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Re: Active networks

2000-08-26 22:50:05
Ayman Malek Kaheel wrote:

how long do you think it would be before an AN would become a
part of the Internet (if ever),

If "active network" means "the endpoints can program the
routers", then probably never.  It's an interesting idea, but
it'd be much too hard to make it secure and scalable.

Also, it goes against the end-to-end principle: keep the routers
simple, make sure the network delivers packets freely, and let
the hosts implement about any more complicated behavior they
need.  IP is all about smart hosts; AN is all about smart
routers.  ATM was about smart routers (switches), too, and that's
(part of?) why it didn't take off: ATM switches had too much work
to do, so they didn't scale.  But an AN router would potentially
be working much harder than an ATM switch.

Mind you, this is not to say that *research* into active networks
is worthless.  For one thing, an active network, by its very
nature, makes a good research platform for experimenting with new
behaviors for the routers; that research could lead to
improvements for non-active routers.  Or you might find a good
proof that active networks aren't going to work.  Or you might
make them work, and prove me wrong.  :-)

--
/================================================================\
|John Stracke    | http://www.ecal.com |My opinions are my own.  |
|Chief Scientist |===============================================|
|eCal Corp.      |We want forty million helicopters and a dollar!|
|francis(_at_)ecal(_dot_)com|--"Dinosaurs"                                  |
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