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So, what if the Mayans had been right? How a BC/DR strategy can make an impending apocalypse not so scary

A BC/DR Odyssey

Hello, World. It’s now December 24 and rather clear that life as we know it is not going to end – at least not before tomorrow’s Christmastime festivities.  So if you were banking on death, war, and/or pestilence to get you out of an awkward family get-together tomorrow, I have bad news for you.  It’s [...]

Sandy slams the East Coast, How Level 3 Weathered the Storm

Allentown, PA [1] – Fiber Damage – Down trees around power/communication lines

Without a doubt, the impact of Hurricane Sandy will be felt for many years.  At its height, Sandy left roughly 8 million people without power, directly impacting residents in fifteen states.  Early estimates indicate the storm caused between $30 – $50 billion dollars in damage, to say nothing of the emotional and mental impact of [...]

Security First: A Network Prescription for the Healthcare Industry

At the pharmacy

We have been discussing security on the Level 3 blog throughout October. I’m going to continue that discussion, but focus on the healthcare industry and critical measures including business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) – a key consideration in light of unknowns like natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy, which bring flash demands on networks [...]

Backpacking and BCDR: Planning for the unexpected

Back up Plan

It’s fall in Colorado. The trick-or-treaters have come and gone and the leaves have largely fallen.  That means it’s time to put away backpacking gear.  When looking through the stuff accumulated over the years, it’s clear that each piece serves a purpose to ensure a safe, enjoyable trip. Because telecom and helping our customers is [...]

Our Thoughts on Cybersecurity

cybersecurity1

Level 3 has just released a white paper titled Perspectives on Cybersecurity.  Not only does it provide an overview of basic cybersecurity principles, it presents our view of proposed legislation. Additionally, we discuss the role of service providers and the government in protecting our nation’s most sensitive networks and applications. And we also cover an [...]

Go Ahead, Call It Plumbing: The Importance of a Healthy, Healthcare WAN

doctor

What’s the most important thing about plumbing? That it works, all the time. It’s pretty nightmarish to wake up in a house with a broken shower and toilet. A far more terrifying situation however, is waking up as a patient in a hospital where your life is compromised because the network went down. People often [...]

Are Financial Services Firms Ready For the Bad New World?

lock

This past May, after weeks of company focus to resolve a massive Internet security breach, Sony Corp. Chief Executive Howard Stringer said that he could not guarantee the security of the company’s videogame network or any other Web system in the “bad new world” of cybercrime. “It’s the beginning, unfortunately, of the shape of things [...]

Car Trunks and SIP Trunks: Contingency Plans for the Road Ahead

Changing a tire

Last weekend, I helped a dear friend change a flat tire. Ninety five degree weather and a half-hour of fumbling to find the hoist shaft (which releases the spare from under the vehicle) conspired to turn a minor inconvenience into a major event. While I contemplated the irony (had this been my car it would [...]

Connecting with Level 3 and Amazon Web Services

cloudsbridge

In a previous blog post I talked about the role of the network in supporting cloud applications. In that message, I touched upon Saas desktop productivity software and some options for pairing the network and the application for optimal performance.  Further proof of the growing need to match your cloud services with the correct network technology [...]