OT: Routers with highest uptime
Hi NANOG, in the past there was the Netcraft website which showed publicly "Servers with the highest uptime". Sadly that site apparently doesn't exist anymore. I'm wondering what are the routers worldwide with the highest uptime. :) I'll make a start. 2x Juniper M7i lab routers running BGP + VRRP: --- JUNOS 12.3R2.5 built 2013-03-22 16:52:47 UTC admin@test01> show system uptime Current time: 2026-02-25 20:04:26 CET System booted: 2015-05-16 03:44:05 CEST (562w4d 17:20 ago) Protocols started: 2015-05-16 03:46:59 CEST (562w4d 17:17 ago) Last configured: 2026-02-22 18:57:12 CET (3d 01:07 ago) by admin 8:04PM up 3938 days, 17:20, 1 user, load averages: 0.25, 0.22, 0.17 --- JUNOS 12.3R2.5 built 2013-03-22 16:52:47 UTC admin@test02> show system uptime Current time: 2026-02-25 20:04:59 CET System booted: 2015-01-31 03:43:58 CET (577w4d 16:21 ago) Protocols started: 2015-01-31 03:47:48 CET (577w4d 16:17 ago) Last configured: 2026-02-19 20:41:16 CET (5d 23:23 ago) by admin 8:04PM up 4043 days, 16:21, 1 user, load averages: 0.19, 0.08, 0.07 Is that good or "like nothing"? :) Regards Markus
Sorry, but what are you doing in a lab that requires 13 year old router OS versions? -- TTFN, patrick
On Feb 25, 2026, at 14:29, Markus via NANOG <nanog@lists.nanog.org> wrote:
Hi NANOG,
in the past there was the Netcraft website which showed publicly "Servers with the highest uptime". Sadly that site apparently doesn't exist anymore.
I'm wondering what are the routers worldwide with the highest uptime. :)
I'll make a start. 2x Juniper M7i lab routers running BGP + VRRP:
--- JUNOS 12.3R2.5 built 2013-03-22 16:52:47 UTC admin@test01> show system uptime Current time: 2026-02-25 20:04:26 CET System booted: 2015-05-16 03:44:05 CEST (562w4d 17:20 ago) Protocols started: 2015-05-16 03:46:59 CEST (562w4d 17:17 ago) Last configured: 2026-02-22 18:57:12 CET (3d 01:07 ago) by admin 8:04PM up 3938 days, 17:20, 1 user, load averages: 0.25, 0.22, 0.17
--- JUNOS 12.3R2.5 built 2013-03-22 16:52:47 UTC admin@test02> show system uptime Current time: 2026-02-25 20:04:59 CET System booted: 2015-01-31 03:43:58 CET (577w4d 16:21 ago) Protocols started: 2015-01-31 03:47:48 CET (577w4d 16:17 ago) Last configured: 2026-02-19 20:41:16 CET (5d 23:23 ago) by admin 8:04PM up 4043 days, 16:21, 1 user, load averages: 0.19, 0.08, 0.07
Is that good or "like nothing"? :)
Regards Markus _______________________________________________ NANOG mailing list https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/nanog@lists.nanog.org/message/FF464G2C...
I... umm... have you consider applying security patches on these any time in the last 10+ years (I'm really not taking the time to do the math here)? Best practices are simply not to leave a system up unpatched that long anymore. This is why Netcraft took that metric down. It encouraged a perverse incentive. Andrew On Wed, Feb 25, 2026 at 2:30 PM Markus via NANOG <nanog@lists.nanog.org> wrote:
Hi NANOG,
in the past there was the Netcraft website which showed publicly "Servers with the highest uptime". Sadly that site apparently doesn't exist anymore.
I'm wondering what are the routers worldwide with the highest uptime. :)
I'll make a start. 2x Juniper M7i lab routers running BGP + VRRP:
--- JUNOS 12.3R2.5 built 2013-03-22 16:52:47 UTC admin@test01> show system uptime Current time: 2026-02-25 20:04:26 CET System booted: 2015-05-16 03:44:05 CEST (562w4d 17:20 ago) Protocols started: 2015-05-16 03:46:59 CEST (562w4d 17:17 ago) Last configured: 2026-02-22 18:57:12 CET (3d 01:07 ago) by admin 8:04PM up 3938 days, 17:20, 1 user, load averages: 0.25, 0.22, 0.17
--- JUNOS 12.3R2.5 built 2013-03-22 16:52:47 UTC admin@test02> show system uptime Current time: 2026-02-25 20:04:59 CET System booted: 2015-01-31 03:43:58 CET (577w4d 16:21 ago) Protocols started: 2015-01-31 03:47:48 CET (577w4d 16:17 ago) Last configured: 2026-02-19 20:41:16 CET (5d 23:23 ago) by admin 8:04PM up 4043 days, 16:21, 1 user, load averages: 0.19, 0.08, 0.07
Is that good or "like nothing"? :)
Regards Markus _______________________________________________ NANOG mailing list
https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/nanog@lists.nanog.org/message/FF464G2C...
