Slashdot Mirror
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.
BBN has developed a network protocol and code that moves information from node to node as connections become available, and can hold information in persistent storage until a connection is available.
Wow... what can I say ? - over 8 million bucks to re-discover or re-invent SMTP... (otherwise called email for those who don't remember TLA's)
Welcome back to August 1982 !
Read the press release here : http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc821.html