Firewall Wizards mailing list archives
Re: Two things about new firewalls etc.
From: Jason Keimig <jkeimig () idir net>
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 1997 12:54:56 -0600 (CST)
2. To follow up on Vern Paxon's post, there is a famous paper that shows Ethernet traffic is inherently fractal--that is, it's just as bursty over 1 million seconds as it is over 1 second. This paper, by Will Leland of Bellcore, answered once and for all the telco types who had always maintained that the burstiness of data traffic would even out over time.
Yes, the paper: "On the Self-Similar Nature of Ethernet Traffic" was quite ground-breaking in its own right. Of course there were its detractors, saying that the network analyzed was not "typical", that THEY had traces that showed short-range dependencies, etc. There were many a battle from several playgrounds on the long range-dependencies of data traffic, heated discussions would erupt at conferences, several people were fired, I even heard that somebody was shot one night during an all-out war on the subject behind closed doors.... Seriously though, I think the paper is entirely relevent in data traffic pushed on some types of CSMA/CD (shared) mediums. Ethernet by nature is an unfair and random layer-1|2 protocol. However, it is not clear that the low-frequency components necessary for long-range dependence are present in token-based, ring or switched systems. Further, with new technologies on the horizon with true multiplexing capabilites (e.g., ATM), the assumptions that ALL data traffic is inherently self-similar may not be valid. Maybe the guys at Bellcore could move up to the present and check out what real (e.g., full-duplex, switched and ATM) networks look like. 8-) Don't get me wrong, I have total respect for Will, Walter, Murad and Daniel for their paper and the contributions that they've made to the data world. How do you say? "Man, y'all da BOMB!" -Jason
Current thread:
- Re: Two things about new firewalls etc. Ted Doty (Dec 01)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- RE: Two things about new firewalls etc. Joseph Judge (Dec 03)
- Re: Two things about new firewalls etc. Jason Keimig (Dec 03)
- Re[2]: Two things about new firewalls etc. dnewman (Dec 03)
- Re: Two things about new firewalls etc. Vern Paxson (Dec 03)
- Re: Two things about new firewalls etc. Jyri Kaljundi (Dec 04)
- Re: Two things about new firewalls etc. -= ArkanoiD =- (Dec 05)
- Re[2]: Two things about new firewalls etc. dnewman (Dec 04)