Re: Average case performance vs. Worst-case guarantee

When an ISP buys a router does it want a worst-case guarantee about the router's capabilities? Or will it buy a router which can give better performance in the average case (it may drop some packets if the traffic pattern changes suddenly)? Assuming both cost the same.

Worst case guarantee is necessary in many cases. Easy example: A router that can handle an STM-1 of regular Internet traffic is worthless to us if it dies in the face of an STM-1 with minimum sized attack traffic. Steinar Haug, Nethelp consulting, sthaug@nethelp.no