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

Fri Jun 27 21:16:26 UTC 1997

Jack Rickard writes:
> webcentric.  From an end users perspective, what does a web site on a
> specific network look like and how does that compare to a web site on
> another network?

Ok, so that's what you have (possibly -- there are many variables)
measured.  So if I want to have a web site hosted on a shared web
server, then this measurement might possibly be useful to me.

But if I am looking for someone to sell my company a T1 connection,
and I want to do my own web hosting, then this information would be
nearly useless.  There are many factors which would affect the
performance of a provider's web site but which would have no effect
whatsoever on the performance of a T1 connection from the provider.
For example:
	- the hardware the web server runs on
	- the software and its configuration on the web server
	- the load on the web server
	- the characteristics of the LAN to which the web
		server is connected

The report says "Keynote decided to measure a backbone provider's own
public web server on the assumption that the provider would locate its
own server in the best-performing hosting location for that provider."
Do all the providers listed even provide web-hosting as a service?

All this makes the title "Internet Backbone Index" very misleading.
If you had called it "Internet Web Service Index" that would be a
much better description of what you have measured.

Catherine Foulston      cathyf at rice.edu      Rice University Network Management
p.s.  I don't work for any of the listed providers.