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Skype replaces P2P supernodes with Linux boxes hosted by Microsoft

arstechnica.com

21–30 of 107 posts

Re: Skype replaces P2P supernodes with Linux boxes hosted by Microsoft

#21

Let me just make this very clear: you don't go from zero operating cost to multiple millions of hardware and colo space to do the very same thing, in a move so transparent that it needs security researchers to dig into your program to find out it has happened at all. I guess Skype (by extension, Microsoft) is growing interested in what people are speaking about. To get hold of that data you need to route it through y…

Or instead of engaging in conspiracy theores with zero proof we should look at whats going on here rationally. Skype is really unacceptable in any corporate environment. I don't want a random PC on my network to be a superpeer and suddenly use my 50mbps connection routing calls to the world. Run skype for a couple of mins, fire up tcpview, and watch calls come in and out. Not only is this a waste of my resources it a…

      Not only is this a waste of my resources it also 
      provides a shit experience of dropped calls, sudden 
      drops in quality, and connection issues.
My experience with Skype, by using it everyday, is not at all similar.

Skype for me is the best VoIP system I've ever used. Voice calls work fine even over my phone's 3G connection, which compared to a broadband line is piss poor. Video calls sometime have hiccups, but it worked for me in situations where more traditional client-server solutions were unusable.

Re: Skype replaces P2P supernodes with Linux boxes hosted by Microsoft

#23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we had 1 good application programmer for every 100 cryptoweenies, the world would be a better place. Write code or shut the fuck up.

Code is written. Command line only. So not ready for you yet. There are good application programmers (who are also competent cryptographers). But it seems, based on mailing list and forum comments, all the incompetent ones hold them in spite. One can only guess why.

Command line is good enough for me; Where can I find it?

Re: Skype replaces P2P supernodes with Linux boxes hosted by Microsoft

#25
post #16

Just so I understand this: they're switching from direct P2P messages between users (like MSN), to routing the messages through their own data centers first (like Facebook)? So in theory this will prevent any messages ever getting lost en route to the recipient? I can't tell you how many messages have gone undelivered between my friends and I when we used to use MSN messenger exclusively (even happens once or twice o…

Is MSN P2P ? It's been a long time (like.. oh. 7 years maybe ?) since I've used it, but iirc it was centrally routed. Only some things like file transfers were P2P.

Re: Skype replaces P2P supernodes with Linux boxes hosted by Microsoft

#26
My biggest complaint with Skype is its inability to persist chat messages when one client is disconnected. If this addresses that it would be great.

That said, we're using HipChat now and love it. If you use Skype for group chat and don't use the phone a lot, I recommend the switch wholeheartedly.

Re: Skype replaces P2P supernodes with Linux boxes hosted by Microsoft

#27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Code is written. Command line only. So not ready for you yet. There are good application programmers (who are also competent cryptographers). But it seems, based on mailing list and forum comments, all the incompetent ones hold them in spite. One can only guess why.

Command line is good enough for me; Where can I find it?

[deleted]

Re: Skype replaces P2P supernodes with Linux boxes hosted by Microsoft

#28
post #2

Is this in response to the Skype IP Lookup tool that was released this past week? Or something completely unrelated?

I think it is quite coincidental that now the skype ip lookup site JUST got killed and this press releases timing. They may have implemented this new infrastructure in tangent, and now took them all offline?

Re: Skype replaces P2P supernodes with Linux boxes hosted by Microsoft

#30

Let me just make this very clear: you don't go from zero operating cost to multiple millions of hardware and colo space to do the very same thing, in a move so transparent that it needs security researchers to dig into your program to find out it has happened at all. I guess Skype (by extension, Microsoft) is growing interested in what people are speaking about. To get hold of that data you need to route it through y…

Or instead of engaging in conspiracy theores with zero proof we should look at whats going on here rationally. Skype is really unacceptable in any corporate environment. I don't want a random PC on my network to be a superpeer and suddenly use my 50mbps connection routing calls to the world. Run skype for a couple of mins, fire up tcpview, and watch calls come in and out. Not only is this a waste of my resources it a…

The bandwidth the whole Skype swarm can scale to in a matter of minutes will most certainly exceed what would be possible if you're running everything from a datacenter. Sure, have a few backup machines ready to takeover roles if super peers drop or something else is impacting the network.

IT managers and IT buyers are obviously not the target market for Skype. They just buy that stuff from CISCO.

Skype has invested considerable development resources into making P2P work over NAT, circumventing firewalls, cloaking and encrypting their traffic to evade packet inspection. Even the client itself is heavily obfuscated. The point of this all is of course to not threaten the P2P model that has allowed them to essentially scale unlimited.

Now, you have Microsoft replacing that with the standard centralized infrastructure that scales terribly. Huh.

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