Re: [Micronet] effect of music sharing on shared 10Mb network

In this particular case, it's a shared 10 Mb network with over 200
assigned IPs which on occasion becomes virtually unusable during
periods of high utilization (85-90% and beyond). I don't know if
that falls outside the technical definition of "properly-functioning
network," but it purely describes "unhappy network campers." ;-)

The most recent occurrence was not due (at least not explicitly) to
music streaming, but to a large file transfer during the busy
mid-morning hours. Once the user was located and asked to reschedule
their large (legitimate) file transfers for off-hours, things
returned to normal.

So, if the constant network traffic is increased by some (unknown)
multiple of 128 Kbps, the potential effect is rather significant (for
this network), is it not?

At 1:20 PM -0800 2/24/06, Mike Hunter wrote:
>I was off by a factor of 10 in my own head (although I wrote down the
>correct figure), so I should revise what I wrote and say that a person
>streaming audio at 128Kbps is not going to cause a problem on a
>properly-functioning network. If they are trying to share the network
>with 200 of their closest friends and colleagues who are also trying to
>use a crowded network, then they're using more than their fair share. But
>that's not for CNS to adjudicate.
>
>On Feb 24 at 13:04, "John D. MacDonald" wrote:
>
>> Well, thanks to the delay in Micronet (and/or my mail client checking
>> once every 10 minutes) I did actually write my post before I got Mr.
>> Hunter's, so my apologies for any toe stepping or repetition. But even
>> talking about 5-6 Mbps throughput, each stream is still less than 1/40th
>> of the available bandwidth...I'm not saying this isn't or can't be an
>> issue/problem, especially if Glen is talking about a shared (hub)
>> situation. Just trying to give some figures for perspective...and yes,
>> YMMV indeed.
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>>
>> Jay Bryon wrote:
>> >Just one correction, it's not a 10Mbps pipe, in practice it's more
>> >like 5-6Mbps.
>> >So in deference to Mr. Hunter, who actually is the authority on
>> >traffic flow around here, it's a problem. How great of one?
>> >Well, what else do you want to use the network for?
>> >YMMV.
>> >
>> >-J
>> >
>> >John D. MacDonald wrote:
>> >>I certainly won't speak of any larger policy issues about mp3 storage
>> >>on campus owned machines, but to the original question...
>> >>
>> >>some simple math...128kbps streams with say 10% packet overhead gives
>> >>about 140kbps, which goes about 73 times into a 10mb pipe. Now, the
>> >>scale and scope of the effect will depend on both the number of users
>> >>streaming, and the network infrastructure itself. If you've got 48
>> >>people on a 10mb hub (single collision domain), yeah, you've got
>> >>problems, but the same 48 users on 48 10mb switch ports...almost no
>> >>problem.
>> >>
>> >>And as for the legality or policy issues (RIAA and such) of this
>> >>sharing, there is no issue. Apple negotiated with the recording
>> >>companies and RIAA to ensure that the "sharing" feature of iTunes was
>> >>'kosher' with all. If anyone remembers, the first version allowed
>> >>you to share (stream, not distribute files) to your closest 6.49
>> >>billion friends over the internet. The record companies exerted a
>> >>little pressure, and the iTunes sharing was changed to allow only
>> >>local network sharing. So, you can be pretty sure that the RIAA
>> >>won't be knocking down your door for using iTunes sharing, whether at
>> >>home, or on campus.
>> >>
>> >>That said, the individual user that downloads 10,000 mp3s from kazaa,
>> >>emule, whatever, onto a campus machine and shares them exclusively
>> >>through iTunes isn't immune to RIAA (or UC) smackdown, since the
>> >>files are still illegal.
>
>[snip]
>
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-- 
Glen Ozawa
IB Computing Support
gleno@LS.Berkeley.EDU
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