5 ms·

I agree that the http caching layers are currently needed to achieve decent UX. But it’s also possible that won’t be necessary forever. The network could expand

I agree that the http caching layers are currently needed to achieve decent UX. But it’s also possible that won’t be necessary forever. The network could expand and get to the point where resolution time comes down to accessible levels. Only time will tell I suppose.

lillecarl 5y ago
When downloading content using a magnet link downloads are usually quite slow started, while torrent files usually start directly. It's not a fair comparison since the torrents are from a private tracker with high quality peers, but it's noticeable that the DHT stuff is slower. Not sure how cjdns solves that. Will the network be faster the more people join it? Is centralized infra inevitable for fast things because of all assumptions and insight a centralized provider can use? BTC is also slow, I don't know of any cryptocurrency that can provide VISA transaction volumes, even if they use more power than some countries alone.
- Taek 5y ago
  Cryptocurrency is different from storage because cryptocurrency needs to provide global consistency guarantees. Skynet is a decentralized network with lookup times that have a p50 TTFB of under 200ms. It achieves this by looking things up directly on hosts rather than routing through a DHT. There's a bit of overhead to accomplish this (around 200kb of extra bandwidth per lookup), but for a smooth web experience that tradeoff is more than worthwhile.
Gigachad 5y ago
On what basis do you think this is likely? What part of IPFS gets faster when more users are online? If the file exists on a system in the network, it should make a connection and start fetching the file within milliseconds ideally. It's not like we are distributing multi gb files where more seeders means more speed, this is all just slowness in setting up a connection. Even torrents take 1-10 seconds to initiate downloads with an absolutely massive network.
- Taek 5y ago
  If you want to optimize for latency, you can't use a DHT. You need something that goes point-to-point instead of routing through a series of machines.
  - Gigachad 5y ago
    Which is why a DHT system is not appropriate for web style uses. No one wants to wait multiple seconds for a page to even start downloading. It's fine for a large file download but not for frequent small requests.

lillecarl 5y ago

When downloading content using a magnet link downloads are usually quite slow started, while torrent files usually start directly. It's not a fair comparison since the torrents are from a private tracker with high quality peers, but it's noticeable that the DHT stuff is slower. Not sure how cjdns solves that. Will the network be faster the more people join it? Is centralized infra inevitable for fast things because of all assumptions and insight a centralized provider can use? BTC is also slow, I don't know of any cryptocurrency that can provide VISA transaction volumes, even if they use more power than some countries alone.

Taek 5y ago
Cryptocurrency is different from storage because cryptocurrency needs to provide global consistency guarantees. Skynet is a decentralized network with lookup times that have a p50 TTFB of under 200ms. It achieves this by looking things up directly on hosts rather than routing through a DHT. There's a bit of overhead to accomplish this (around 200kb of extra bandwidth per lookup), but for a smooth web experience that tradeoff is more than worthwhile.

Gigachad 5y ago

On what basis do you think this is likely? What part of IPFS gets faster when more users are online? If the file exists on a system in the network, it should make a connection and start fetching the file within milliseconds ideally. It's not like we are distributing multi gb files where more seeders means more speed, this is all just slowness in setting up a connection. Even torrents take 1-10 seconds to initiate downloads with an absolutely massive network.

Taek 5y ago
If you want to optimize for latency, you can't use a DHT. You need something that goes point-to-point instead of routing through a series of machines.
- Gigachad 5y ago
  Which is why a DHT system is not appropriate for web style uses. No one wants to wait multiple seconds for a page to even start downloading. It's fine for a large file download but not for frequent small requests.