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Re: 25 broadway back up
by Sean Donelan 17 Sep '01

17 Sep '01

On Sun, 16 September 2001, Sean Donelan wrote: > > > According to reports, power was restored to 25 Broadway about 5:30pm > September 12 2001. Err, September 16 2001.

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25 broadway back up
by Sean Donelan 17 Sep '01

17 Sep '01

According to reports, power was restored to 25 Broadway about 5:30pm September 12 2001.

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CON Edison adds additional customer service lines
by Sean Donelan 17 Sep '01

17 Sep '01

For Immediate Release: September 16, 2001 CON EDISON ADDS NEW CUSTOMER SERVICE LINE New York - Since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, more than half of Con Edisons customer service and emergency telephone lines have been knocked out of service. Con Edison has added an additional line: 212-243-1900. The regular line, 800-75-CONED, is working but customers may experience delays.

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Re: Now:Power/Generators (Was: Re[2]: telehouse - 25 broadway)
by George Michaelson 17 Sep '01

17 Sep '01

To add to the confusion, in UK english Kerosene is a synonym for Paraffin, but Paraffin is a *group* of compounds, so named because of their lack (par) of affin(ity) for other substances. A group can't be a synonym for a single instance thus the two terms are not mutually interchangable. Paraffin ranges from wax to near-gases at room temperatures. Kerosene, or what Aussies call Kero' is liquid, but volatile at room temperature. Paraffin also includes substances taken as a laxative. Hence the joke in 'three men in a boat' about not taking Paraffin in a boat again, unless prone to a sore tummy (they spill the stove fuel all over the food). If you go asking for Paraffin in the UK, be specific about what its for! You get one kind in small glass bottles at the chemist (== pharmacist) and the other kind dyed blue or pink in metal cans from the ironmongers. Don't get me started on what a monger is, thats a whole another can of worms. and why does an Iron monger sell patently non-iron fluids? Dero's Drink Kero. I suspect this is much like Bums drinking Drano. Metho is both better and worse, it does get you drunk, but it is methanol and so leads to blindness. not all Kerosene is methanol. Mind you, the smell of somebody who has been drinking meths I would walk a country mile to avoid. Ah, memories of childhood. Its amazing how a bit of social engineering like legalizing off-racecourse gambling cast an entire generation of pre- and post-WWII spivs on the dustheap, hence the volumes of metho-drinkers walking the streets of Edinburgh who used to be bookies runners. Paraffin lamps, and diesel or 'oil' engines which use non-sparkplug ingnition often need pre-heating. It used to be a common sight to see somebody using metho to light a blowlamp (the metho heats the tube to vapourize the paraffin, so it will ignite at the jet), then use the blowlamp to pre-heat the heavy oil in the oil-engine, then manually turn the engine to start the cycle. Oil engines run slow, like donkey engines in a texas oilfield, one thump a second or less! Talk about a three stage bootstrap. -George -- George Michaelson | APNIC Email: ggm(a)apnic.net | PO Box 2131 Milton QLD 4064 Phone: +61 7 3367 0490 | Australia Fax: +61 7 3367 0482 | http://www.apnic.net

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Re: Now:Power/Generators (Was: Re[2]: telehouse - 25 broadway)
by Robert Boyle 17 Sep '01

17 Sep '01

---- Original Message ---- From: ltd(a)interlink.com.au To: robert(a)tellurian.com Subject: Re: Now:Power/Generators (Was: Re[2]: telehouse - 25 >broadway) Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2001 16:02:14 -0700 >[ staying from nanog to power-generation again... :-) ] >many Diesel gensets can be "converted" to operate on LPG/Natural Gas >instead. >they typically end up with a higher operating temperature (but not >significantly so), and may need some upgrades to some of the >auxiliary >equipment (fuel pump, cooling system / heat-exchangers / radiators), >as >well as some relatively minor mods to the engine itself. you also >need a >Governor that knows that its using LPG/NG rather than Diesel - the >characteristics of how the engine behaves/responds are quite >different. Also, LPG/NG converted diesel engines are de-rated 400kW diesel may become 280kW LPG/NG. >on the topic of Oil Filters, one of the things that can be done to >help >"clean" the oil in a Diesel genset is to add a Centrifugal Pump to >seperate >the solids from the oil. this makes it possible to extend the >maintenance >periods (at least for Oil Filter changes) of Diesel gensets as well >as >improve the lifetime of the oil itself. >(Diesel gensets are fairly oil-hungry. that is normal). I also install an additional bypass oil filter which filters much smaller particles than the standard full-flow filter. This can also extend the maintenance interval and engine life. Using a filter extension plate and a remote filter mounting kit allows for faster and cleaner oil filter changes. Ensuring adequate genset cooling through a properly sized radiator, pump, and plumbing will prevent the oil from coking and will help keep its lubricating properties much longer. In our application, we are using diesel as a primary backup to the grid and the Capstone LPG/NG turbine as supplemental/backup/long runtime AC power. We have very reliable gas service, but diesel fuel does go bad and I don't want to store more than 24-48 hours of fuel in the building. -Robert

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The people who kept communications working
by Sean Donelan 17 Sep '01

17 Sep '01

The Washington Post has a story about just a few of the people who worked throughout last week keeping communication lines open, and keeping the equipment which we all depend on working. http://www.washtech.com/news/software/12504-1.html "For two hours, the 49-year-old New York native lay flat on his back on the rooftop of a 32-story building five blocks from the World Trade Center, brushing down gray soot caked onto 18 air-conditioning coils crucial to cooling computers that run various corporate Web sites."

