h a l f b a k e r yYou think: Aha! We go: ha, ha.
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This is a race wherein the rules are carefully crafted to
create a
competitive race between a digital data transfer team and a
short sprint race to find out which method might be faster.
The
running lengths, data transfer method and technology, baud
rates, etc. can be tailored to keep the
race close.
A dial-up modem with a 90's tech baud rate with all dial-in
steps
required, vs. a fast runner with a USB stick or a couple of
floppy
disks to transfer a 15 meg set of files to a 486
computer at the finish line.
Royal Navy Field Gun Race
https://www.youtube...watch?v=6lhx6Q3WuvU I'm kind of reminded of this where a team of trained technicians post an entire field gun through a letterbox under race conditions. [zen_tom, Jun 11 2021]
When - if ever - will the bandwidth of the Internet surpass that of FedEx?
https://what-if.xkcd.com/31/ [bs0u0155, Jun 11 2021]
[link]
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"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full
of tapes hurtling down the highway." |
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It hurts me that without the possibility of real network
cabling, a USB drive is still the quickest way to get data
upstairs in my house. My lab moves data back and forth to
Switzerland with 10TB drives in FedEx boxes. |
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Is the data actually used in Switzerland or is this just an extreme kind of off-site backup? |
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//extreme kind of off-site backup?// |
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Ha! No, the data comes from a 3D electron microscope in
Switzerland, then we take advantage of low US labor rates
to do analysis. There's no off site backup. Research grants
mandate you keep data for a certain number of years, but
assign no budget to that. Institutionally, they don't want to
touch dangerous non group policy machines, let alone fund
anything. So, only RAID 5 stands between 15 years of
research data and the abyss. |
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"Bugs kill RAID... dead." |
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back in about 2007, I used to get database backups (and
sometimes entire VMs) sent on CDs from the UK to Australia,
essentially because of timeouts on ftp servers. I now know
about other ways I could have got around this (filezilla would
probably have done the trick), but I remember the sheer
embarrassment that this was happening. |
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Instead of a starter's pistol, the go! signal could
be the part of the sound of an old dial-up modem
where it goes "bi-dum bi-dum". |
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