THE WHATIS.COM WORD-OF-THE-DAY December 5, 2002 dumb network ______________ TODAY'S SPONSOR: VeriSign - The Value of Trust
Secure all your Web servers now - with a proven 5-part strategy. The FREE Server Security Guide shows you how to: * DEPLOY THE LATEST ENCRYPTION and authentication techniques * DELIVER TRANSPARENT PROTECTION with the strongest security without disrupting users. And more. Get your FREE Guide now: http://WhatIs.com/r/0,,7939,00.htm?freeguide ______________ TODAY'S WORD: dumb network See our definition with hyperlinks at http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci867260,00.html A dumb network is one that provides the physical interconnection between nodes but not much processing to support signaling. The Internet is often cited as a dumb network relative to the public switched telephone network. The telephone system is considered an "intelligent network" because the intelligence required for operation is carried within the network, while the end devices (telephones) are simple devices. (Recent telephone control systems - Advanced Intelligent Network and Signaling System 7 - provide even more intelligence in the network.) The Internet takes the opposite approach: the network simply transports packets of data without needing to know anything about them and the end devices (computers, for example) contain the intelligence. This approach is sometimes referred to as "dumb network, smart devices." George Gilder first proposed the idea that networks of the future should be dumb in a 1993 magazine article. Gilder claimed that "In the world of dumb terminals - whether phones, IBM displays or boob tubes - a network had to be smart. ... But in the emerging world of supercomputers in your pocket or living room, networks will have to be dumb bandwidth pipes." David Isenberg, in his article "The Rise of the Stupid Network," claimed that the intelligent network was based on an outdated model revolving around scarcity of resources, the prevalence of voice traffic over data communications, the primacy of circuit switched technology, and the necessity of organizational (rather than user) control of the network. Isenberg argued that, contrary to these propositions, infrastructure costs had greatly declined; many different communications technologies were operational over the Internet; data traffic was overtaking voice traffic; and that the Internet was, as a dumb network, putting more control into the hands of the user. The need in some Internet applications for time-guaranteed delivery of packets (see Resource Reservation Protocol and Quality of Service) does introduce a new intelligence to what can still be viewed as a dumb network. RELATED TERMS: public switched telephone network http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci214316,00.html Advanced Intelligent Network http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci213769,00.html Signaling System 7 http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci214365,00.html Resource Reservation Protocol http://searchsystemsmanagement.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid20_gci214274,00.html Quality of Service http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci213826,00.html ______________________ SELECTED LINKS: On the Satellite Broadband site, Geoff Huston has an article, "Dumb networks, smart network protocols." http://thebroadbandeconomy.com/ar/broadband_dumb_networks_smart/ David Isenberg's original article, "Rise of the Stupid Network," is still online. http://www.rageboy.com/stupidnet.html ______________________ QUIZ #32 | Securing Your Network How much do you know about network security? Take our latest quiz and find out. >> Take the quiz http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci857673,00.html ______________________ CROSSWORD PUZZLE #6 | Wireless Improve your flexible thinking skills. Print out the puzzle and keep it nearby to work on throughout your day! http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci861329,00.html ______________________ REAL-LIFE CHALLENGE #19 | XP Pro or Win2k Pro? It's upgrade time. The branch office manager at Company X would like his staff to have "the best", which he thinks is XP Pro. The head of IT thinks that Win2k Pro is a better choice, but admits he's never worked with XP. Can you advise? http://whatis.discussions.techtarget.com/WebX?[EMAIL PROTECTED]@.1dcfae0e/169 ______________________________ RECENT ADDITIONS AND UPDATES [1] Wien's constant http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci866466,00.html [2] SoC testing http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci866453,00.html [3] single-system image http://search390.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid10_gci866451,00.html [4] automated test equipment http://searchcio.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid19_gci866407,00.html [5] On-Demand Mail Relay http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci866400,00.html ____________________________________________________________________ ::::::::::::::::::: WHATIS.COM CONTACTS ::::::::::::::::::: LOWELL THING, Site Editor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) ____________________________________________________________________ MARGARET ROUSE, Associate Editor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) ___________________________________________________________________ :::::::::::::::::::: ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER ::::::::::::::::::::: Published by TechTarget (http://www.techtarget.com) TechTarget - The Most Targeted IT Media Copyright 2002, All Rights Reserved. If you would like to sponsor this or any TechTarget newsletter, please contact Gabrielle DeRussy at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe from 'Word of the Day' - Simply Reply to this Email with REMOVE within the Body or Subject > or - Go to: http://WhatIs.techtarget.com/register - Log in to edit your profile. - Click on the link to Edit email subscriptions. - Uncheck the box next to the newsletter you wish to unsubscribe from. - When finished, click "Save Changes to My Profile."
