> Exactly. And there's no disconnect: usenet doesn't scale because each object
> is copied to all core nodes rather than referenced, or copied-as-needed, or
> other. This design of distributed messaging platform will eventually break
> as it grows.
Usenet scales far more gracefully than the current web.
Each node sends content to a few downstream nodes. This makes it easy to
scale; there is no central mega-node that gets overwhelmed, connectivity is to
a nearby upstream where there is a reasonabe amount of bandwidth. Last time I
ran a server, the sender could filter based on newsgroup or message size, so
avoid swamping links. Content was mostly text.
It is possible to use offline transmission — certain groups dumped onto mag
tape and mailed, get pulled in at the destination. BTDT.
More demand = more client nodes which in turn distribute to other nodes, so
each node does not need to talk to a large number of others.
We did this about 30 years ago in South Africa; Rhodes university brought in
most groups, I brought in alt.*. We each distributed to a select number of
nodes, who distributed again. Lather, rinse, repeat. Usenet for the entire
sub-continent (along with email) over 9600 bps dial-up circuits.
paul
