What is the limit? (was RE: multi-homing fixes)

Wed Aug 29 14:41:09 UTC 2001

On Wed, Aug 29, 2001 at 10:06:48AM -0400, Leo Bicknell wrote:
> 
> On Wed, Aug 29, 2001 at 04:58:03AM -0700, Sean M. Doran wrote:
> > If the size or the dynamicism of the global routing system grows
> > for a sustained period faster than the price/performance curve of
> > EITHER memory OR processing power, the Internet will FAIL again.
> 
> Routers, in terms of route processing ability, are about as far from
> state of the art as computers get these days.

To the extent that this is true, and to the extent that router
vendors can and are willing to fix the problem, and to the extent
that ISPs can and are willing to deploy the new gear, and to the
extent that the overall problem is fixable by making the nodes that
make up the entire system faster, this is only a one-shot fix.

Sean's point is still true - to the extent that the system grows
faster than Moore's law, we are still sunk.

If the problem is growing at Y/year and the elements that make up
the system can grow at Z/year, then if Y>Z, you will have problems
at some point.

You have to figure out how to make the work that the elements of
the system are handing grow no faster (and preferably slower) than
the elements themselves can grow.

If the overall

	--asp at partan.com (Andrew Partan)