[ NNSquad ] Re: Characterizing broadband networks without client software

[Brett Glass <nnsquad@brettglass.com>]

At 11:26 AM 11/24/2007, Bob Frankston wrote:

> What makes it especially interesting is the sense that broadband 
> is provisioned using traditional network/telephony thinking.

I disagree. We actually developed our own methods of provisioning 
our networks and shaping our traffic on our own -- based on what 
the majority of our customers wanted.

> I'm trying to figure out how to articulate it but concepts like 
> traffic shaping and even MPLS would seem to bias the network 
> towards a particular kind of traffic. This is the insidious bias 
> I've mentioned in the past.

It isn't insidious.... It's necessary. If you don't shape the 
traffic, your users will -- by exhausting the available bandwidth 
with things like P2P piracy, leaving none for other users' legal 
and more urgent applications.

> With the descriptions of the queue delays you get a sense that 
> managing scarce resources that is deeply embedded and implicit in 
> the psyche of these network planners.

Naturally. It's vital to our business.

> You also get a sense of the consequences of building on top of 
> tradition networks as in the delays waiting for your slot in the TDM stream.

Actually, "waiting for your slot in the TDM stream" costs nothing 
-- just a small bit of latency. What's more insidious is the "bit 
tax" imposed by ATM and similar protocols. (IP imposes less 
overhead on data but much more on voice, making it a poor choice 
for voice communications. But people are forcing the Internet model 
onto telephony, which IMHO is as much a mistake as some people 
claim the reverse to be.)

> If you look at 3G cellular architecture (there was a fine issue of 
> IEEE Communications on EVDO a while back) you see similar the 
> policies built in below the IP layer that limit the use of the 
> network as simple infrastructure.

People's needs aren't simple. And one size does not fit all.

--Brett Glass

    [ This thread can continue for a bit so long as it
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                          NNSquad Moderator ]