Heavy Networking 513: How The Internet Is Handling The Covid-19 Load

As stay-at-home orders came down from governments around the world, questions arose about whether the Internet would be able to handle the load from hoards of remote workers, online schooling, and an increase in the consumption of streaming services from people stuck at home.
Today’s Heavy Networking looks at the impact of Covid-19 on Internet usage and capacity with two guests with front-row views: Neil McRae, Senior Leader at British Telecom and a board member of the London Internet Exchange; and Dave Temkin, VP of Infrastructure at Netflix and founder of Community IX.
We discuss:

* Changing traffic patterns
* Differences between average and peak traffic and why that matters
* Why enterprise traffic is less of a factor than you might expect
* Potential areas of concern
* The role of human collaboration in running the global Internet
* The impact on mobile networks and 5G
* More

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Show Links:
Dave Temkin on Twitter
Neil McRae on Twitter
Internet Usage Measurements in the Time of Corona – RIPE Labs
Global Network Traffic (COVID-19) – Google Slides

Om Podcasten

Heavy Networking is an unabashedly nerdy dive into all things networking. Described by one listener as "verbal white papers," the weekly episodes feature network engineers, industry experts, and vendors sharing useful information to keep your professional knowledge sharp and your career growing. Hosts Greg Ferro, Ethan Banks and Drew Conry-Murray cut through the marketing spin to explore what works—and what doesn't—in networking today, while keeping an eye on what's ahead for the industry. On air since 2010, Heavy Networking is the flagship show of the Packet Pushers podcast network.