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Re: Re[2]: telehouse - 25 broadway
by Sean Donelan 17 Sep '01

17 Sep '01

On Sun, 16 September 2001, kevin pop account wrote: > Before someone asks we have a very steady national > supply over here so running the gens is purely > a commerical aim.I would have thought that even > stateside this would make sense no ? The US has fairly strict air quality control laws. It is relatively expensive to operate a desiel generator more than 100-200 hours a year in a major urban area due to the permits and environmental pollution control requirements. In most cases, it is less expensive to use utility power in the USA, and generators only for backup. With the California power situation, several people have done a lot of research on the trade-offs between utility and backup power. The result is, except for disasters, most backup generators are not regularly operated for extended periods. Before their budget was cut, the Department of Energy had a great Backup Power Working Group. You can read the results of their work at http://www.dp.doe.gov/CTG/bpwg/bpwg.htm You should remember that generators are mechanical devices. Wear and tear during extended run-times *WILL* result in breakdowns. The longer your operate the generators, the more failures you will experience. Its always a trade-off between how long you test mechanical equipment. Based on DOE studies, many people actually over-test their backup generators. Standard Bell telephone CO design doesn't assume extended disasters. Some colocation facility designers have designed their generator plants differently than normal Bell practice. But even colocation facility operations need to set some limits to their design conditions. Locations with power problems 25 Broadway 32 Old Slip ATT Local Service (WTC basement) Sprint/Sprint PCS (location unknown) Locations destroyed Verizon/Genuity WTC Until I know what happened, and read the final report, I can't say if any particular design could have performed any better.

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FW: Photos of Palestinians celebrating World Trade Center attack
by Greg Mirsky 16 Sep '01

16 Sep '01

----- Original Message ----- From: Jeff Jacob <mailto:jeffj@mysticom.com> To: Jeff Jacob <mailto:jeffj@mysticom.com> Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 3:37 AM Subject: Photos of Palestinians celebrating World Trade Center attack Notice that many of the Palestinians hold up their fingers in a gesture of peace. Is this the kind of cruel "peace" that they are advocating? Palestinians celebrate at the Shatila camp in Beirut <http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1535000/images/_1538271_clap_afp_300.jpg> Many Palestinians at refugee camps in Lebanon celebrated after hearing news of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon Children celebrate in east Jerusalem <http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1535000/images/_1538271_kids_ap_300.jpg> Palestinian children in eastern Jerusalem celebrating news of the terror attacks in the United States Lebanon <http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1535000/images/_1538861_1celebs300.jpg> Palestinians in Lebanon celebrating the attacks Guns fired at refugee camp in Lebanon <http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1540000/images/_1540102_gun150.jpg> Palestinian man fires a rifle in the air in celebration over the World Trade Center collapse reaction <http://a388.g.akamai.net/f/388/21/1d/www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/09/12/mi deast.reaction/story.children.ap.jpg> Palestinian children near eastern Jerusalem's Old City as news of the attacks spread

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Re: Now:Power/Generators (Was: Re[2]: telehouse - 25 broadway)
by Sean Donelan 16 Sep '01

16 Sep '01

As I keep saying, I don't have the full story about what has happened and need to wait until the final report is completed before predicting whether any alternative design would have performed better. In addition to electric service, gas service and steam service in lower Manhattan has been disrupted. Turbines relying on natural gas could have also been disrupted. I don't know if the level of dust and debris would have also impacted a turbine's ability to generate power. I have a hard time believing an airfilter would not need to be changed for a year operating in those conditions. Full disclosure: I design high-end colocation facilities for a living. Without knowing the full story, I can't say any design would have performed better. But I can say, the people trying to keep things running are doing an exceptional job under unforseen circumstances. On Sun, 16 September 2001, Robert Boyle wrote: > In our new datacenter in Newton, NJ, we are in the process of getting RFPs > to install Capstone micro turbines for backup power. They are DESIGNED to > run for 8,000 hours before the first maintenance is needed. At 333 days (8k > hours) an airfilter should be changed. They can run for 60 months 24/7 > before a rebuild is needed. They need a tuneup kit at 24 and 48 months > (assuming 24/7 service) at a cost of $2700 per service. They are impressive > units, but... 1. They give off extreme amounts of heat (which can be used > to heat your building), 2. they rely on natural or LP gas. 3. they are VERY > expensive compared to diesel gensets - 2-4 times as much per Kw! A 60kW > unit costs $69,775 A 28kW unit is $45,582. They can be ganged together to > provide N+1 redundancy and load sharing. > > http://www.capstoneturbine.com > > > I have no financial interest in the company, but they seem to be the only > game in town with a unit with EXTREME runtimes. Does anyone else use these > at their datacenter(s)?

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Assistance (mildly OT)
by Jonathan Disher 16 Sep '01

16 Sep '01

I know it's been posted repeatedly, but I would also like to lend any assistance possible, as far as remote-configs of devices or unix servers, or DNS and/or temporary MX hosting. Our facilities are located in an Exodus datacenter in Sunnyvale, CA. If someone could (offlist) forward me the link of the on-line repository of people offering help, I'd appreciate it. Thanks. -j -- -Jonathan Disher -Sr. Systems and Network Engineer -Internet Pictures Corporation, San Ramon, CA -[v] (650) 280-4833 | [p] (877) 446-9311 | [e] jdisher(a)eng.ipix.com

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