Can a Cisco Router Swim?

In one word: yes.

But first, the intro statement. I really like this list. I don't contribute much to it, but I do learn a lot from it, so thank you, everyone who bothers to post and answer. But how about we depart for just a second from the "how-do-you-do-this" and "has-anyone-done-this" type questions? Let me tell you a story.

My colleague, Herb, and I are network managers, specializing in the care and feeding of a router net. Last year, the building which houses our computer center underwent major renovation. One day, a large department that shares our site lost their access to the WAN. Seeing that I could not telnet to the router, even though it was via the ethernet, I got with Harry-the-Cable-Guy, so we could go check the transceiver, which I figured was bad AGAIN.

Harry brought his sidekick, Tom-the-Cable-Guy-in-Training, and all three of us made our way into the bowels of the building, arriving at the little room where the transceiver was. Jeez, what a mess! The construction workers were hosing down something or other on the floor above, and the water was even then still dripping down into the room in which we were standing. And some bonehead had pulled up the computer floor sections, exposing the darn Transceiver to the shower from above! 'Hah!' said I to Harry and Tom. 'There ya have it.' But when I looked at Harry and Tom, I saw that they were not even looking at the transceiver. They were staring speechlessly at something else. I followed their eyes, and beheld the router itself, an AGS+, sitting on a little table. There was water all around in, on top of it, inside it, and water still pouring down onto it from the ceiling.

I remember screaming. I remember that Tom screamed, too. I recall that Harry simply stared, his jaw thudding to the floor. After I stopped screaming, I turned off the power, laid my hands on the AGS+, and tipped it to one side. Water poured out of the vents. I recall screaming again.

Disaster recovery is inspirational. Harry and Tom recabled things to our backup AGS+, and I handled the programming. We got the isolated nets back up.

Later, Herb and I had the drowned AGS+ on our workbench. "Not hard to see what happened," said Herb. "Here's the water line on the inside of AGS housing. Once the water reached this level, the cisco cut off, as it should. Problem is, that jet-engine fan here blew moisture all over the inside before power cut off. You can see that water damage has affected all internal components."

We've had better days.

Weeeeeelllllll...the insurance company wouldn't pay for a new router. Their argument was that (1) the router was already old and (2) why the heck was such a critical network component sitting out in the open in that particular part of the building, when all other components were in more secure areas and properly protected? (They had a point). In the end, we sent the router out to an electro firm that said they could do a thorough internal cleaning, and the insurance picked up the tab for that.

The cleaning job was pretty good, I must say, but Herb and I were skeptical. With such delicate components, could we really be sure that there wouldn't, at some time, be some kind of hardware failure? Could one really trust that router's reliability again?

We shelved it and moved to other things.

Then one fine day, our router pool emptied out. Router demand within our network, just like network traffic itself, is bursty. It would be a few weeks before we could expect the next shipment to arrive. And then we got a frantic call for a router to go to Berlin, where some really critical connection needed activating YESTERDAY. Could we do it? "No way," I said. "No routers. Very sorry." But when the project manager cried and begged, we appreciated how urgent it was. What could we do? After we frantically discussed alternatives (even 3-AM-Router-Salvage -- don't ask), we just couldn't see a way.

And then, as if it was fate, our eyes were drawn to the shelf where our drowned AGS+ still sat. We looked at each other, and simultaneously answered, "Nah!"

There followed a flurry of activity...

DAN: We are NOT sending this questionable piece of equipment out for something as important as THIS.

HERB: [getting the AGS+ off the shelf] That would be a mistake, all right.

DAN: [clearing a spot on the workbench] It would be mad.

HERB: [setting the AGS+ down and attaching the cable to the console port] That it would.

DAN: [firing up Procomm+] We are NOT doing this.

HERB: [examining the parameters for the job] Of course we're not.

DAN: [configuring] We're just practicing.

HERB: [checking the config] Practice makes perfect.

DAN: [selecting a box and packing materials] We're just dreaming, even.

HERB: [setting the router in the box] Or having a nightmare.

DAN: [sealing the box] Good thing we're not REALLY doing this.

HERB: [affixing the address label] Good thing indeed. Grab the other side.

[We carried the box to the shipping department and turned it over to the nice guys there.]

DAN: We don't really want this sent.

HERB: Absolutely not.

SHIPPING GUY: You boys ill today?

The router arrived and went online. It stayed online for six months, after which we replaced it with a permanent one. During that entire time, Herb and I assured each other that we had certainly NOT sent out a questionable router for such a critical job, and we affirmed that we would, of course, NEVER do such a thing. And the whole time, the packets flowed, and the router failed not, and things were peachy.

We have big plans for our drowned AGS+: a CSC/4 processor, flash memory, 9.21 software... But no more swims. Nope nope. Nice to know that we COULD take it swimming if we wanted to, but we'll just keep it dry if it's all right with you, thanks.

All things considered, I'd say Cisco has some damn good routers. :)

last update: 27 December 1997