Yes, and no. If you are a given a limited resource (in this case, a physical port that can process no more than 1gbps for example) and your efficiency in transferring data over that port is not 100%, the provider itself is not to blame. Each and every protocol has limitations, and in this case we are talking about payload I guess. What the provider should say is: if you need "true" 20mbps, then instead you should contract 20mbps X 1+your-payload-process-loss. A silly example would be this: you fill your gas tank with 12 gallons... After driving until it's empty, your engine only used an average of 6 gallons to actually move you from point A to point B. The other 6 were just wasted in form of heat. Do you ask for your money back at the gas station? Or maybe you invest in a hybrid car? Like I mentioned before, this is not unique to networking, it's a broader concern in the design of any system or process. On Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 2:53 PM, Joe Greco <jgreco@ns.sol.net> wrote:
You can't just ignore protocol overhead (or any system's overhead). If an application requires X bits per second of actual payload, then your system should be designed properly and take into account overhead, as well as failure rates, peak utilization hours, etc. This is valid for networking, automobile production, etc etc..
Are you saying that the service provider should take into account overhead? And report the amount of bandwidth available for payload? Even there we have some wiggle room, but at least it is something the customer will be able to work out (IP header overhead, etc).
If not, I'm at a bit of a loss. As a customer, how do I identify that my traffic is actually going over an ATM-over-MPLS-over-VPN-over-whatever- other-bitrobbing-tech circuit and that I should only expect to see 60% of the speed advertised?
... JG -- Joe Greco - sol.net Network Services - Milwaukee, WI - http://www.sol.net "We call it the 'one bite at the apple' rule. Give me one chance [and] then I won't contact you again." - Direct Marketing Ass'n position on e-mail spam(CNN) With 24 million small businesses in the US alone, that's way too many apples.