Can P2P applications learn to play fair on networks?

Sun Oct 21 18:34:52 UTC 2007

* Sean Donelan:

> On Sun, 21 Oct 2007, Mikael Abrahamsson wrote:
>> If your network cannot handle the traffic, don't offer the services.
>
> So your recommendation is that universities, enterprises and ISPs
> simply stop offering all Internet service because a few particular
> application protocols are badly behaved?

I think a lot of companies implement OOB controls to curb P2P traffic,
and those controls remain in place even without congestion on the
network.  It's like making sure that nobody uses the company plotter to
print posters.

In my experience, a permanently congested network isn't fun to work
with, even if most of the flows are long-living and TCP-compatible.  The
lack of proper congestion control is kind of a red herring, IMHO.