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Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watnot!watmath!clyde!masscomp!ulowell!page
From: page@ulowell.UUCP
Newsgroups: news.sysadmin,comp.mail.misc
Subject: Re: mailers (really connectivity data)
Message-ID: <1113@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu>
Date: Sat, 28-Feb-87 00:25:29 EST
Article-I.D.: ulowell.1113
Posted: Sat Feb 28 00:25:29 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 1-Mar-87 10:05:32 EST
References: <2131@ncoast.UUCP> <554@hao.UCAR.EDU>
Reply-To: page@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu (Bob Page)
Organization: University of Lowell
Lines: 39
Xref: utgpu news.sysadmin:50 comp.mail.misc:97

woods@hao.UUCP (Greg Woods) wrote:
>you site admins out there ARE updating your pathalias database promptly
>when the mod.map postings come out, right? :-)

I'm glad to see the smiley face, but...

>This is as close to dynamic routing information as we are going to get
>with uucp technology.

If you are referring to mod.map, I disagree with this.  It does not
make sense to publish this massive database every 6 weeks that's out
of date when it's published.

Wouldn't it make more sense to publish the full text every six months,
and publish the connectivity data each month?  Every two weeks?  All
we need is something like:

ulowell:ci-dandelion=180,masscomp=190,wanginst=200,apollo=200,\
	vaxine=200,datacube=500,wang=300000 (etc)

Where the "=n" denotes pathalias connect cost.  Easy to build,
easy to parse.

It would not solve the problem completely, but would go a long way
to keeping the routing tables up to date, and would decrease the
network traffic as a bonus.

Finally, it makes little sense to have the UUCP Project handle
the map alone; it is too big and too dynamic.  Regional coordinators
could maintain and post the data as appropriate.  If Maine doesn't
get any new connections, the Maine coordinator doesn't send out
new connectivity data!  If something does change, and the diff file
is smaller than the original file, post the diff file!

How about it, Mel?  What needs to happen for this to become reality?

..Bob
-- 
Bob Page,  U of Lowell CS Dept.      ulowell!page,  page@ulowell.CSNET