3 ms·

Why would math theory be required for scaling?

• fragmede 5y ago
  Implementation details at layer 1 and 2 of the OSI model. If machine aa needs to talk to machine zz (and there are all the machine in between them), then aa needs a timeslice to change the electrical levels that are on the actual ethernet cable, as does zz in order to reply, but if ab and ac and ad and all the way to zy are also busy communicating, then when does zz get that timeslice? Switching (vs hubs) improves the situation drastically, but as you scale up (like, thousands of thousands aka "webscale", there's clearly going to be some sort of limit at some point (until you apply other technology). What is that point using Ethernet though, and how do you calculate that?
  • thehappypm 5y ago
    The OSI model never really panned out in reality
    • birdyrooster 5y ago
      Except it did, and that is the point of Layer 3. Also the esoteric nature of OSI doesn't mean it isn't useful.
      • thehappypm 5y ago
        What I mean is that the OSI layered model never got implemented exactly to spec.
        • birdyrooster 5y ago
          Yes good point