iOS 7 update traffic

Joe Abley jabley at hopcount.ca
Thu Sep 19 18:42:12 UTC 2013


On 2013-09-19, at 14:11, Warren Bailey <wbailey at satelliteintelligencegroup.com> wrote:

> I don't see how operators could tolerate this, honestly. I can't think of a single provider who does not oversubscribe their access platform... Which leads me to this question :
> 
> Why does apple feel it is okay to send every mobile device an update on a single day?

How is this different from the flash crowds caused by hockey championships, or football games, or any of the other things that generate a lot of simultaneous interest every once in a while?

> Never mind the fact that we are we ones on the last mile responsible for getting it to their customers, 1gb per sub is pretty serious.. Why are they not caching at their head ends, dslams, etc?

Given that the code is signed, I'm surprised that iDevices that have already upgraded the hard way don't advertise a "update available" service on local networks. Individual devices don't care where the updates come from, so long as the signatures are good.

You'd think that'd have the potential to improve the user experience as well as avoid jamming the tubes, especially in highly multi-user environments like university campuses; it could probably halve the network load in a significant number of home networks, too.


Joe





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