Core Switch Upgrade On 11/13/09
FIHN is planning a switch upgrade on 11/13/09 at 8:00 PM PST. The maintenance window for this upgrade will be 1 hour. Though the downtime may be less than the entire maintenance window.
During this time the network will go down at least once and may be slow for a couple minutes after the initial turn up. For more information about the upgrade please reply to this email.
If your services are down for longer than 1 hour please give me a call at 408-256-3446.
Thank you for your continued business!
Network Upgrades Coming Soon
FIHN is planning some network upgrades that will affect you!
* Switch Upgrade:
In the next coming months FIHN is planning to replace the current core switch with a Foundry FESX448. This new switch allows for gigabit network connections, better handling of broadcast and excessive bandwidth storms, and BGP peering. This switch is a step forward in speed and features and prepares FIHN for the next step in the upgrade – a second bandwidth provider!
* Additional Bandwidth Redundancy:
After the FIHN switch upgrade there will be a second upstream bandwidth connection added to make FIHN a multi-homed network. This allows FIHN control of outgoing and incoming paths in the even a provider goes down or has a routing issue, create specific outbound and inbound policies (for /24 or larger networks), and provide additional on-demand capacity for users exceeding 100 megabit capacities at times.
* Upgrade Timeline:
Exact dates are yet unknown. FIHN is still waiting to finalize the second bandwidth connection and configure the new hardware. At the same time additional cable management and minor re-cabling will occur.
Step 1: Switch upgrade. Announcement will come soon. Service will be impacted for up to 30 minutes.
Step 2: Second provider addition and BGP configuration. Service will be impacted for brief moments (likely multiple sub-minute outages in a 30 minute span).
I will send a second email outlining the exact dates and times of each of these upgrades at least 2 weeks before each upgrade.
Stay tuned!
IP Address Migrations and Network Changes
FIHN has just received notice to begin migrating off of our 38.99.80.0/24 subnet. Clients using IP address space in this subnet will begin receiving emails from me today about the migration and replacement IP addresses. If you are not using any IP address which begins with 38.99.80 then you do not need to migrate any IP address space.
FIHN has also just made some significant router changes to clean up switch and router configuration. If you are noticing any change in network behavior please email me immediately. I have tried to build multiple test cases to cover all current routing scenarios and believe everything to be working as before.
More information about the IP migration will be detailed in a separate email with your new IP subnet. If you have any questions about the recent network changes or the IP migration coming up please send an email or give me a call. Thank you!
Planned Maintenance 12/18/08 2:00AM PST
I have just learned of some planned maintenance by my upstream provider. As always, I am passing this service impacting notice to active FIHN clients. Please see the planned maintenance email below for dates and timeframe.
Dear Cogent Customer,
As a valued customer, Cogent is committed to keeping you informed about any changes in the status of your service with us. This email is to alert you regarding maintenance we will be performing on our network:
Start time: 2:00am pacific 12/18/08
End time: 5:00am pacific 12/18/08
Work order number: HD819857
Cogent customers receiving service at 250 Stockton Ave San Jose CA will be affected by this maintenance. The purpose of this work is to troubleshoot an erroring link that provides connectivity to your building.
During this maintenance window, you will experience one or more brief interruptions in service while we complete the maintenance activities; the interruptions are expected to last less than 2 hours total. However, due to the complexity of the work, your downtime may be longer.
Our network operations engineers closely monitor the work and will do everything possible to minimize any inconvenience to you. If you have any problems with your connection after this time, or if you have any questions regarding the maintenance at any point, please call Customer Support at 1-877-7-COGENT and refer to this Maintenance Ticket: HD819857.
We appreciate your patience during this work and welcome any feedback. Thank you for being a Cogent customer.
If you have any questions or comments about this maintenance please let me know.
Planned Maintenance Update 2:00AM PST 11/04/08
I have learned that Cogent, the upstream provider, has moved there maintenance window back a couple more days. Here is the updated email I have received.
Let me know if any questions. Thanks!
Due to a shipment delay we’ve pushed this work from 10/31 to 11/4. The revised notice is below.
Our apologies for the inconvenience.
