Talk:Overlay network/Archive 1

MLdonkey

I think that "MLdonkey" should be removed from the "Network overlay" page, since it's the name of a P2P client, not of a Network overlay (it's listed in an external page because it implements some of the Overnet protocol, that's based on the Kademlia algorithm, that is already listed as network overlay). Done

To be even more precise, I think there was a project to create a network overlay specific to MLdonkey clients, but as far as I know it never went past the project state, and some dead code in the sources (src/networks/donkey/donkeySupernode.ml,...) (only the main programmer of MLdonkey, could tell for sure: b8_bavard)

Dialup

The bit about dialup, in the intro, being an overlay on the telephone network seems a bit out of place. It confused me enough to have to reread the intro. If i'm not mistaken, I understand that any physical transmission medium can be overlayed with a communication network, so would it be better to state that and use dialup as example? Or is that example not about the physical telephone network but about the protocols used to implement the telephone network and dialup connection sequences riding on top of those protocols? -Isha —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.105.154.140 (talk) 23:32, 23 January 2008 (UTC) "Dial-up Internet is an overlay upon the telephone network."

Really? I'm confused by this too. After the initial connection to the ISP, dial-up is using the exact same Internet as everyone else. This seems more to describe the hardware medium involved in a network, rather than the logical concept of a network on top of another. --70.142.60.136 (talk) 00:26, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

Let me try to explain what the author of that sentence meant. The answer is Isha's second guess: The telephone wires provide basic physical transmission medium; on top of that is the telephone network, which gives meaning to concepts like phone numbers; and on top of that is dial-up Internet, which gives meaning to concepts like IP addresses—hence, it is a network on top of a network, i.e., an overlay network. Dial-up Internet does not really use the physical medium directly; for example, to reach your ISP, you (or, the "you" of 15 years ago...) dial a phone number which is something that has meaning only to the telephone network.

So the example is sound, though perhaps esoteric and poorly explained. It's also not the most compelling example, since only a very small part of the Internet as a whole is overlayed on the telephone network. --Nethgirb (talk) 01:07, 18 May 2008 (UTC) Done