Resiliency of our Internet Infrastructure during the COVID -19 Season

One often overlooked factor in the internet ecosystem is hosting (including
CDN’s , caches and peering points).

I bet more than 70% of the conferencing traffic (zoom,webex, skype,
microsoft) and e-learning that has an audio visual component; a huge chunk
of that traffic is exchanged outside the country – mainly in Europe. Which
means depending on the vendors architecture peer to peer traffic flows out
of KE first.

This has huge cost implications for ISP’s, a huge impact on quality but
even better food for thought; if a single cable cut was to happen around
this corona time, all work from home probably grinds to a halt or slows
down.We need a good scalable local solution for commonly used services like
conferencing.

JG

On Tue, Mar 31, 2020 at 4:48 PM Barrack Otieno via kictanet <
[email protected]> wrote:

> Listers,
>
> Interesting perspectives on what we can do to improve the resilience of
> the Internet in this season. You can access the blog here
> <www.internetsociety.org/blog/2020/02/is-the-internet-resilient-enough-to-withstand-coronavirus/>
> .
>
> Best Regards
>
> On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 7:48 PM Abshiro Halake via kictanet <
> [email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Thank you all for the flow of information. Much appreciated indeed.
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 13:14 Walubengo J via kictanet <
>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> I would hesitate to write-off any product based on security concerns.
>>>
>>> Security is as good as you configure it to be. TEAMS can be as less
>>> secure as the alleged insecurity of ZOOM depending on how it was
>>> implemented and configured.
>>>
>>> In short, security is one independent conversation that cannot be
>>> collapsed into a singly product name.
>>>
>>> Otherwise you create a false sense of security….e.g, I use TEAMS so I
>>> am safer than those who use alternatives eg. ZOOM.
>>>
>>> When I was growing up, I used to have similar thinking. .. since I used
>>> LINUX, I always had this false sense of being more secure than those who
>>> used WINDOWS platforms ;-).
>>>
>>> Security is more about the hardening, updating, configuring,
>>> maintaining, etc of your digital assets as opposed to the product itself.
>>>
>>> walu.
>>> nb: ofcourse some products are outrightly nefarious and would still be
>>> unsafe even if you spend hours hardening them to be safe.
>>>
>>> On Monday, March 30, 2020, 12:11:53 PM GMT+3, Erick Mwangi via kictanet <
>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks GG. Zoom is a mine field.
>>>
>>> I would advise folks to stay off zoom for any ‘serious’ discourse ( its
>>> ideally for social interactions).
>>>
>>> There are a ton of options depending on industry (Skype for Business
>>> will be obsolete very soon) TEAMS is one suggestion in terms of ease and
>>> setting up.
>>>
>>> Eric
>>> E Njoroge Mwangi
>>> Technology| FINTECH | Big Data
>>>
>>> Cell +44 7539372742
>>> Skype: Erick.mwangi
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 7:17 AM Kathy Mwai via kictanet <
>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hon Abshiro,
>>>
>>> Even the G20 has gone virtual. Here they were discussing their countries
>>> contributions to the fund researching on a vaccine. Just 2 days before the
>>> UK Prime Minister was taken ill.
>>>
>>> Kathy
>>>
>>> On Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 00:48 Abshiro Halake via kictanet <
>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Thank you Kaka, Noah, Barrack,
>>>
>>> I will look out for the Gire bill and see what in our context is the
>>> equivalent. I may need your help with providing the appropriate content. We
>>> don’t have much time so time is of the essence.
>>>
>>> Barrack thanks for the recommendation/suggestion of use of Zoom. I am a
>>> fun but Grace’ insights yesterday opened my eyes to the fact that it may
>>> not be very secure. That said, what is, these days. Will add it to the list
>>> of apps to consider for sure.
>>>
>>> Thanks you all once again.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Abshiro.
>>>
>>> On Sun, Mar 29, 2020, 21:31 Barrack Otieno via kictanet <
>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Kaka,
>>>
>>> You raise very interesting points. I actually think the East African
>>> Community should also take up the matter. For Citizens to properly embrace