Sincerely,
Cogent Support
Planned Network Maintenance
Dear Cogent Customer,
As a valued customer, Cogent is committed to keeping you informed about any changes in the status of your service with us. This email is to alert you regarding maintenance we will be performing on our network:
Start time: 2:00 am pacific 11/4/08
End time: 6:00 am pacific 11/4/08
Cogent customers receiving service at 250 Stockton San Jose, CA will be affected by this maintenance. The purpose of this work is install and bring new equipment online at your site.
During this maintenance window, you will experience one or more brief interruptions in service while we complete the maintenance activities; the interruptions are expected to last less than 4 hours total. However, due to the complexity of the work, your downtime may be longer.
Our network operations engineers closely monitor the work and will do everything possible to minimize any inconvenience to you. If you have any problems with your connection after this time, or if you have any questions regarding the maintenance at any point, please call Customer Support at 1-877-7-COGENT and refer to this Maintenance Ticket: NA1443.
We appreciate your patience during this work and welcome any feedback. Thank you for being a Cogent customer.
Upstream Planned Maintenance 2:00AM PST 10/31/08
FIHN has learned of planned maintenance from our upstream provider. As always, I am informing all active clients who may be affected by this. A copy of the upstream email sent is below which contains the times for the maintenance. Please let me know if you have any questions.
As a valued customer, Cogent is committed to keeping you informed about any changes in the status of your service with us. This email is to alert you regarding maintenance we will be performing on our network:
Start time: 2:00 am pacific 10/31/08
End time: 6:00 am pacific 10/31/08
Work order number: NA1443
Expected Outage/Downtime: 4 hours
Cogent customers receiving service at 250 Stockton San Jose, CA will be affected by this maintenance. The purpose of this work is install and bring new equipment online at your site.
During this maintenance window, you will experience one or more brief interruptions in service while we complete the maintenance activities; the interruptions are expected to last less than 4 hours total. However, due to the complexity of the work, your downtime may be longer.
Our network operations engineers closely monitor the work and will do everything possible to minimize any inconvenience to you. If you have any problems with your connection after this time, or if you have any questions regarding the maintenance at any point, please call Customer Support at 1-877-7-COGENT and refer to this Maintenance Ticket: NA1443.
We appreciate your patience during this work and welcome any feedback. Thank you for being a Cogent customer.
Unexpected Service Outages 09/10 & 09/11
I have observed 2 unexpected outages. One on 09/10/08 at around 1:00PM and another on 09/11/08 at around 1:30PM. These were both related to the data center upgrading power systems in the building. The power upgrade did not affect colocation rooms. But it did briefly fluctuate power on the Cogent uplink circuit in the meet me room which took Cogent circuits (including mine) down for a brief moment while equipment restarted.
I am trying to find out if the data center plans to do more upgrading with a possible loss to my upstreams power and will send another email if they are. I am sorry for these temporary service interruptions. If you have any questions please let me know.
Thank you!
Unexpected service outages 09/10 and 09/11
Upstream Router Reload
Hi Everyone,
I have learned that my upstream provider is planning to do a router upgrade in the data center between 6:00AM and 9:00AM on Saturday the 16th, August 2008.
Please be aware that the network will be down for about 5 – 10 minutes while the router is reloaded. I will be assisting with the router upgrade and should anything go wrong I will be on hand and will be able to give details of any longer than expected down time.
If you have any questions feel free to let me know. Thanks!
Major Software Updates To womp.fihn.net
I have performed some software updates on the womp.fihn.net hosting server. Most of the updates apply to the email system spam detection and blacklists. If you notice anything strange happening with your hosting account please contact me immediately.
Thanks and have a great day!
Fist In Hand Networks Opens
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Working in the field gave me lots of experience. I understand what makes a good customer relationship, keeps systems and networks stable and at peak performance, and what the realistic budget is for the small and medium internet business.
After working at different ISP’s and hosting providers I found many areas that I would do differently should I have the opportunity. Now that I do, I would like to take advantage of it. I feel that today’s hosting providers need to be more open, flexible, and down to earth with customers. Network issues, real world costs, and data center infrastructure is knowledge I feel customers should have access to.
Interested in learning more about the FIHN philosophy? Please contact me today!