Yeah, not the flex it used to be. If you publish a device's uptime, it's not hard to infer what OS might be on it, and know exactly how you can exploit that. Also agreed with Patrick, if you have any routers in a lab, those are the ones that I'd expect to be updated MORE frequently, not less. On Wed, Feb 25, 2026 at 2:37 PM Andrew Kirch via NANOG < nanog@lists.nanog.org> wrote:
I... umm... have you consider applying security patches on these any time in the last 10+ years (I'm really not taking the time to do the math here)?
Best practices are simply not to leave a system up unpatched that long anymore. This is why Netcraft took that metric down. It encouraged a perverse incentive.
Andrew
On Wed, Feb 25, 2026 at 2:30 PM Markus via NANOG <nanog@lists.nanog.org> wrote:
Hi NANOG,
in the past there was the Netcraft website which showed publicly "Servers with the highest uptime". Sadly that site apparently doesn't exist anymore.
I'm wondering what are the routers worldwide with the highest uptime. :)
I'll make a start. 2x Juniper M7i lab routers running BGP + VRRP:
--- JUNOS 12.3R2.5 built 2013-03-22 16:52:47 UTC admin@test01> show system uptime Current time: 2026-02-25 20:04:26 CET System booted: 2015-05-16 03:44:05 CEST (562w4d 17:20 ago) Protocols started: 2015-05-16 03:46:59 CEST (562w4d 17:17 ago) Last configured: 2026-02-22 18:57:12 CET (3d 01:07 ago) by admin 8:04PM up 3938 days, 17:20, 1 user, load averages: 0.25, 0.22, 0.17
--- JUNOS 12.3R2.5 built 2013-03-22 16:52:47 UTC admin@test02> show system uptime Current time: 2026-02-25 20:04:59 CET System booted: 2015-01-31 03:43:58 CET (577w4d 16:21 ago) Protocols started: 2015-01-31 03:47:48 CET (577w4d 16:17 ago) Last configured: 2026-02-19 20:41:16 CET (5d 23:23 ago) by admin 8:04PM up 4043 days, 16:21, 1 user, load averages: 0.19, 0.08, 0.07
Is that good or "like nothing"? :)
Regards Markus _______________________________________________ NANOG mailing list
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Even 23 years ago, not quite the flex. Remember, SQL Slammer that took out / degraded large chunks of the internet? That vulnerability had been fixed in a patch released 6 months prior to that incident. -----Original Message----- From: Tom Beecher via NANOG <nanog@lists.nanog.org> Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2026 2:41 PM To: North American Network Operators Group <nanog@lists.nanog.org> Cc: Tom Beecher <beecher@beecher.cc> Subject: Re: OT: Routers with highest uptime Yeah, not the flex it used to be. If you publish a device's uptime, it's not hard to infer what OS might be on it, and know exactly how you can exploit that. Also agreed with Patrick, if you have any routers in a lab, those are the ones that I'd expect to be updated MORE frequently, not less. On Wed, Feb 25, 2026 at 2:37 PM Andrew Kirch via NANOG < nanog@lists.nanog.org> wrote:
I... umm... have you consider applying security patches on these any time in the last 10+ years (I'm really not taking the time to do the math here)?
Best practices are simply not to leave a system up unpatched that long anymore. This is why Netcraft took that metric down. It encouraged a perverse incentive.
Andrew
On Wed, Feb 25, 2026 at 2:30 PM Markus via NANOG <nanog@lists.nanog.org> wrote:
Hi NANOG,
in the past there was the Netcraft website which showed publicly "Servers with the highest uptime". Sadly that site apparently doesn't exist anymore.
I'm wondering what are the routers worldwide with the highest uptime. :)
I'll make a start. 2x Juniper M7i lab routers running BGP + VRRP:
--- JUNOS 12.3R2.5 built 2013-03-22 16:52:47 UTC admin@test01> show system uptime Current time: 2026-02-25 20:04:26 CET System booted: 2015-05-16 03:44:05 CEST (562w4d 17:20 ago) Protocols started: 2015-05-16 03:46:59 CEST (562w4d 17:17 ago) Last configured: 2026-02-22 18:57:12 CET (3d 01:07 ago) by admin 8:04PM up 3938 days, 17:20, 1 user, load averages: 0.25, 0.22, 0.17
--- JUNOS 12.3R2.5 built 2013-03-22 16:52:47 UTC admin@test02> show system uptime Current time: 2026-02-25 20:04:59 CET System booted: 2015-01-31 03:43:58 CET (577w4d 16:21 ago) Protocols started: 2015-01-31 03:47:48 CET (577w4d 16:17 ago) Last configured: 2026-02-19 20:41:16 CET (5d 23:23 ago) by admin 8:04PM up 4043 days, 16:21, 1 user, load averages: 0.19, 0.08, 0.07
Is that good or "like nothing"? :)
Regards Markus _______________________________________________ NANOG mailing list
https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/nanog@lists.nanog.org/message/FF 464G2CFUGWLNCLHIFPOBE4HYPMUI4N/
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Am 25.02.2026 um 19:46:35 Uhr schrieb Gary Sparkes via NANOG:
Even 23 years ago, not quite the flex.
