[e2e] Net-unfriendly solutions (was Is a non-TCP solution dead?)

[Armando L. Caro Jr.]

Not to re-start an old (and long) thread, but this mail is a side-note to
one of Alex's mails...

On Mon Mar 31 22:57:08 2003, Alex Cannara wrote:
> I found it interesting some years ago, when consulting for a large storage
> apps company, that their TCP traffic was violating most TCP rules -- no
> slow start, window shutdowns ignored...  It was amazing to watch with a
> Sniffer(r) the vast data rates they achieved among big Sun servers.  I was
> ready to list the violations as problems with their stacks when one of
> their development guys explained that they knew enough about how the OS
> handled IP that they didn't need to use the kludges added to TCP to
> 'protect' the net.  Many on this list have likely used this vendor's
> systems in one way or another.

What worries me is how much praise such violations receive. Network World
(issue 04/21/03) has an article that praises a startup
called Netli, which has developed a producted called NetLightning.
NetLightning is a CDN architecture which essentially establishes three
transport layer connections: (1) client to local VDC (Virtual Data
Center), (2) local VDC to remote AAP (Application Access Point), and (3)
remote AAP to HTTP server. Connections (1) and (3) use the normal
HTTP/TCP, but connection (3) uses Netli's prioprietary transport protocol.

According to Netli, their transport protocol "uses the reliable, secure,
and network-friendly techniques of TCP, but is enhanced to provide optimal
performance for communication between a VDC in one geographic region and
an AAP in another." However, Tim Greene of Network World reports more
details which reveal just how network-friendly Netli's protocol is. For
example, Greene reports "that the [Netli] protocol can reduce from 31 to
two the number of round-trip interactions needed to send a 70K byte Web
page with 25 objects on it." Also, the Netli Protocol "eliminates the
slow-start feature of TCP," because "these and other refinements of TCP
reduce the time it takes to download pages and to interact with Web
applications."

NetLightning could become a problem if it becomes deployed as widely as
Alkami's CDN technology. With customers such as HP and investors such as
Nokia, it is likely that NetLightning will spread and Netli's competitors
will adopt similar techniques.

FYI: Netli are present at the Networld+Interop in Las Vegas, and they have
a marketing talk today at 2pm PST.

Network World Article:
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0421netli.html

Netli's Website:
www.netli.com

~armando

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| Armando L. Caro Jr.      |  Protocol Engineering Lab |
| www.cis.udel.edu/~acaro  |    University of Delaware |
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