>>> the Internet in the Region, Trust is key. Quality of service, reliability
>>> and security of the Networks is a key consideration. We need more
>>> investment in connectivity within the EAC Countries and within the region.
>>> We also need affordable smart devices. What is the use of connectivity if
>>> citizens cannot afford devices that will enable them to make good use of
>>> the links. If it means zero rating so be it.
>>>
>>> Mheshimiwa Abshiro we need the equivalent of the High Perfomance
>>> Computing Act aka the Gore bill to move our country forwad in ICT issues.
>>>
>>> Regards
>>>
>>> On Sun, 29 Mar 2020, 8:14 pm Noah via kictanet, <
>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> I totally agree with you @Walu and I believe we are on the same page but
>>> my only caution was for us not to focus so much on vendor sythax (which can
>>> be crammed to aid implementation) but rather principles.
>>>
>>> Back to the main topic, Internet infrastructure across East Africa more
>>> than just Kenya needs robust upgrades and improving.
>>>
>>> Bloody Covid19 is already a game changer and I believe we are all taking
>>> lessons from it especially within our space with the ICT infrastructure
>>> which politicians used to think was some luxury for a few elites proving to
>>> be a necessity in such a time.
>>>
>>> *ICT could emerge stronger post COVID-19*
>>>
>>> Some foresee an increase in demand for cloud computing platforms with
>>> enterprise applications proving to be inaccessible during lockdowns and
>>> #karantini.
>>>
>>> Increasing usage of remote and collaboration tools. This requires
>>> bandwidth like serious bandwidth.
>>>
>>> Increase in traffic to video streaming sites and social media platforms
>>> (Isolation is tough hey, humans are not wild beasts or gods, they must
>>> continue socializing)
>>>
>>> Increased usage of apps from grocery delivery apps to essential goods
>>> apps.
>>>
>>> Most importantly the future of education in the face of another future
>>> pendamic [1] with online education becoming defacto especially when schools
>>> in future could possibly be closed beyond just one moon.
>>>
>>> #ICT infrastructure is #critical infrastructure.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Noah
>>>
>>> [1] Hellooooo….., there was the Spanish Flu, then the Influenza, then
>>> the SARS, then the Swine Flu, the Ebola and you guessed it right COVID-19.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, 29 Mar 2020, 19:52 Walubengo J, <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> True, BUT assume I am Safaricom with maybe 70% of my infrastructure on
>>> Huawei and want to hire a Telco Engineer.
>>>
>>> I prolly would get a candidate who has the Telco degree (the principles)
>>> and the Huawei Certification as the added advantage.
>>>
>>> The other way around it would be that I hire then send the candidate
>>> back to finishing school for some hands on training.
>>>
>>> Universities providing both principles and skills will have an advantage.
>>>
>>> On a light note, Imagine teaching Blockchain Technologies using only Satoshi’s
>>> Paper (the principles) <bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf> and not having
>>> access to say IBM Blockchain platforms
>>> <www.ibm.com/blockchain/what-is-blockchain> to provide students
>>> with some Lab exposure. The ones with Lab exposure will often stand out.
>>>
>>> Having said that, there are those who ‘cram’ and pass vendor-certificate
>>> exams without really learning the principles. That is also a major risk to
>>> employers.
>>>
>>> walu.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sunday, March 29, 2020, 07:37:26 PM GMT+3, Noah <[email protected]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> @Walu
>>>
>>> I agree that a cocktail of standard principles and *mutlivendor* sythax
>>> should be the approach that can go on to see us provide better skills
>>> transfer.
>>>
>>> I only caution us from repeating the old and outdated approach of only
>>> focusing training on one vendor since this only goes to help promote the
>>> vendors products in our markets rather provide true knowledge.
>>>
>>> Employers should careless about Cisco or Juniper or Huawei but rather
>>> seek knowledgeable candidates who understand technology rather than people
>>> who have crammed how to implement a specific vendor sythax.
>>>
>>>
>>> Noah
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, 29 Mar 2020, 19:26 Walubengo J, <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> @Noah,