Remember, SQL Slammer that took out / degraded large chunks of the internet?
That vulnerability had been fixed in a patch released 6 months prior to that incident.
Is there any public info about that and how far the impact was? -- kind regards Marco Send unsolicited bulk mail to 1772045195muell@cartoonies.org
Not much beyond what remains posted around/online, but I remember a decent solid 2-days of reporting in major news networks about impacts from it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL_Slammer There's some interesting links/reads in there. The BBC one is definitely a frozen in time throwback, that's for sure. Was enough to take countries offline at the time, that's for sure. BBC link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2693925.stm) explicitly calls out south korea. -----Original Message----- From: Marco Moock via NANOG <nanog@lists.nanog.org> Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2026 3:11 PM To: nanog@lists.nanog.org Cc: Marco Moock <mm@dorfdsl.de> Subject: Re: OT: Routers with highest uptime Am 25.02.2026 um 19:46:35 Uhr schrieb Gary Sparkes via NANOG:
Even 23 years ago, not quite the flex.
Remember, SQL Slammer that took out / degraded large chunks of the internet?
That vulnerability had been fixed in a patch released 6 months prior to that incident.
Is there any public info about that and how far the impact was? -- kind regards Marco Send unsolicited bulk mail to 1772045195muell@cartoonies.org
Lots of fun from the Slammer/Nimda days... Taking affected devices online was agonizingly slow on networks that were saturated and in many cases at that time had routers that used software-based forwarding. Thank you jms On Wed, Feb 25, 2026 at 3:50 PM Gary Sparkes via NANOG < nanog@lists.nanog.org> wrote:
Not much beyond what remains posted around/online, but I remember a decent solid 2-days of reporting in major news networks about impacts from it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL_Slammer
There's some interesting links/reads in there. The BBC one is definitely a frozen in time throwback, that's for sure.
Was enough to take countries offline at the time, that's for sure. BBC link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2693925.stm) explicitly calls out south korea.
-----Original Message----- From: Marco Moock via NANOG <nanog@lists.nanog.org> Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2026 3:11 PM To: nanog@lists.nanog.org Cc: Marco Moock <mm@dorfdsl.de> Subject: Re: OT: Routers with highest uptime
Am 25.02.2026 um 19:46:35 Uhr schrieb Gary Sparkes via NANOG:
Even 23 years ago, not quite the flex.
Remember, SQL Slammer that took out / degraded large chunks of the internet?
That vulnerability had been fixed in a patch released 6 months prior to that incident.
Is there any public info about that and how far the impact was?
-- kind regards Marco
Send unsolicited bulk mail to 1772045195muell@cartoonies.org _______________________________________________ NANOG mailing list
https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/nanog@lists.nanog.org/message/3W6DXBP6...
On 2/25/26 14:29, Markus via NANOG wrote:
Hi NANOG,
in the past there was the Netcraft website which showed publicly "Servers with the highest uptime". Sadly that site apparently doesn't exist anymore.
Netcraft confirms: BSD is dying There's this well known boast of some guy's terminal server in Orlando:
https://old.reddit.com/r/networking/comments/252nge/whats_the_longest_uptime...
Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software IOS (tm) 3000 Software (IGS-J-L), Version 11.1(8), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1) Copyright (c) 1986-1996 by cisco Systems, Inc. Compiled Thu 05-Dec-96 11:41 by tamb Image text-base: 0x03038820, data-base: 0x00001000 ROM: System Bootstrap, Version 5.2(8a), RELEASE SOFTWARE ROM: 3000 Bootstrap Software (IGS-RXBOOT), Version 10.2(8a), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1) orl-sn2 uptime is 25 years, 59 minutes System restarted by reload at 10:39:11 CST Wed Jan 29 1997 System image file is "flash:igs-j-l_111-8.bin", booted via flash Further down the comments he mentions it was powered down in 2023.. -- Bryan Fields 727-409-1194 - Voice http://bryanfields.net
On Wed, 25 Feb 2026 21:10:38 +0100 Marco Moock via NANOG <nanog@lists.nanog.org> wrote:
Is there any public info about that and how far the impact was?
