
locations as well.  Savvis claims to have a cross country backbone, but
that only currently runs from Chicago to Dallas through St Louis, how on
earth is that a national backbone?

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Tim Flavin              Internet Access for St Louis & Chicago
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