Server T1 backbone problems

[Robert Dinse <nanook@eskimo.com>]

     This problem affected access to our servers between sometime early this
morning and about 9:50AM.  It didn't isolate the servers but it would have
slowed things down as this was a loss of half of our bandwidth for the servers. 

     Some time last night, someone it would seem at US West because they
provide the access circuit; put our CSU/DSU for one of our Sprint T1's in
loopback. 

     This has been an ongoing problem recently; we know the CSU/DSU isn't
spontaneously going into loopback because I have rolled it with another circuit
and the problem stays with the circuit.

     A couple of possibilities exist; someone at US West may have a service
order with the wrong info on it and are getting into our circuit; there may be
a noise problem automatically generating tickets resulting in testing; or there
may be some fault in a DACS switch or SMAS access switch, and there are other
possibilities.

     I talked to a Sprint engineer today and they are working with US West to
identify the cause and correct it.