Keynote/Boardwatch Internet Backbone Index A better test!!!

Fri Jun 27 20:11:51 UTC 1997

Gene Shklar wrote:
> 
> Thanks for the suggestions. We're considering doing a follow-up and perhaps making
> this a regular feature every 2 or 4 months thereafter. We've received a few suggestions
> for methodology changes/enhancements, and also several emails so far denouncing our
> methodology but not explaining why (which is typical of people in many areas -- politics,
> the environment, economics, whatever -- who disagree emotionally but not intellectually
> with the conclusions of a study).

My disagreement isn't based on emotion.  If you had followed the thread
you would have
picked up on the point that under _most_ circumstances, the
ISP/NSP/IXP's web servers
are typically _not_ on the fastest part of their network.  They leave
this space for
revenue generating customers.

> 
> The current methodology generally shows how a web site connected to a particular
> backbone appears to the general internet population of users. The results are intended
> to be a guide (but not the only one) for helping web sites select or evaluate a collocation,
> hosting, or access provider.
> 

Your going to need cooperation from these sites to put a resource in
their colo space
not use their web server.  A better way to tackle this would be to
solicit the cooperation
of one or two of their actual customers who provide a service from that
backbone.

> Your methodology suggestion would be useful to include because its results would also help
> end-users select their dial-up ISPs based on the backbone that those ISPs are connected
> to.

I highly doubt this will really help anyone pick an ISP correctly.  It
doesn't show
the most annoying side of the equation; getting connected.  What is the
ISP user to
modem ratio?  What is their customer to bandwidth ration?  etc.  I doubt
the average
joe-user will even think or ask this.

I don't have an issue with somebody trying to provide QoS info about
ISP/NSP etc, but
you can't do it just by downloading 56k of data.  There is a lot more to
it.  How
do each segments behave with differing packet sizes, etc.  Fragmentation
will take its
toll.  I could go on but I should do some real work.

> 
> Gene Shklar
> --------------------------------------------------------
> Gene Shklar                     GeneShklar at keynote.com
> Keynote Systems, Inc.           voice   (415) 524-3011
> Two West Fifth Avenue           fax     (415) 524-3099
> San Mateo, CA 94402             main #  (415) 524-3000
> http://www.keynote.com
> 
> "A great Internet application experience is all a matter
> of customer perspective."
> 
> ----------
> From:   Peter Cole[SMTP:Peter.Cole at telescan.com]
> Sent:   Friday, June 27, 1997 10:57 AM
> To:     nanog at merit.edu
> Cc:     marketing at keynote.com
> Subject:        RE: Keynote/Boardwatch Internet Backbone Index  A better test!!!
> 
> I would like to see the test run again with the following change.
> 
> >From each provider test the response time of the other 28 sites and not
> the providers own web server.  Then average the response times for these
> other 28 web servers and report that average response time from that
> provider.  The providers with good connectivity to the rest of the net
> should have lower average response time.
> 
> P.S. One might also be interested in the top one hundred web sites
> average response time.
> 
> Peter Cole   of   Telescan, Inc.       (281)588-9155
> Better computing through lack of sleep.
> 
> > ----------
> > From:         Golan Ben-Oni[SMTP:bnite at tremere.ios.com]
> > Sent:         Thursday, June 26, 1997 3:53 PM
> > To:   nanog at merit.edu
> > Subject:      Keynote/Boardwatch Internet Backbone Index
> >
> > For shits and grins:
> >
> > http://www.keynote.com/measures/backbones/backbones.html
> >
> > -Golan
> >

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Peter E. Giza || Technical Consultant || ADSmart Corporation
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