>>>
>>> Maybe we can do both. Teach the principles as well as offer exposure to
>>> one or several of the vendor technologies (whichever that maybe). I always
>>> find such an approach much more enriching and complimentary in my classes.
>>>
>>> Teaching ‘principles’ without offering some practical vendor sessions is
>>> like teaching Wordprocessing – without using MS-Word/OpenOffice/etc because
>>> you are trying too hard to be vendor-agnostic 😉
>>>
>>> In short, I do appreciate the need to teach principles but also
>>> appreciate the need to use vendor specific examples/labs to drive the point
>>> home.
>>>
>>> walu.
>>>
>>> On Sunday, March 29, 2020, 07:03:16 PM GMT+3, Noah via kictanet <
>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> The intermittent ip networks and grid-power aside.
>>>
>>> Am curious to know why in this day and time and day, we are still
>>> focusing on vendor specific trainings.
>>>
>>> During earlier 2000’s we focused so much on the Cisco’s, then somehow
>>> the Junipers and today we are seeing the Huawei syntax.
>>>
>>> Shouldn’t we be focusing in todays Africa on teaching standard protocols
>>> even at a fundamental level and cocktail of vendors sythax rather than
>>> continually pushing some specific vendors technology which indirectly
>>> markets their kit as defacto to those we keep imbibing the skills too.
>>>
>>> Just my thoughts….
>>>
>>> Noah
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, 29 Mar 2020, 11:28 Kelvin Kariuki via kictanet, <
>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> This is very true Barrack,
>>> I have been teaching a live online class on a Huawei Certification in
>>> the past week
>>> using Zoom and some of my students, who are on different parts of the
>>> country,
>>> have really had issues keeping up because of poor internet connections
>>> and
>>> regular disconnections. Thank God Zoom has a feature to record the
>>> classes
>>> but for sure this is something that we need to look into.
>>>
>>> PS: All my students are using Safaricom as Huawei Kenya offered them
>>> with
>>> credit cards to buy internet bundles in order to be able to learn
>>> online. The training
>>> I’m doing is Huawei Certified ICT Associate (Routing & Switching)
>>>
>>> On Sun, Mar 29, 2020 at 11:14 AM Ali Hussein via kictanet <
>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Barrack
>>>
>>> You got that right. Both Safaricom and Zuku have been intermittent over
>>> the past few days. Let’s not even start with Kenya Power…
>>>
>>> Regards
>>>
>>> *Ali Hussein*
>>>
>>>
>>> Tel: +254 713 601113
>>>
>>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>>
>>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>>
>>> LinkedIn: ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>>> <ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely
>>> mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the
>>> organizations that I work with.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 1:07 PM Barrack Otieno via kictanet <
>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Listers,
>>>
>>> It seems the quality of our Infrastructure is taking a hit as more
>>> people are working from home. Talking to friends from different corners of
>>> the countries across different Networks, there seems to be a challenge. I
>>> hope the Communications Authority is paying attention. The Internet and
>>> Infrastructure service providers should not just focus on free Internet and
>>> double speeds, quality of the connection is critical.
>>>
>>> Best
>>>
>>> —
>>> Barrack O. Otieno
>>> +254721325277
>>> +254733206359
>>> Skype: barrack.otieno
>>> PGP ID: 0x2611D86A
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>> —
>>> Best Regards,
>>>
>>> Kelvin Kariuki
>>> Assistant Lecturer
>>> Multimedia University of Kenya
>>> Faculty of Computing and Information Technology
>>> Twitter Handle: @teacherkaris
>>> Alt email: [email protected]
>>> Mobile: +2547 29 385 557
>>>
>>> The Lord is my Shepherd
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>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
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>>
>
>
> —
> Barrack O. Otieno
> +254721325277
> +254733206359
> Skype: barrack.otieno
> PGP ID: 0x2611D86A
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
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>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people’s times and bandwidth,
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