New mailing list on multicasting Web content

This may interest some of you:

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From: Bernard Aboba <aboba@internaut.com>
To: "'rem-conf@es.net'" <rem-conf@es.net>
Subject: New mailing list on multicasting of Web content
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 06:51:48 -0800
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New mailing list on multicasting Web content
 
A new mailing list has been set up for discussing the distribution of
Web content via "unreliable multicast." To
subscribe, send a message to "www-multicast-request@w3.org", and put
"subscribe" in the subject line. The archive of the mailing list is
available as http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-multicast/, and
the FTP server (used for archiving of related documents) is available at
ftp://ftp.zilker.net/pub/mailcom/WWW-MULTICAST/. 
 
The primary initial goals of this list will be to produce an Internet
Draft reviewing existing implementations of unreliable multicasting of
Web content, as well as a draft reviewing potential applications and
their requirements. Should an IETF working group be
formed in this area, it is envisioned that this list would
subsequently be used for discussions relating to working group
business.
 
Many Web sites that distribute popular, frequently updated content
experience problems with "flash crowds": thousands of access per
minute to the same Web page overload the Web server or the network
link leading to the server. It is possible that integrating
IP multicast with the transport protocol used by the Web (HTTP) may
solve this problem.
 
This mailing list focusses on unreliable multicasting of Web content
due to the current immaturity of reliable multicast protocols (see
"IETF Criteria For Evaluating Reliable Multicast Transport and
Application Protocols", A. Mankin, A. Romanow, 11/27/1996
(ftp://ietf.org/Internet-drafts/draft-mankin-reliable-multicast-00.txt).).
Reliable multicast protocols will be dealt with by a research group
within the IRTF (Internet Research Task Force).
 
Unreliable multicast is better understood. Moreover, there is
considerable interest in the Web community to use this technology,
both to solve serious existing operational problems like "flash
crowds", and to avoid creating new problems due to "server push"
applications. Several applications (i.e. cache stuffing) appear to be
naturally amenable to use of unreliable multicast. Thus, moving ahead
on unreliable webcasting will serve to advance these applications as
well as to potentially provide short-term solutions for other
applications. The newly created mailing list will focus on  
these solutions.




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Received on Monday, 27 January 1997 08:04:50 UTC