
The Twelve Networking Truths - moks
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1925
======
patrickmay
A good complement to L. Peter Deutsch's of Sun Labs Eight Fallacies of
Distributed Computing:

1\. The network is reliable

2\. Latency is zero

3\. Bandwidth is infinite

4\. The network is secure

5\. Topology doesn't change

6\. There is one administrator

7\. Transport cost is zero

8\. The network is homogeneous

He noted "All prove to be false in the long run and all cause big trouble and
painful learning experiences."

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typhonic
"In protocol design, perfection has been reached not when there is nothing
left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." This seems like a
good chance to acknowledge the author, Antoine de Saint Exupéry.

~~~
nmc
St-Exupéry never mentioned "protocol design". This is a pastiche, not a
plagiary.

As to why St-Exupéry's name was not included, I suppose the editor thought the
reference was obvious, which it is indeed.

~~~
jacobolus
Anyone in technology should read the whole chapter 3 of _Wind, Sand and Stars_
, if they haven’t before:

[http://pastie.org/pastes/10477072/text](http://pastie.org/pastes/10477072/text)

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nippoo
Number 5 strikes home in today's world of big monolithic programs which each
aim to solve all the world's problems...

"(5) It is always possible to aglutenate multiple separate problems into a
single complex interdependent solution. In most cases this is a bad idea."

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ams6110
_(11) Every old idea will be proposed again with a different name and a
different presentation, regardless of whether it works._

I see this all the time. I'm pretty sure there have been no really original
ideas in computing since the 1970/80s.

~~~
tacon
Distributed hash tables are a recent idea in networking

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_hash_table#History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_hash_table#History)

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dkuder
There are errata: [https://www.rfc-
editor.org/errata_search.php?rfc=1925](https://www.rfc-
editor.org/errata_search.php?rfc=1925)

~~~
symmetricsaurus
There should be errata to the errata since the OPERA result of neutrinos
traveling faster than c has since been refuted [1].

[1]: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faster-than-
light_neutrino_ano...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faster-than-
light_neutrino_anomaly)

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andrewflnr
What's the deal with #3 about flying pigs? I mean, I see why it's true (ish),
but I don't see the specific relationship to network protocols.

~~~
mikeash
I think it means that you can take a bad foundation and push it forward
amazingly far with enough effort, but you're setting yourself up for lots of
problems if you do so, and you're usually better off starting from a solid
foundation.

For a concrete example related to networking, transmitting bits over telephone
lines designed for voice can get you amazingly far, but it still sucks a lot
and you'll eventually hit a solid wall.

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nmc
OP, please append "(1996)" to the title.

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solotronics
Universal Truth of the ISP:

\- 97% of the time the issue is on the customer network

\- its not the network, ex. you cant transfer files at 10g because your using
single 7200 RPM HDD on each end :[

\- often, the best network people in the company will be the farthest from
customer interaction. Customers repel them with almost magnetic physical
force.

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debacle
I feel like these truths expand to many things, far more than just networking
alone. Especially 2a and 11.

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papito
Oh boy, this is 20 years old. Why is this even coming up.

~~~
robohamburger
Something that is true after 20 years and still noteworthy seems like a good
read to me. I agree the OP should add the year though.

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Xophmeister
The language used in the introduction alone was enough to make me check the
date of publication... Those IETF jokers!

~~~
dsr_
This document was incorrectly filed as an April 1 RFC, when in fact it should
be an informational RFC.

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mirap
Can someone please explain it to me?

