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Communicating Even When the Network Is Down
coondoggie writes to mention a NetworkWorld article covering efforts to maintain network connectivity even when the network has holes. Building off of the needs of the military, the end goal is to create a service which will route around network trouble spots and maintain connectivity for users. From the article: "Researchers at BBN Technologies, of Cambridge, Mass., have begun the second phase of a DTN project, funded by $8.7 million from the Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Earlier this year, the researchers simulated a 20-node DTN. With each link available just 20% of the time, the network was able to deliver 100% of the packets transmitted." The article is on five small pages, with no option to see a linkable, printable version.
Wasn't that the point of the original ARPANET? To route around broken parts of the network? BBN was involved in that, too. What, have they been double-billing the DoD this whole time?
gigantino.tv - Heavy but weighs nothing.
Baby, darling. I appreciate the warning, but you do realize, as a janitor at Slashdot you have a decent amount of power, clout in the nerd world. Even though you're condemning their actions with your comment, you're promoting their site, giving them extra ad revenue with their annoying practices.
If you want to make a difference, make a stand, stop linking to sites like these. Send them a quick letter saying you'd be happy to send X thousand happy clickers their way if they'd give a single page, printable version. With their "Slashdot it" link at the bottom of the page, they obviously care.
You must be just as blink as Zonk. The link to the print version is right next to the "Slashdot it" link!
No. Normal routing works through space. Packets move from node to node, avoiding nodes and links that are down. DTNs can route through space and time, delaying packets until they can be routed further along.
If you have two networks that are only intermittently connected, normal routing will drop packets when the connection is down. DTNs will allow the packets to be held until the connection is up.