Thanks to Gary for the pointer.

On Wed, 21 Mar 2001, Gary Crane wrote:
> Thought you might find this interesting.
> --gary
> _____________________________________________________
>      Gary Crane
>      Southeastern Universities Research Association
>      Director IT Initiatives
>
>      Phone: 315-597-1459
>      Fax: 315-597-1459
>      Email: [log in to unmask]
>      www.sura.org
>

From [log in to unmask] Wed Mar 21 11:23:02 2001
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 10:01:58 -0500 (EST)
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Peer to peer applications drive demand for bandwidth

For more information on this item please visit the CANARIE CA*net 3 Optical
Internet program web site at http://www.canet3.net/news/news.html
-------------------------------------------

[Here is some excerpts from an article on the hidden costs of peer to peer
networking and is much in line with our theoretical analysis on the N
squared problem related to these types of applications.  See
www.canet3.net/library/papers.html.  Our proposed solution is condominium
dark fiber and wavelengths with self provisioned networks.  On the other
hand experts have predicting for years the imminent collapse of the Internet
because of their unshaken belief that the flat pricing model is
unsustainable. The "sky is falling" scenario has never happened largely
because of the dramatic drop in the cost of bandwidth largely due to the
advent of high bandwidth optical networks. In any event P2P applications are
another example of how we continue to underestimate the need for high
bandwidth networks to our schools and homes.  Thanks to Ian Foster for
pointing out this article.  -- BSA]

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/zd/20010226/tc/the_hidden_cost_of_p2p_1.html



If peer-to-peer applications become ubiquitous, they could break the
existing business models of many Internet service providers and force them
to raise their prices, experts said.

Peer-to-peer computing, which lets networked computers act as both clients
and servers, is the next great innovation on the Internet. Napster is the
best-known P2P application, but dozens of new companies are developing all
kinds of P2P applications for consumers as well as business customers.

P2P programs have the potential to radically change the amount of bandwidth
the average Internet user consumes. The flat-rate pricing of most ISPs is
based on the assumption that subscribers will only intermittently access the
Web or e-mail. ISPs often "oversubscribe" their networks by a certain
ratio - 40-to-1 is typical - which means they don't actually have the
capacity to handle all of their users simultaneously.

There's no shortage of P2P programs available that could potentially bog
down ISP networks. In addition to Napster, start-ups such as Flycode and
OpenCola are developing new P2P file sharing programs. Meanwhile, P2P
companies such as Entropia, Popular Power and United Devices are building
distributed computing services, which propose to use thousands of
Internet-connected computers to process large computational problems.

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These news items and comments are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect
those  of the CANARIE board or management.



Bill St. Arnaud
Senior Director Network Projects
CANARIE
[log in to unmask]
+1 613 785-0426

-----------------------------
Bill St. Arnaud
Senior Director Network Projects
CANARIE Inc
+1 613 785-0426