RE: Shared facilities (was Re: your mail)

["N. Richard Solis" <nrsolis () aol net>]

Sean,

For a lot of people, these locations are a place to store an entire web
presence.  That might include order information or private email or credit
card records for an entire day's transactions.  My feeling is that the
general purpose of security at these locations is to make sure that no one
is tampering with any equipment in any way, to include unauthorized removal.

That was the point of my previous email.  The connections to those machines
and the data stored on them is what is of value in those locations, not the
physical security of the people.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nanog () merit edu [mailto:owner-nanog () merit edu]On Behalf Of
Sean Donelan
Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2002 2:03 AM
To: nanog () merit edu
Subject: Shared facilities (was Re: your mail)



On Wed, 21 Aug 2002, David Lesher wrote:
> Unnamed Administration sources reported that N. Richard Solis said:
> > If you haven't worked in an environment where you had to turn in your
> > cellphone and pager at the front desk, show a badge to a camera around
every
> > corner, and get your office keys from a vending machine you dont know
what
> > real security looks like.
> You missed the places w/ real security. That's where the very
> polite Marine Security Guard with the 870 shotgun asks to see
> your badge again...

Sigh, and in places with "real security" you rarely find enemies/competitors
sitting in the same room.  Exchange points are like the United Nations,
not high security military bases.  AMS-IX, Equinix, Linx/Telehouse, PAIX,
etc provide a neutral facility for competitors to exchange network traffic.
The facility operators provide a reasonable level of security, and try to
keep the diplomats from punching each other.  Its in all (most?) the
competitors' self-interest to follow the rules.

Let's not lose sight of the purpose of colocation/exchange points.
If we start requiring you to be a US citizen and have top secret
clearance in order to enter a colocation facility, we've probably
decreased the usefulness of the exchange points.