From a small number of hosts that are unreachable to large Internet outages, complexity sneaks up and bites network operators, sometimes at the most unexpected and undesirable times. While many mistakes in networks are manual configuration errors, the events of August 30th 2020, served to remind, that automated processes can sometimes propagate a mistake, fast, and so pervasively, that even a misbehaving part of the Internet cannot be fully withdrawn, still sucking in packets, that will never be delivered. There are always tradeoffs, some complexity is inevitable, and large networks may always be operating on the edge of chaos. Complexity is worthy of our attention.
Book Review: Navigating Network Complexity
Book Review: Navigating Network Complexity
Book Review: Navigating Network Complexity
From a small number of hosts that are unreachable to large Internet outages, complexity sneaks up and bites network operators, sometimes at the most unexpected and undesirable times. While many mistakes in networks are manual configuration errors, the events of August 30th 2020, served to remind, that automated processes can sometimes propagate a mistake, fast, and so pervasively, that even a misbehaving part of the Internet cannot be fully withdrawn, still sucking in packets, that will never be delivered. There are always tradeoffs, some complexity is inevitable, and large networks may always be operating on the edge of chaos. Complexity is worthy of our attention.