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Will the Y2K Problem Cause an Internet Meltdown?
Washington, D.C. August 17, 1999 - The Internet may bend but it won't break when the Year 2000 "millennium bug" strikes on January 1, 2000. This was the crux of the message delivered by Don Heath, president and CEO of the Internet Society, at a press conference held today by the President's Council on Y2K Conversion.
The Internet is not a single monolithic network, Heath stated, but is rather a combination of more than 200,000 independent networks. And those networks have multiple pieces of equipment, such as networking routers and Internet servers, along with networking and applications software. While there is no way to guarantee that every one of the 6,000-8,000 Internet service providers around the world, and all of their suppliers, are Y2K compliant, compliant hardware and software is available.
Regardless, "the Internet operates in milliseconds on a real-time basis, not in centuries or millenniums," said Heath. In addition, there is extensive redundancy and alternative routing built into the design of the Internet's disparate networks. As a result, any impact of Y2K is likely to be localized and not bring down the Internet as a whole. Of course, it is always wise to have contingency plans, since parts of the Internet (including forexample, telephone networks and electric power) fail for various reasons somewhere in the world every day, Heath added.
The Internet Engineering Task Force conducted a review of 2,300 protocols approved by that standards body. Some potential problems were identified and follow up actions were taken to alert the industry to the required solutions. Significant operational issues were not found. More information about the results of the effort can be found at ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2626.txt.
The Internet Society maintains a Y2K information site at http://www.isoc.org/internet/issues/y2000/.
The press conference was a follow up to a roundtable meeting held July 30 in Washington, D.C., with representatives from leading Internet industry, academia, and government organizations. Participants at that meeting concluded that there are some vulnerabilities in the Internet. But the Internet was designed and engineered to be resilient, without a single point of failure that could cause it to "melt down." Dr. Vinton Cerf, trustee of the Internet Society, was the keynote speaker at the roundtable. Additional follow up activities to the meeting are being planned, focusing on sharing of information and contingency planning.
John Koskinen, Chair of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, hosted the press conference, as well as at the roundtable meeting. Other speakers at the press conference were Barbara Dooley (president of Commercial Internet Exchange (CIX) and Jason Zigmont (Board Member of the Internet Service Providers Consortium).
The Y2K problem is caused by computer programs that represent the year with only two digits (e.g., 99=1999). The programs cannot distinguish between the years 1900 and 2000.
The Internet Society is the international organization for global coordination and cooperation for the Internet. The Internet Society was established in 1992 in response to a recognized worldwide need for a non-governmental, international organization to help support global expansion, standardization and change of the Internet.
Today, the Internet Society assists the needs of the growing worldwide Internet Community in many ways: through its annual INET conference, network training workshops for emerging countries, advocacy programs, tutorials, and with publications like its award-winning bimonthly magazine OnTheInternet. The Internet Engineering Task Force conducts its work under the auspices of the Internet Society. The Internet Society is comprised of individual and organizational members from more than 150 countries, who comprise a veritable who's who of the Internet.
Contact:
Marty Burack
703-534-0897
burack@isoc.org
Note: The following statement is redistributed with permission of the President's Council on Y2K Conversion.
PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ON YEAR 2000 CONVERSION INTERNET ROUNDTABLE HIGHLIGHTS
August 17, 1999
On July 30, 1999, the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion convened a roundtable meeting to examine the readiness of the Internet for the Year 2000 date change, and to coordinate efforts to maintain Internet performance and reliability during the transition to the new millennium.
The Internet consists of tens of thousands of interconnected data networks, most of which are privately owned and operated, so it is difficult for any one organization to speak for the ability of the entire Internet to make a successful transition to the Year 2000. The roundtable brought together roughly 100 prominent organizations and individuals from different parts of the Internet community to discuss the Internet's Y2K readiness.
Meeting participants included small and large Internet Service Providers
(ISPs); equipment vendors; representatives of root nameserver and domain
registries, exchange points, and network time servers; industry associations;
and government officials.
The following key points came out of the roundtable discussions:
Overall, entities involved in operating the Internet are making diligent efforts to address Y2K problems, and the Internet is expected to make the transition to the Year 2000 without Y2K related problems in core services. The Internet protocols have few Year 2000 issues, and many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have already posted Year 2000 readiness disclosure statements on their web pages. Core services relied upon by all ISPs, such as root name servers, exchange points, and Internet backbone providers are expected to be ready for the date change.
Contingency planning for the Internet will focus on the Network Operation Centers (NOCs) of the various commercial entities that operate the core infrastructure of the Internet. These groups coordinate the day-to-day operation of the Internet and are prepared to respond to any disruptions that occur.
Small parts of the Internet require minor repairs continually. Because the Internet operates in a decentralized manner, it has, and should continue to operate even if individual network point fail for any reason. The Internet is designed to automatically find alternative communication paths when any part of the Internet suffers a disruption.
Fiber cuts, human errors, bad weather, equipment malfunction, or outages of critical services such as power or telecommunications can impact Internet access at any time. Users are familiar with these interruptions, which can occur on any day, including January 1, 2000, and are handled under normal contingency plans.
A lack of readiness information has contributed to concerns about the pace of Y2K preparations among some ISPs. Customers concerned about the Y2K readiness of their ISPs should check provider web sites for information on their Year 2000 preparations and contingency plans. If the ISP has no Y2K information posted, users may wish to contact them by telephone.
Because governments and global businesses expect to use the Internet to communicate during and after the date rollover internationally, ISPs should work with government to ensure reliable access to critical resources required to maintain Internet service.
Questions about the Y2K readiness of individual web sites should be directed to the web site owner.
Individuals and companies should be aware that it is possible that use of the Internet and the telephone system for the period immediately prior to, during, and after the date rollover may be heavier than normal. This should be taken into consideration in the event that people encounter service delays during that period.
Individuals or companies with a critical need for Internet service should consider Internet access in developing their own Y2K contingency plans.
Individuals or companies should ensure their own personal computers, software applications, and Internet access equipment are Y2K ready. Personal computer readiness information can generally be found at the manufacturer's web site. The PC Year 2000 Alliance also has useful information on PC readiness (http://www.pcy2000.org/index.htm).
Communications and information sharing within the Internet community are essential and will contribute to a successful transition to the Year 2000. Tremendous cooperation has already taken place, including: a report from the Internet Engineering Task Force ("The Internet and the Millennium Problem -- Year 2000"), the Internet Y2K Campaign (www.nety2k.org), cooperative testing and information sharing between Internet service providers, the Domain Name Server test bed created by Network Solutions, Inc. (www.root2000.com), ICANN's report on root nameserver Y2K status, July 15, 1999 (www.icann.org/committees/dns-root/y2k-statement.htm), and information sharing between the root server operators.
There are resources available for information on the Internet's Y2K readiness:
- Internet-related Y2K information such as frequently asked questions and other resources for Internet companies can be found at www.nety2k.org. ISPs are encouraged to post on this site notification of their Y2K preparedness efforts and any "lessons learned" they can share with others.
- As a follow-up to the roundtable, Internet.com is adding to its ISP list a field to indicate which ISPs have a Y2K statement on their home page.
