NONE: ONLINE-ADS>> WB '97#4: If You Have a Good ISP, Keep Your Mouth Shut
ONLINE-ADS>> WB '97#4: If You Have a Good ISP, Keep Your Mouth Shut
rhoy_at_tenagra.com
Fri, 13 Jun 1997 15:16:21 -0500 (CDT)
This is the fourth in a series of 10 reports from Richard Hoy
covering the Web Broadcasting '97 conference. You will receive
these reports in addition to your normal Online Ads posts/digests.
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Web Broadcasting '97 coverage
June 13, 1997 / Issue 4
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If You Have a Good ISP, Keep Your Mouth Shut
Session:
The Truth about Bandwidth: When, What & How Much
speakers:
Cary Lu, Ph.D., Columnist
Inc. Magazine
Omar Ahmad, Director of Media Technology
_at_ Home Network
Bruce Nelson, Chief Science Officer
Cisco Systems
Good internet service providers are not things
you want to share, according to Cary Lu.
Good service providers quickly become bad service
providers once too many people start using them.
Lu's advice hit on one of the core issues facing
the Internet, and the telecommunications system
in general - there are too many of us doing too
much.
He pointed out that the telephone system was
designed with the belief that only 10 percent
of it would be in use at any one time. It was
designed for voice, in which information
gets sent in short 'spurts' of time. In the
case of Internet access, people are often
connected from several minutes to several hours.
The bottom line is someone needs to pay for
upgrades, but it isn't going to happen at the
price point of $20 per month for unlimited access.
Lu was the first of three panelists who spoke
about the ins and outs of bandwith.
The second speaker, Omar Ahmad, conceded there
are big problems. And we as publishers need to
understand that attention, not information, is
the primary currency on the Internet.
Ahmad feels that the bandwidth problems we
currently face are solvable over the next one
to three years with a mix of technologies. He
outlined what he saw as the major problems
with the Internet:
1.) The backbone connections aren't big enough.
2.) There is no 'intelligence' in the way packets
are routed.
3.) The operating systems and protocols are being
asked to do things they were not meant to do.
4.) The Metropolitan Area Exchange, or MAEs, (the
major hubs on the Internet) are weak.
5.) The tools for managing networks and servers
are just above 'rock and fire.'
But the inefficency isn't just limited to the
network. Ahmad pointed out that many web servers
run on what he termed "Macguyver Mechanics" -
hacks, tweaks and patchs that result in less than
optimum performance.
Also, unanticipated surges in traffic can cause
problems. Ahmad recounted a story of having lunch
with three of the system administrators from CNN
Interactive on the day the OJ Simpson verdict was
announced. At the moment the verdict was announced,
all three of the administrators' beepers when off
as the server slowly melted under the strain caused
by huge numbers of visits. The CNN web site was
down for awhile as a result.
To make sure you are not the chokepoint, Ahmad
offered some advice from his days as a webmaster
for the Discovery Channel site. He suggests a box
with lots of RAM; fast I/O performance
between your disks, processor and network; and a
fast web server. In high-traffic sites, you will
may need multiple boxes connected in an array.
Bruce Nelson, the last to share his views, said
that if you are going to push data, it makes
sense to move your data as close to the users
as possible. This translates into identifying how
your data will transverse the Internet, then
placing a server site (and possibly multiple
server sites) to avoid bottlenecks between you
and your audience.
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Reporting provided by Richard Hoy, moderator of
the Online Advertising Discussion List
http://www.o-a.com
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