Just got told by a Lightpath person that in order to do BGP on a customer gig circuit to them they would need a visio diagram (of what I dont know).
Has anybody else seen this brain damage?
Joe
I've seen requests for a drawing of some sort, but never specifically and exclusively visio.
If they insist on visio, I would send them a LART (at high velocity) instead.
-Randy
Hand draw two squares, label them "our AS" and "your AS" with a line
between them labeled "GigE". Bonus points for pencil.
~Seth
And super duper bonus points is you draw pigeons carrying packets between
the two blocks and stating that you are RFC 1149 compliant.
-Mike
As a person who often draws out + scans diagrams, I support this message.
Wow... talk about someone who doesn't want your business.
Randy Carpenter wrote:
Just make sure to name the scanned file VisioDi~1_vsd.png, and maybe they won't notice.
-Randy
As a person who often draws out + scans diagrams, I support this message.
> Hand draw two squares, label them "our AS" and "your AS" with a line
> between them labeled "GigE". Bonus points for pencil.
Exactly - hand draw it, scan it it in and save the .JPG/.PNG in a .VSD.
There, it is "in Visio".
It is Friday, yes?
/TJ
I was once asked by a vendor support department for a network diagram for a
case which involved a standalone switch. I almost sent them a picture of a
switch, but decided not as it might have confused the person handling the case.
Here's a visio diagram you can send them:
http://www.foobar.org/~nick/bgp-network-diagram.vsd
Nick
That's eeevil. 
echo $Vladis_Statement >> evil_indeed.vsd
/r
on a napkin.
Just got told by a Lightpath person that in order to do BGP on a customer gig circuit to them they would need a visio diagram (of what I dont know).
Has anybody else seen this brain damage?
In my quaint little corner of the world, this was once fairly routine actually. It seems to have been more popular amonsgt the enterprise crowd than anything else.
Joe
wfms
I can understand wanting to diagram a complex design, so everyone involved has a clear picture of what needs to happen, but for an ISP to bring up BGP to a customer? If that's not something that can be done in a relatively cookie-cutter fashion, there is something horribly broken with that ISP.
My diagram would be something along the lines of
your_router --------[GIG-E WITH BGP]-------- my_router = 
your_router --------[GIG-E WITH NO BGP]-------- my_router = 
jms
Yo Joe!
Just got told by a Lightpath person that in order to do BGP on a
customer gig circuit to them they would need a visio diagram (of
what I dont know).
Network diagrams are required for PCI compliance.
1.1.2 Current network diagram with all connections to
cardholder data, including any wireless networks
A high-level network diagram (either obtained from the entity or
created by assessor) of the entity’s networking topography that
includes:
- Connections into and out of the network
- Critical components within the cardholder data environment,
including POS devices, systems, databases, and web servers, as
applicable
- Other necessary payment components, as applicable
RGDS
GARY
I can understand (and fully support) the need for customers to have detailed diagrams of their network for (insert-requirement-here) compliance, but a provider requiring a customer to supply a diagram for basic connectivity? Seems sketchy (no pun indended) to me.
jms
Justin M. Streiner wrote:
Just got told by a Lightpath person that in order to do BGP on a
customer gig circuit to them they would need a visio diagram (of what
I dont know).Has anybody else seen this brain damage?
I can understand wanting to diagram a complex design, so everyone
involved has a clear picture of what needs to happen, but for an ISP to
bring up BGP to a customer? If that's not something that can be done in
a relatively cookie-cutter fashion, there is something horribly broken
with that ISP.My diagram would be something along the lines of
your_router --------[GIG-E WITH BGP]-------- my_router =
your_router --------[GIG-E WITH NO BGP]-------- my_router =
jms
I figured they are expecting something other than cookie cutter, so I gave them a multi session + multi hop. 4 boxes with labels, 4 lines and some router commands in vendor 'C' language in a text box.
If they dont like that, they can provide me with their own diagram.
Someone did mention that perhaps its a vetting/hoop-jumping process.
My takeaway is that it is always easier to not accept the circuit until BGP is up, rather then saving that for a step 2.
Joe
If memory serves me right, Seth Mattinen wrote:
Hand draw two squares, label them "our AS" and "your AS" with a line
between them labeled "GigE". Bonus points for pencil.
Double-bonus for crayon (why yes I do have a young child, why do you ask?).
Bruce.
Regardless of all the other comments here making fun of the request, I can somewhat understand why they might do this. Some of the requests I have gotten from customers are so misguided and confusing that a simple diagram can go far to clear things up. I know it seems crazy to everyone here that can set up BGP peering in their sleep, but when you're getting a new request from someone who hasn't gotten an ASN yet, and has never heard of a routing registry? All they know is a consultant told them they needed to "do BGP" with their ISP?
Jason
Jason Baugher wrote: