Over the next few weeks, we will be making DHCP-based address assignment available to our MACH DSL residential and business customers - as well as new customers in our VDSL Fiber Broadband buildings.

What does this mean exactly?

Currently, we assign addresses for Internet service via PPPoE. PPPoE works well for this and is very flexible, but has a downside - it encapsulates all your packets inside PPP headers. This causes the following problems:

1) Additional overhead, using some of your link speed for PPP and not for your transmissions
2) The PPP overhead causes packets to have a smaller maximum MTU - which can cause problems with some VPN software and some firewalls.
3) Packets received must have the PPP “wrapper” removed. This is done with CPU-based Cisco routers that add additional latency. These routers can also run out of horsepower long before the link is full.

By contrast, DHCP-based assignment utilizes a router that routes in hardware and can run at “wire speed” (i.e., gigabits/second) on relatively cheap hardware.

This means video and VoIP will be faster, more reliable, and more consistent.

DHCP Assignment:

1. offers one IP address per device which, while not static, will rarely if ever change. Up to five devices (and five public IPs) allowed per customer.
2. superior video and VoIP performance, with minimal latency, overhead, and wire-speed performance
3. allows direct attachment of a computer to the Internet without requiring a customer “router” or firewall - simplifying home deployments
4. Simplified DSL modem configuration - no username or password to program.

FORETHOUGHT.net is dedicated to constantly improving our service and allowing our customers maximum flexibility. With this change, we’ve done it again!

The world just got a little smaller.

Effective May 1, 2012, all calls by FORETHOUGHT.net telephone customers to destinations within the state of Colorado will be treated as local calls. No more long distance charges to call from Denver to Grand Junction, or from Boulder to Colorado Springs. In-state calling is unlimited, flat-rate, and included in the flat monthly phone line charges you already pay.

Calling across the state is now the same as calling across town - no muss, no fuss, and no extra charges.

This change is part of our broader strategy to erase the artificial LATA boundaries that were written into the telecom industry by the Bell breakup and the Telecom Act of 1996. There really is no reason to maintain these artificial distinctions - and the marketplace and shifting demographics have rendered the 30+ year-old LATA boundaries ludicrous.

We are leveraging VoIP least cost routing to allow this flat-rate calling magic. We are also in the process of building extensive voice trunking to destinations within Colorado, to allow us to provide local phone service throughout the state. Initially, this will be via SIP trunks (Voice over IP) but it will be followed shortly by our full-service Integrated Phone and Internet.

I am extremely pleased to make the following announcement about widespread availability of fiber services:

You won’t believe this! FORETHOUGHT.net is now offering 30M/30M fiber broadband, 8 phone lines, 1 POTS Line, free Colorado-wide calling and 2000 minutes long distance for only $500 a month to over 200 locations. 100M is also available! I have attached the package information. Let me know if you need any more information than what is attached and below.

Use this link to find over 200 locations for Fiber Broadband and give your clients 30Mbps Up and down for only $500 a month!

http://forethought.net/business/on-net-lit-building-map/

FORETHOUGHT.net Fiber Broadband
Offer your cllients what they have been asking for — Fiber. We can provide fiber access directly to the office. Offer subject to availibility.  Starting at only $500 a month, the FORETHOUGHT.net Fiber Broadband package offers:

• 30 Mbps Up and Down
• 8 Digital Phone Lines
• 1 Analog Land Line
• Free Colorado-wide Calls
• 2000 Minutes Long Distance

With FORETHOUGHT.net you get:

• Accessible, reliable, secure services
• No Installation Fee
• No tricky price increases after contract expires.
• No hidden charges and No Federal Access Charge!
• A la cart pricing available for more services
• And more

The bandwidth needs of our customers are continuing to increase - and the pace is accelerating. Due to skyrocketing usage of video on demand, Netflix has become the biggest single source of Internet traffic. Business applications such as Cloud Hosting, offsite data backup, electronic medical records and video conferencing are similarly driving bandwidth needs.

2011 has been a year of unprecedented bandwidth demands requiring fiber-optic delivery. I think 2012 will probably quadruple our 2011 activity.

Due to our relationship with Zayo Bandwidth, FORETHOUGHT.net is uniquely positioned to deliver fiber-based services in the Denver Metro area. Our Denver fiber ring is over 100 miles, and cuts through the heart of downtown, the Denver Tech center, Inverness, Parker and Centennial.

To prepare for the fiber tsunami, we have been training to gain the skills needed to keep up. We are now doing our own in-building fiber demarc extensions, reducing costs and slashing delivery times. We have established local banking relationships to supply the capital needed to do expensive outside plant and building entrance work. And we are starting to deploy our own metro MPLS network to tie it all together and provide seamless integration of voice, video, Internet and Transparent LAN Services to our customers metro-wide.

It is a very exciting time to be in telecommunications - what has been promised for so long is finally starting to come to fruition. Ethernet anywhere - with massive (10Gbps) bandwidth available.

The Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF) is making hay about HR 1981 - a bill that adds a money laundering crime to the books. They are claiming that this bill “Orders Internet Companies to Spy On You.”

https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=497

Well I don’t know who is running the EFF these days, but this is bunk. This is the relevant clause from the proposed legislation (which the EFF does not bother to link to).

`(h) Retention of Certain Records- A provider of an electronic communication service or remote computing service shall retain for a period of at least 18 months the temporarily assigned network addresses the service assigns to each account, unless that address is transmitted by radio communication (as defined in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934).’.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.1981:

I’ve run an ISP for 16 years and so have some insight as to what this means.

As you may know, the Internet uses numeric “IP Addresses” to define the endpoints of a communication. When most users log on to the Internet, they share a big pool of those IP Addresses with other users - you’re not all online at the same time, so this helps to share the scarce IP Address resources. For purposes of billing, security, and (yes) law enforcement, all Internet Providers (ISPs) keep a history of what user had what IP address at a given time.

Now, it’s important to understand the limits of this information. This information exists at your ISP only. It would be given to the government only under a court order such as a subpoena. The government does not automatically have access to this. My company has a strict privacy policy, as do most ISPs. If an ISP did give this information without a court order, they could be subject to prosecution under privacy laws, or sued for violation of their own user contracts.

The other thing that is important to understand, is that this does not tell the government what web sites you have been visiting. That information exists only in two places: on your computer (in your web browser history), and on the access logs of each individual web site you visit - that information is decentralized and distributed across thousands of computers on the Internet. The government would have to issue subpoenas to every web site in the world to try to reconstruct it. I can assure you that is not practical, and it has never been done. Thus EFF’s claim that this law “lets the government force ISPs to spy on you” is laughable, and grossly inaccurate.

A requirement that ISPs keep this information for 18 months facilitates law enforcement and to my mind is perfectly reasonable. Given the facts above, it can be time consuming for law enforcement to track down actual criminal activity on the Internet. 18 months is not burdensome. (Some previous versions of this same requirement in other legislation were for 5 years).

My conclusion is that the EFF has been taken over by folks who happily hyperventilate and attempt to scare people into doing their bidding. It’s sad.

So, don’t contribute to the scare!

Now, there may be valid reasons to oppose this bill - the bill creates a new Federal crime of “Financial facilitation of access to child pornography”, with hooks in the money laundering code. This may or may not be a good idea. But let’s at least oppose the bill for the right reasons - for real reasons - and not unfounded scare-tactics.

Ok, everyone who loves pages of legalese and tricky fine print to subscribe to what ought to be basic services, raise your hand.

Right, you guys who are the in-house counsel and marketing dweebs for Qwest and Comcast, you can leave the room now, we’re not talking to you.

When I say “fine print”, I’m talking everything that makes the great deal you’ve just been promised, not so great. For example: you get a $99/mo price on a TV/internet/phone triple-play, which is great. But then quietly, after 6 months, the price quietly goes to $150.00/mo (that was in the fine print). And since you’re an existing subscriber, you can’t take advantage of promotions (more fine print). And you threaten to cancel and maybe they back down and let you do it, or you find a way to get around the restrictions by ordering cable TV in your dog’s name. We’ve all played these games.

But what kind of customer relationship is that? What kind of way is that to run a company? We promise the world *.

*- What we really mean is, unless, if, and in case.

Building in from day one to your customer relationship a scenario where most of them are guaranteed to get pissed off, does not seem to me to be a strategy for long-term relationships.
foreThought.net’s current customers have had service with us an average of over 7 years (we’ve been in business for 16 years). We would not have that kind of customer loyalty if we randomly and quietly increased prices as our “reward” for customer loyalty.

With the mass-market advent of Cloud Computing, we should take this time to evaluate data center needs.

I’m going to call a Cloud-focused datacenter a Nimbus:

Cumulonimbus (Cb) is a low to middle level cloud with considerable vertical development (family D2) that is tall, dense, and involved in thunderstorms and other inclement weather. Cumulonimbus originates from Latin: Cumulus “accumulated” and nimbus “rain”. It is a result of atmospheric instability. These clouds can form alone, in clusters, or along a cold front in a squallline. They create lightning through the heart of the cloud. Cumulonimbus clouds form from cumulus clouds (namely fromcumulus congestus) and can further develop into a supercell, a severe thunderstorm with special features.

And they contain a great deal of power. I think it suits!

So let’s review the key aspects of Cloud Computing and see how it impacts the design of a Nimbus.

High Density

This is an existing trend, amplified greatly. Dell has inexpensive servers that can put 960 processor cores in a single rack - that’s 2.1 Terahertz of processing capacity, which could serve 10,000 hosted desktops or more. Ten such racks in a Nimbus could provide all the computing needs for entire cities.

Fire Suppression

A system that shuts down the whole Nimbus, such as typical FM200 systems, is unworkable. Instead, utilize per-cabinet fire sensors with ability to alarm and remotely power down a rack. VMs in the rack can be hot-migrated to other racks in seconds, before the shutdown.

Access and physical security

In retail businesses, it’s all about the real estate - Location, Location, Location. But in Cloud Computing, this equation is altered dramatically.
There is never a need for end-users to physically visit a Nimbus. This dramatically alters security considerations: cages, key cards every time you turn around, special locking cabinets, video cameras, on-site security guards, little booties to cover your shoes, biometric sensors - these are all very expensive components that are simply not necessary in a Nimbus.
We can locate Nimbi without consideration for convenience of visitors - parking, physical proximity to customer, etc. A Nimbus could be 60 miles outside a major metro area. Anywhere, really, so long as it is proximate to a fiber ring.
We can put Nimbi close to the end-users. A Colorado ring could provide a Nimbus in Durango serving Durango, with hot backups and disaster recovery in Denver. Or vice-versa.

Power

Cloud Computing, through virtualization and consolidation of computational tasks, can be radically more efficient. While power density is proportional to the computational density, and so would be very high in a Nimbus, total power use is lower and more predictable.

Power doesn’t have to be as reliable in a Nimbus as in a traditional data center. If there is a power failure, the UPS can trigger a migration of VMs to backup data centers, and have this complete before the power fails.

Size

As a real estate business, traditional colocation data centers have significant economies of scale given some of the infrastructure requirements, security, so some existing data centers are enormous. Also, existing data centers basically sell space by the square foot. So the more square feet, the better. Given the density potential of a Nimbus, however, there is no need to have huge data centers. There is actually significant benefit to geographically dispersing Cloud Computing infrastructure among a large number of small (under 1000 ft) Nimbi.
We can spread Nimbi in areas with inexpensive real estate and cheap power. (We can, in fact, site Nimbi in areas where they can self-generate most of their power). Many traditional data centers have a high proportion of wasted space. We reduce rent, by not paying for real estate that doesn’t directly generate revenue.

Redundancy and Disaster Recovery

This architecture for Nimbi provides a high level of diversity for disaster recovery.

Single massive datacenters can and do fail — EV1Servers in Texas had the best of the best infrastructure, but when their transformer exploded, thousands of customers were down for 3 days.

A highly diverse network of Nimbi would provide rock star redundancy and reliability without any special application awareness required.

Summary

A network of Nimbi - small powerful computational nodes - can provide the computational services the market needs while minimizing cost and waste.

“Cloud Computing” or “Utility Computing” are among the biggest buzzwords in the technology industry right now. But what do they mean?

FORETHOUGHT.net has developed its vision of Cloud Computing.

Like your electricity which comes from numerous power generators connected to the “Grid” (i.e., the power distribution network), cloud computing uses the Internet to connect you to computing nodes. These computing nodes could be anywhere in the world - or, even more likely - distributed around the world.

One of the Cloud’s enabling technologies is virtualization. Server virtualization technologies such as VMware and XenServer enable virtual computer environments to be independent of hardware. In fact, a virtual server can be migrated - live, and without disruption - between different physical servers. Your server’s “brain” could move from Los Angeles to New York in seconds, with no perceivable down time to you.

This key technology allows vastly improved reliability, uptime, and data security than previous computing models.

Virtualization also allows you to instantly add RAM or Disk storage to your server, often without even having to reboot your virtual server.

Gone are the days of downtime due to a hard drive failure, or a roof leak shutting down your data closet, or painful, expensive upgrades between operating system versions. Dedicate a virtual server to each of your.

The second key component of Cloud Computing is a shift in the software industry, away from expensive one-time license fees, and to small fixed monthly fees for software rental. Indeed, virtually all Microsoft software is now available to rent: the full Microsoft Office suite is available for $15.00 per month per user, or less, and this gives one access to the latest, greatest versions all the time. Why pay thousands of dollars per user every 3 years when you can simply rent it?

With the advent of Cloud Computing, there is no more reason for you to host your own servers in your office than there is for you to host your own web site, or your own phone system. These are all simply applications which can be delivered to you over the Internet.

And finally, with desktop virtualization technology, computing for individual users can be hosted in a professional data center instead of on a desk. By hosting desktops, we solve many traditional IT challenges such as user data backups, user security, remote access, downtime, and the expense of rolling out new computers to your whole organization every 3 years.

For one view into our vision, imagine the following capabilities and benefits of our Cloud services to your organization:

* Affordable, Fortune-500, Enterprise-Grade IT Services for any size organization
* Scale cost effectively and with Fortune-500 Reliability
* Never outgrow your IT infrastructure again. Most services can be scaled, instantly, online with no disruption.
* New services and servers can be deployed in seconds
* No more waiting for new hardware to ship. No more expense, hassle, disruption of your office for upgrades. Moving to a new office is a snap.
* No more lost productivity due to server failure: all hosted services are fault tolerant. In the event of server failure, service is switched to backups in seconds with little or no disruption.
* If the Internet goes down, you can be running again in seconds using a backup 4G, DSL, or Cable connection.
* A’la Carte - use only the services you need.
* Stop buying and throwing away computers every few years. Turn old computers into high-performance thin clients, forever.
* Expert Management available for all services

We can put almost every IT component into the cloud: mail servers, file servers, desktops, web/ftp/application servers, firewall and VPN. All backed up, with instant failover and fault tolerance, and with inexpensive software rental that lets you immediately scale your IT costs along with your headcount.

Our plan is to bundle our Cloud platform with our Metro Ethernet services, providing unique capabilities compared to pure “over the top” Cloud services.

As IT professionals, what are some of the challenges you see in deploying Cloud Computing to your users?

Term contracts are a part of the telecom landscape. There’s no way to avoid them, really - it’s very capital-intensive to install and turn up new telecommunications services, so companies like FORETHOUGHT.net require a minimum term in order to make sure we can get that investment back, and make a profit.

When our contracts expire, they go month-to-month.

But there are still telecom companies out there that have contract clauses that automatically renew your service agreement for a year or even for the original term, possibly up to three years, unless you cancel within a narrow time window. These clauses are known as “auto-renewal” clauses, though I’ve heard of them as “greenfield” clauses too.

These terms are purely for the carrier’s benefit, and what they do is put incredible time pressure on you, the customer, to quickly make a decision. Many of these auto-renew clauses only give you a 30-day window. You can’t cancel before, and you can’t cancel afterward! It’s like having a high-pressure salesman baked into the agreement. And it’s tricky. It’s usually buried in the fine-print of the contract, and the sales reps never point it out. It’s in their interest to have you virtually locked in forever, except for small windows.

Something these companies don’t like you to know, however, is that most of them will strike those clauses if you request it.

Although sometimes it depends on the sales rep. I recently had to argue extensively with one carrier who tried to stick us with an auto-renew clause. I said, “I won’t sign this, all of our other carriers have agreed to remove auto-renew language, I need you to as well.”, and I got back a slew of the most ridiculous rationalizations I’ve ever heard, for why it was in my interest to have the auto-renew. Well, I stood my ground and took it to the sales manager, and got it removed.

So, be wary! Read your telecom agreements carefully! And don’t put up with any guff. Demand that your contract go month-to-month when its term is up.

(FORETHOUGHT.net has never, and never will, use ‘auto-renew’ language. Once the term is over we will earn your business anew, every single month).