Still quite a bit of info exists. I wrote a brief retrospective a few years ago you might find helpful. I just made sure all the links still work, which might provide some additional historical anecdotes. <https://dataplane.org/jtk/blog/2023/01/slammer20/> John
In the real world, bugs force reboots, either to upgrade to code with different bugs or the bugs simply cause the reboot "automatically". Anyone else having fun with ACX7024 iTCO Watchdog Crashes recently? On Wed, 25 Feb 2026, Markus via NANOG wrote:
Hi NANOG,
in the past there was the Netcraft website which showed publicly "Servers with the highest uptime". Sadly that site apparently doesn't exist anymore.
I'm wondering what are the routers worldwide with the highest uptime. :)
I'll make a start. 2x Juniper M7i lab routers running BGP + VRRP:
--- JUNOS 12.3R2.5 built 2013-03-22 16:52:47 UTC admin@test01> show system uptime Current time: 2026-02-25 20:04:26 CET System booted: 2015-05-16 03:44:05 CEST (562w4d 17:20 ago) Protocols started: 2015-05-16 03:46:59 CEST (562w4d 17:17 ago) Last configured: 2026-02-22 18:57:12 CET (3d 01:07 ago) by admin 8:04PM up 3938 days, 17:20, 1 user, load averages: 0.25, 0.22, 0.17
--- JUNOS 12.3R2.5 built 2013-03-22 16:52:47 UTC admin@test02> show system uptime Current time: 2026-02-25 20:04:59 CET System booted: 2015-01-31 03:43:58 CET (577w4d 16:21 ago) Protocols started: 2015-01-31 03:47:48 CET (577w4d 16:17 ago) Last configured: 2026-02-19 20:41:16 CET (5d 23:23 ago) by admin 8:04PM up 4043 days, 16:21, 1 user, load averages: 0.19, 0.08, 0.07
Is that good or "like nothing"? :)
Regards Markus _______________________________________________ NANOG mailing list https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/nanog@lists.nanog.org/message/FF464G2C...
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jon Lewis, MCP :) | I route Blue Stream Fiber, Sr. Neteng | therefore you are _________ http://www.lewis.org/~jlewis/pgp for PGP public key_________
Point your ids onto the outside your inet interface and you’ll still see slammer, nimda (SadminD), comficker and all the other worms still scanning , still propagating.
On 25 Feb 2026, at 20:10, Marco Moock via NANOG <nanog@lists.nanog.org> wrote:
Am 25.02.2026 um 19:46:35 Uhr schrieb Gary Sparkes via NANOG:
Even 23 years ago, not quite the flex.
Remember, SQL Slammer that took out / degraded large chunks of the internet?
That vulnerability had been fixed in a patch released 6 months prior to that incident.
Is there any public info about that and how far the impact was?
-- kind regards Marco
Send unsolicited bulk mail to 1772045195muell@cartoonies.org _______________________________________________ NANOG mailing list https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/nanog@lists.nanog.org/message/5X6Q4HD3... <mime-attachment>
On Thu, 26 Feb 2026 12:02:12 +0000 Mike Simpson via NANOG <nanog@lists.nanog.org> wrote:
Point your ids onto the outside your inet interface and you’ll still see slammer, nimda (SadminD), comficker and all the other worms still scanning , still propagating.
I looked for Slammer on lots of different vantage points a few years ago and no evidence it was still running anywhere on the public Internet. I'd be interested to see evidence to the contrary. I think it is dead unless someone can show me otherwise. I'm not sure if the Conficker sinkholes are still running. We had one while I was at Team Cymru and it was still running as of about 2016 or so, but I'd be surprised if they have kept it going this long - most of the registrars had stopped sinking names a long time ago. Traffic had fallen off quite a bit, but maybe it's not yet down to zero? I'd be very surprised if Nimda is still around (same goes for Code Red). Plenty of other junk to see though. :-) John
Am 25.02.2026 um 22:33 schrieb Bryan Fields via NANOG:
There's this well known boast of some guy's terminal server in Orlando:
orl-sn2 uptime is 25 years, 59 minutes System restarted by reload at 10:39:11 CST Wed Jan 29 1997 System image file is "flash:igs-j-l_111-8.bin", booted via flash
Thanks Bryan, this is basically what I was looking for :) Thanks to you I found: https://www.reddit.com/r/uptimeporn/
participants (11)
-
Andrew Kirch -
Bryan Fields -
Gary Sparkes -
John Kristoff -
Jon Lewis -
Justin Streiner -
Marco Moock -
Markus -
Mike Simpson -
Patrick W. Gilmore -
Tom Beecher