Bufferbloat — the Submarine That's Sinking the Net

gottabeme writes "Jim Gettys, one of the original X Window System developers and editor of the HTTP/1.1 spec, has posted a series of articles on his blog detailing his research on the relatively unknown problem of bufferbloat. Bufferbloat is affecting the entire Internet, slowly worsening as RAM prices drop and buffers enlarge, and is causing latency and jitter to spike, especially for home broadband users. Unchecked, this problem may continue to deteriorate the usability of interactive applications like VOIP and gaming, and being so widespread, will take years of engineering and education efforts to resolve. Being like 'frogs in heating water,' few people are even aware of the problem. Can bufferbloat be fixed before the Internet and 3G networks become nearly unusable for interactive apps?"

Comments

Awsum, TTY in your name

[cerberusss]

Jim Getty, one of the original X Window System developers and editor of the HTTP/1.1 spec

I'd murder four people just to have TTY in my name. Five if I could capitalize them, and postfix with a number. I'd name my son Dev.

You'd get a business card with something like Dev GeTTY1, Armadillo Avenue 64, Seattle, Washington

Re:Awsum, TTY in your name

[jmyers]

So you are the reason I keep getting this in my logs "getty keeps dying. There may be a problem".

Re:Awsum, TTY in your name

[DikSeaCup]

Oh my God, you've killed getty! You bastard!

Re:pegged connection == latency, who'd of thunk it

[suv4x4]

Really, what's the problem here?

You really don't see the problem? How can you be so naive. Maybe you're new to this. All signs show to the fact there is a problem.

Of course the problem is not obvious. The article itself says it'll completely surprise us. They know we won't believe it at first. But that's why we must believe it, or else it's Armageddon.

Would you risk an Armageddon, because of your inability to understand and see?

And that's, in short, why we must attack Iraq.

Wait, what were we talking about :P?

Re:Concerning Boiled Frogs

[TheRaven64]

Only if you use a real frog. You can kill a hypothetical frog in this way.

Re:Definition, please

[Nefarious Wheel]

The Evil Buffer Stuffer Strikes Again!

Re:pegged connection == latency, who'd of thunk it

[TheThiefMaster]

So naturally, I instantly get modded down.

Re:Concerning Boiled Frogs

[ladadadada]

If you put a frog in a pot of water and don't even bother boiling it, the frog will jump out anyway.

If you were to find a frog in its natural habitat where it's happy to sit all day waiting for food to drift past and boil that environment slowly, you might actually have an experiment on your hands... and an ethics committee on your tail.

Boiling a lagoon is left as an exercise for the reader.

Re:Concerning Boiled Frogs

[zm]

Use a lid.