[e2e] Why do we need TCP flow control (rwnd)?

[guol@cs.bu.edu]

> Good rant.
>
> And I coudln't agree more.
>
> Only one problem remains.... And that's a very honest question:
> If we agree upon some facts:
> - Poisson processes and Markov prossesses are of little use in
> networking research,

I don't think this has been agreed upon. I believe the concensus is that
Markovian model under-estimates variability existing in the current
Internet/human behavior. But these processes are definitely very valuable
in that they give ways to estimate, at least qualitatively, the effect of
variability to networking systems.

> - Analysis is not really helpful (and frankly spoken, I hardly believe
> those analytical TCP models, which are around),

Again I think they are very helpful to get insights

> - Simulation can prove anything and nothing,

Simulation is for validating results or for discovering problems, not for
proving something.

> - Observation is not reproducible and not systematic,
> so, if we agree upon the fact, that research on networking is basically
> impossible, _how_ can we accomplish research on networking then?
>
> It's of course allowed - and it's always scientifically correct to do so
> - to put in question anything we have.
> But if we only see blind alleys, how do we find a way out?
>
>
>
> --
> Detlef Bosau                          Mail:  detlef.bosau at web.de
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>