Razing the Internet
April 15th 2007 08:02
Slashdot.com noted last month that "Stanford University researchers have launched an initiative called the Clean Slate Design for the Internet. The project aims to make the network more secure, have higher throughput, and support better applications, all by essentially rebuilding the Internet from scratch.
They quote: 'Among McKeown's cohorts on the effort is electrical engineering Professor Bernd Girod, a pioneer of Internet multimedia delivery. Vendors such as Cisco, Deutsche Telekom and NEC are also involved. The researchers already have projects underway to support their effort: Flow-level models for the future Internet; clean slate approach to wireless spectrum usage; fast dynamic optical light paths for the Internet core; and a clean slate approach to enterprise network security (Ethane).'
It all sounds very good, but vast numbers of Slashdot.com readers were sceptical, not just as to whether the Internet could be rebuilt from scratch (could you rebuild any major city from scratch?), but also as to whether large corporations, governments, and the military might want to have a lot more to say about the way things were handled this time round.
A more recent follow up to this topic appeared a couple of days ago, with the following quote from Stanford’s Clean Slate Design: ‘"No longer constrained by slow connections and computer processors and high costs for storage, researchers say the time has come to rethink the Internet's underlying architecture, a move that could mean replacing networking equipment and rewriting software on computers to better channel future traffic over the existing pipes. Even Vinton Cerf, one of the Internet's founding fathers as co-developer of the key communications techniques, said the exercise was 'generally healthy' because the current
technology 'does not satisfy all needs.’
The Slashdotters, if I may make so bold as to call them that, are not only sceptical, they’re also pretty content with the Net as it is, in spite of its hiccups and quirks. Not a few of them exhibit a certain level of paranoia about Big Brother and his cohorts (and I don’t mean the tv show), and some of them have a laugh at the idea of rebooting the Internet.
The photo is of Slashdot.com's editor, Robin Miller.
They quote: 'Among McKeown's cohorts on the effort is electrical engineering Professor Bernd Girod, a pioneer of Internet multimedia delivery. Vendors such as Cisco, Deutsche Telekom and NEC are also involved. The researchers already have projects underway to support their effort: Flow-level models for the future Internet; clean slate approach to wireless spectrum usage; fast dynamic optical light paths for the Internet core; and a clean slate approach to enterprise network security (Ethane).'
It all sounds very good, but vast numbers of Slashdot.com readers were sceptical, not just as to whether the Internet could be rebuilt from scratch (could you rebuild any major city from scratch?), but also as to whether large corporations, governments, and the military might want to have a lot more to say about the way things were handled this time round.
A more recent follow up to this topic appeared a couple of days ago, with the following quote from Stanford’s Clean Slate Design: ‘"No longer constrained by slow connections and computer processors and high costs for storage, researchers say the time has come to rethink the Internet's underlying architecture, a move that could mean replacing networking equipment and rewriting software on computers to better channel future traffic over the existing pipes. Even Vinton Cerf, one of the Internet's founding fathers as co-developer of the key communications techniques, said the exercise was 'generally healthy' because the current
The Slashdotters, if I may make so bold as to call them that, are not only sceptical, they’re also pretty content with the Net as it is, in spite of its hiccups and quirks. Not a few of them exhibit a certain level of paranoia about Big Brother and his cohorts (and I don’t mean the tv show), and some of them have a laugh at the idea of rebooting the Internet.
The photo is of Slashdot.com's editor, Robin Miller.
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