It seems that Telstra is suffering from a core routing issue right now as multiple sites inside and outside Australia - from Telstra's own Network Status pages, to the Commonwealth Bank and Facebook are all at various stages of unreachability.
Yes, folks - this is the company who we trust with our phones, Internet and now - for anyone using Office 365 - our data! :(
Regards,
The Outspoken Wookie
6 comments:
Hilton,
Office 365 data is not stored on Telstra servers. The data resides in MIcrosoft's data centres. Telstra simply provides billing of service to customers < 250 seats.
Thanks
Robert
Not only does it provide billing for we small resellers whether we like it or not, it also provides the main pipe to this Office 365 data and when they can't work out how to handle BGP properly, they take that pipe offline for us.
Hilton,
It only provides a pipe to Office 365 data if you use Telstra as your ISP? However, if Telstra as an ISP is down so is Google Apps or even you on site mail server.
My point is that Telstra having BGP issues did not in any affect Office 365 data or access (unless you are using Telstra as you ISP or as DNS). Your post insinuates that if Telstra is down Office 365 is down, this is not the case for people who don't use Telstra to gain access to the Internet.
Your post insinuates that Telstra somehow has control over users data for Office 365. Again, not the case as the data is stored on Microsoft servers. Telstra is simply a reseller of the Office 365 product from MIcrosoft.
Thanks
Robert
www.ciaop.com
Robert, actually as Telstra's core routers started to effectively melt and offer up incorrect information to other ISPs in Australia, they most definitely did take both national and international connectivity for people connected in any way to their backbone. They even took voice services down with their latest effort.
Telstra is the sole reseller of Office 365 to <250 user (as at the initial purchase) sites in Australia. Microsoft's billing engine works perfectly for the rest of the world - why can't it work here in Australia?
And this issue most definitely took down access for many Telstra and non-Telstra customers to Office 365, Google, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and many, many other sites. You'd think someone in at Telstra would have a better grasp of BGP than they clearly had.
Hilton,
I agree that Telstra's BGP issues affected the wider Internet for many HOWEVER such an issue at another ISP could of had exactly the same effect. My point is that your post insinuates that when Telstra has an issue it automatically affects Office 365, which is not true. It affects the Internet in general which means all services, no matter who provides them, are potentially affected.
I agree that Telstra/Office 365 relationship has challenges but at the end of the day that relationship was a business decision and IT is subservient to business. If it wasn't we'd all have free software, infinite bandwidth and massive reseller margins.
If you are focused on business you work with the environment you have, if you focus on technology you sit there bemoaning things being imperfect and waiting for the day when products reach your standards. In today's world that is highly unlikely.
However, it is important to stress that Telstra having issues does not automatically mean Office 365 will have issues.
Thanks
Robert
Such an issue at any other ISP (and remember, Dodo offered BGP routes for the entire Internet to Telstra and Telstra stupidly accepted them) would not have caused an issue anywhere near the magnitude of this issue.
Telstra's AS1221 router that handles international traffic (such as that to Hong Kong and Singapore, where the Australian (sic) Office 365 servers reside was the ultimate cause of the international traffic issues, and the huge number of incorrect router settings replicating through Telstra's network was the cause of a great deal of congestion, unrouteable traffic and general sluggishness on pretty much anything connected to the Telstra network.
T^his issue most definitely did affect Office 365 connectivity for anyone who routes through Telstra's AS1221 internationally.
Microsoft's billing engine works fine for 95% of the planet, but they were, let's just say "coerced" into having to use Telstra in Australia - that's resulted in significantly lower sales than Microsoft would have had were Telstra not involved and also a rather painful process for any Office 365 partners as Telstra remains the Partner on record for any clients their resellers sign up - which is poor form.
Microsoft has the technology to deploy their Office 365 to every country in the world, including Australia. I don't see why we can't be like every other country on the planet and not have to go through an incumbent monopoly that anyone who has dealt with in the past knows is quite painful to work with.
As to Telstra issues causing Office 365 issues, well, when the Telstra network "melts", it takes down a major international link and causes Office 365 connectivity issues.
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