"Does TCP Need an Overhaul?" (internetevolution, via slashdot)

Mon Apr 7 10:29:05 UTC 2008

Kevin Day wrote:
> Yeah, I guess the point I was trying to make is that once you throw 
> SACK into the equation you lose the assumption that if you drop TCP 
> packets, TCP slows down. Before New Reno, fast-retransmit and SACK 
> this was true and very easy to model. Now you can drop a considerable 
> number of packets and TCP doesn't slow down very much, if at all. If 
> you're worried about data that your clients are downloading you're 
> either throwing away data from the server (which is wasting bandwidth 
> getting all the way to you) or throwing away your clients' ACKs. Lost 
> ACKs do almost nothing to slow down TCP unless you've thrown them 
> *all* away.
If this was true surely it would mean that drop models such WRED/RED are 
becoming useless?

Sam