Stanford prof is beating the drum for a new protocol to replace TCP

Homa is a rethink of networks for the AI age.

The short version

• TCP, the data transport protocol upon which pretty much the entire web and most of cloud computing is built, is ill-suited for emerging AI workloads, a retired Stanford University professor argues.
• Shedding TCP sounds like an immense task, given the global reliance on the protocol.  But adding Homa into a network is fairly simple, Ousterhout told The Register .
• Compile Homa from its GitHub source , then install the module into the Linux kernels on the clients and servers.

What happened

No reboot required.  “Homa works side by side with TCP, so you can gradually move applications from TCP to Homa,” he wrote. Running Homa even makes the remaining TCP applications run faster.

Why it matters

Homa is a clean-slate rethink of how networks should manage traffic congestion, Ousterhout said.

Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at The Register — Networks via the links above and below.