"Packet Shapers"

Thu Jul 30 19:29:45 UTC 1998

We [COLT Internet] are using the packeteer PS-4000 and it does 
everything that the spec says we filled up a 100M ethernet with
several streams of data and it worked very well.

Cheers,
Neil.

> 
> I was wondering if anybody out there has had any experience with "Packet
> Shapers," which claim to be able to limit traffic to a particular host,
> host+port, or host+port+url without dropping packets.  They apparently watch
> traffic flows and keep track of connections, then dink around with TCP
> window size information to slow traffic down if needed.
> 
> The one we have been looking at is called "The Packeteer"
> (http://www.packeteer.com), but I have seen a few others (one of which had a
> really good picture of a pig in the ad).
> 
> Do these things work as advertised?  Is anybody actively using them inside
> their networks?  I don't know enough down-and-dirty information about TCP to
> know if this should work, or if it's just a plastic shell filled with
> snake-oil...
> 
> Thanks for any information.  Email if you like, I will post a summary if
> people are interested.
> 
> ------Scott.
> 
> 

-- 
Neil J. McRae. Alive and Kicking.       Domino: In the glow of the night.
neil at DOMINO.ORG        NetBSD/sparc: 100% SpF (Solaris protection Factor) 
  Free the daemon in your <A HREF="http://www.NetBSD.ORG/">computer!</A>