Once upon a time, Michael DeMan <nanog@deman.com> said:
On Dec 26, 2010, at 8:07 PM, Chris Adams wrote:
The AT&T (formerly BellSouth) cabinets around here mostly have natural gas generators included, so they almost never go out. The cable companies, on the other hand, might have enough battery to last through a brownout.
Interesting - out of curiosity, how big are these cabinets/pedestals? Or would you by chance know details on the natgas power system they are using?
I don't know; I've just seen them driving by (since other cabinets don't have a gas meter, they stand out). It looks like they set up two cabinets about 6-8 feet wide, 3 feet deep, and 4-5 feet high (just guestimating). Maybe one cabinet for power/batteries/generator and one for the telco gear?
Natgas is not ideal in a full-on disaster scenario like an earthquake, but probably could add another '9' onto service levels? I have never heard of or seen such a thing, but it is a really good idea.
I'm in north Alabama; earthquakes aren't a significant problem here. The biggest I can remember was something like a 3.2, just enough to hear and feel. We're far enough from New Madrid that it shouldn't be an issue. Our main problem is severe storms (thunderstorms and tornados), the once-every-few-decades ice storm, and the random exploding transformer. -- Chris Adams <cmadams@hiwaay.net> Systems and Network Administrator - HiWAAY Internet Services I don't speak for anybody but myself - that's enough trouble.