Internet as delay line memory?

From: John Foust <jfoust_at_threedee.com>
Date: Thu May 13 12:17:15 1999

At 06:24 PM 5/13/99 +1, Hans Franke wrote:
>
>The idea is nice, using the net like a bubble memory, but capacy
>is rather small, since any delayed loop storage is determinated
>by bandwidth and trip time.

No, capacity is limited by the total latency, isn't it? If we arranged
a long chain of computers that did nothing but relay packets, the
latency time goes up. A packet might take an hour to return for
"regeneration". Yes, write speed is limited by your outgoing
connection. Read speed is dependent on the round-trip time.
Data capacity of the entire chain is linked to the transmission
speeds, but other factors as well. Do I have this right?

>If we now add a delay time for roundtrip of eight seconds (prety
>high - 1s would be more realistic), we just get along with 1 Mega-
>byte of storage.

You're estimating based on 'ping' or 'traceroute' times, but I'm
talking about deliberately maximizing the delay between computers.
That raises the storage with every link, no?

- John
Received on Thu May 13 1999 - 12:17:15 BST