[e2e] Small packets - Definition needed..

[Detlef Bosau]

Christian Huitema wrote:
>> Dah Ming Chiu wrote:
>>     
>>> A natural reason for discussing "small" vs "large" packets is
>>>       
>> concerned
>>     
>>> with the packet header overhead, as several people suggested.  For
>>>       
>> Yes. There is a tradeoff between packet lenght and header size. That´s
>> well known.
>>     
>
> There is another dimension, besides overhead. It has to do with queue management and you of course now that the Internet is made of a big collection of tubes through which the information flows. The packet size affects how your packets are going to flow in "the tubes". Small packets flow like sand, big ones like rocks.
>
>   

And that again depends on the technology in use. On a slow modem line a 
5000 byte packet, if allowed at all, is similar to Ayers Rock.  In a 10 
Tbps network, its finest sand not to say nearly water ;-) I think, the 
temporal length is important here to see what jitter can be caused by 
packets of a certain size.

Detlef