Re: worth reading -- QOS Author is Motorola, Chief Software Architect

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Christian Huitema [huitema () windows microsoft com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 4:12 PM
To: David Farber
Cc: Tony Lauck
Subject: RE: [IP] Re:   worth reading --  QOS  Author is Motorola, Chief Software Architect

I think Tony Lauck hits the nail on the head.

> From an application point of view, a network can be in three states. The network resource can be such that the 
> application is expected to work, and generally works without any particular kind of provisions. The network resource 
> can be such that the application is not expected to work, no matter what level of management is applied. And in the 
> third state, the application may or may not work, and actually might work if network managers tried hard to push other 
> applications aside.

Streaming video from a web site is an example of the application that is expected to work, if you bought a "broadband" 
connection. On the other hand, full duplex peer-to-peer high definition video calls are not expected to work. 
Peer-to-peer "camcorder" quality video calls are "almost" expected to work, and thus fall in the third category, the 
category in which QOS might perhaps be useful, albeit only for a very limited time.

Tony rightfully points the relation between expectations and Moore's law. The three categories will remain over time, 
but the example applications will change. Just ten years ago, we would not have expected video streaming to almost 
always work. Ten years from now, there will be enough bandwidth for HD video calls to work almost all the time, using 
the default "best effort" service. Ten years from now, there will still be applications that are not expected to work, 
maybe something like high definition holographic transmission. But if we wait another few years, these applications too 
will become routine, and others will emerge as the new frontier.

The key requirement of sane policies is to not closeout the future. Computers and networks are expected to continuously 
improve. Applications that require special provisioning today are expected to become routine tomorrow. Let's not assume 
that these applications have a magic relation with the mythical QoS monster.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 12:18 PM
> To: ip
> Subject: [IP] Re: worth reading -- QOS Author is Motorola, Chief
> Software Architect
>
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Tony Lauck [tlauck () madriver com]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 2:19 PM
> To: David Farber
> Subject: Re: [IP] worth reading --  QOS  Author is Motorola, Chief
> Software Architect
>
> If we take out of the argument questions (or fears) of price
> discrimination or other monopolistic practices, it becomes a question of
> engineering. Is it better to provide adequate service by special
> handling of certain "demanding" types of packets or is it better to
> provide adequate service by resource sizing with simple but fair
> scheduling policies?  There is a trade off between devoting resources to
> developing and implementing QoS mechanisms throughout the network and
> host computer stacks vs. devoting resources to provisioning additional
> capacity.
>
> There is approximately one half century's worth of history. This is a
> debate that started with Bell Lab's circuits vs. MIT's packets. This is
> token ring vs. Ethernet and later FDDI vs. Fast Ethernet. This is ATM
> vs. IP. The argument has been nearly continuous throughout the history
> of computer networking.
>
> Historically, the approaches that succeeded in the marketplace have been
> the simple ones that could more easily ride the technology curve driven
> by Moore's law. There are always people trying to make a career or
> business out of new complexities, and occasionally some of them succeed.
>   Perhaps now is the time for more complex systems, but I doubt it. I
> have seen simple approaches win out too many times. There has always
> been a reason why the complex approaches lost, and these reasons have
> many: cost, performance, reliability, time to market, compatibility,
> ease of use, etc. Others, who fancy themselves masters of complexity may
> have a different opinion.
>
> Dave Crocker has made one specific claim regarding transient contention
> being the difference between "almost never" and "never". This is not an
> meaningful distinction in the real world, because real systems fail. One
> is always working with probabilities. QoS services with real-time
> guarantees require redundancy coupled with real-time fail over, and this
> has historically been achieved only with high levels of redundancy. High
> degrees of "almost never" can be achieved at high cost. "Never" comes at
> infinite cost.
>
> [Along this line, my advocating of KISS is not intended as an argument
> for government mandated network neutrality. There is nothing less simple
> in today's world than Government.]
>
> Tony Lauck
> www.aglauck.com
>
>
>
> David Farber wrote:
> > ________________________________________
> > From: Dave Crocker [dhc2 () dcrocker net]
> > Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 11:07 AM
> > To: David Farber
> > Cc: ip; Waclawsky John-A52165
> > Subject: Re: [IP] QOS  Author is Motorola, Chief Software Architect
> >
> > David Farber wrote:
> > > From: Waclawsky John-A52165 [jgw () motorola com] Sent: Monday, June 23,
> 2008
> > > 1:08 AM To: David Farber Subject: RE: [IP] Re:   Net Neutrality: A
> Radical
> > > Form of Non-Discrimination by Hal Singer
> > >
> > > Hi Dave, Some QoS perspectives that I have learned: First, the main
> problem.
> > > QoS really isn't needed when you have big pipes.
> >
> >
> > This view has gained popularity in recent years and it seems to be
> based on two
> > misunderstandings.  The first is that end-to-end performance is
> dictated by the
> > size of pipes and the second is that pipes are always large or that we
> can
> > guarantee that eventually they all will be large.
> >
> > Packet switching is more about the switching than the pipes.  The path
> from a
> > one random end-system to another has quite a few switching points.
> This thing
> > called queuing comes into play when there is transient contention for
> resources.
> > This includes contention for use of each pipe along the way, but also
> contention
> > in switches and, by the way, contention in either of the end-systems.
> (I'm
> > qualifying with "transient" because sustained contention means that
> the system
> > is fundamentally overloaded; queuing can't help there.)
> >
> > The premise behind the "big pipes" view is that we don't have
> transient
> > contention. It's simply not true.
> >
> > What is true is that there are common scenarios where transient
> contention is
> > almost never a problem.  But the difference between "almost never" and
> "never"
> > counts for everything in a world seeking reliability.  Especially if
> you want to
> > cover a full range of scenarios.
> >
> > One set of scenarios left out by "big pipe" devotees is a vast portion
> of the
> > world with limited resources.  While this obviously includes many
> remote or
> > developing environments, it also includes less-capable channels such
> as mobile
> > devices.
> >
> > It should also be noted that there is a tendency for the core of the
> Internet to
> > have less contention than access networks at the edge.  We can wave
> our hands
> > and say that the edges will eventually catch up, but history suggests
> otherwise.
> > A persistent lesson over the history of packet switching is that there
> is a wide
> > range of resource capabilities and anything designed to rely on high-
> end
> > capabilities disenfranchises participants and systems that are not so
> privileged.
> > "QOS" has indeed had a problematic history over the life of packet-
> switching,
> > but this seems to be because it is difficult to design in a way that
> is useful
> > -- and then deploy it throughout the infrastructure -- rather than
> because it
> > isn't needed.
> >
> > Basic Internet capabilities were designed to maximize use of the
> channels, but
> > at the cost of inter-packet arrival variance.  Any application needing
> to
> > sustain a specific transmission rate with specific (and low) variance
> is at
> > risk, without some underlying design to ensure the necessary
> performance.
> > Anyone with experience to the contrary might want to review their
> sampling
> > methodology against the full and realistic set of Internet scenarios.
> >
> >
> > d/
> > --
> >
> >    Dave Crocker
> >    Brandenburg InternetWorking
> >    bbiw.net
> >
> >
> >
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