Honeybees Might Prompt Faster Internet Server Technology

coondoggie writes "The Georgia Institute of Technology is working on the theory that honeybees can give us hints about how to improve the speed and efficiency of Internet servers. Honeybees somehow manage to efficiently collect a lot of nectar with limited resources and no central command. Such swarm intelligence of these amazingly organized bees can also be used to improve the efficiency of Internet servers faced with similar challenges." This has some similarities to the rules of the swarm discussion we had last week.

Comments

Oblig

[crowbarsarefornerdyg]

I for one welcome our new swarming server overlords!

Re:Oblig

[digitig]

"Bzz"

"What's that, Bumbly?"

"Bzz"

"Network bottleneck at the 4th-floor router? How did that happen?"

"Bzz"

"Faulty ethernet card in room 402? Quick! We'd better get down there and save them!"

Compulsory Comcast comment

[BestNicksRTaken]

Its not good making a new internet protocol, Comcast will only block it!

Nanny nanny boo boo.

[rice_burners_suck]

heh heh. This so-called "swarm intelligence" will do nothing to teach us how to make efficient web servers. The hive and the swarm of bees operate efficiently but not because they have some sort of innate intelligence that allows them to do so. They operate in this manner because they are programmed to do so. The actions of each bee are based on something akin to a computer program. This program is designed in such a manner that when many units are executing it in parallel, with each unit operating on its own timer, so that statistically all parts of the program are being executed simultaneously across the bees in the swarm, the result is the efficient overall operation that we witness. However the point is that the individual program is designed so that the overall program will execute efficiently, regardless of where any particular instance of the individual program might be in its program code. Who did this programming? God. And the crazy thing is that beehives are only one tiny part of it. The overall program encompasses the entire universe. So ha ha ha... cuz you can study those bees all day long and it won't make you a better web programmer.

Re:Nanny nanny boo boo.

[stranger_to_himself]

cuz you can study those bees all day long and it won't make you a better web programmer.

No, but you'll be a web programmer who knows a lot about bees. Think of the possibilities!

Re:Nanny nanny boo boo.

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah, a bee-owulf cluster of those !

Re:Nanny nanny boo boo.

[Dr. Cody]

http://www.ilovebees.com/

Re:Nanny nanny boo boo.

[arevos]

Who did this programming? God. And the crazy thing is that beehives are only one tiny part of it. The overall program encompasses the entire universe. So ha ha ha... cuz you can study those bees all day long and it won't make you a better web programmer. I'll say. This God character has put together something pretty impressive in only a week, but it's all indecipherable spaghetti code. Where are the comments? The well-named functions? The bloody documentation? We're stuck with this system, and working out what the hell is does is pretty much a full time job for millions of experts. You think you've seen bad COBOL systems? Take a look at Universe 1.0; it's got so many quirks and undocumented features that it'll make your head spin just trying to understand what the hell it's doing half the time. I mean, sure, maybe quantum superposition made sense as an optimization feature at the time, but some, any, documentation on it might help!

Bees

[archeopterix]

Honeybee method? Now that's a good buzzword.

After all...

[Burpmaster]

The Internet is basically a series of bees.

Re:After all...

[FinchWorld]

Forced through tubes? So basically too many bee's cause the tubes to jam up? So bascally what we are trying to avoid is bees in swarms entirely? Because as far as I can tell I've avoided contact with swarms of bees due to a healthy regard for my own well being...

Obligatory

[sw155kn1f3]

So it's a lot like beowulf cluster of bees, right?

Re:no central command ?

[Nazlfrag]

You forgot the part where she controls their mind them from birth to become virtual extensions of her hive mind and assimilate all the nectar in the cosmos to build more Hive Cubes.

Re:Sometimes swarm behavior is inefficient

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a common scheme you'll often see played out in subways and other heavily trafficated areas.
You'll have a group of birds (the 'flock') flying over you in circles, trying to get your attention. Meanwhile, while you're not paying attention, an accomplice on the ground (the 'duck') will swipe your wallet.
This happened to me while visiting London, and while it sucked to be stranded in the city without any cash, it is a very good example of how so-called 'gang behaviour' can show considerable street smarts even though each individual member isn't very intelligent. (A lot of these birds were hatched on the street, and never even learned to read and write.)

Re:Almost historical concept ...

[zippthorne]

We need Polish pros to polish Polish prose?

spaghetti code

[jefu]

Obviously if the universe is mostly spaghetti code, it is a clear indication that the Creator must have been somehow involved in, well, spaghetti. Like say the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Talk about Occam's Razor - there is no simpler hypothesis available. Pasta -> Pasta. QED.

Re:clusters ?

[poot_rootbeer]

I think bees (or ants) should get the all-time patent rights to clustering a number of not so intelligent nodes into something that exhibits a higher degree of intelligence.

Which is not to say that there isn't any room for improvement. There's a lot to be learned from wolves, for example, where each member of the pack serves a unique and important role.

It's quite likely that by combining aspects of many of these ecologies, we could create a system even more efficient than any individual one.

Imagine a Bee-Wolf cluster...

Colony Collapse Syndrome?

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Does this mean my servers will now be subject to sudden, massive die-off?

It's a plot by HP, I tell you!