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Fastest way to send data between computers

Dec 10, 2015 at 12:09am
Hello, I'm just wondering what would be the fastest way to make 2 programs communicate if the computers are on the same network and could be connected with any sort of cable?

For example the time required for a message to be sent + acknowledgment would be a minimum? Also, what would be the time order (ms, µs, etc)?
Last edited on Dec 10, 2015 at 12:11am
Dec 10, 2015 at 12:35am
Do you want to maximize throughput or minimize latency?
Dec 10, 2015 at 1:33am
The first goal would be to minimize latency, but wouldn't maximizing throughput do the same thing since the messages would be sent faster?
Dec 10, 2015 at 2:55am
Not necessarily. Imagine a connection that can always transmit data in full duplex at 1 Gbps, no matter the distance. Dumping the string "PING" into this connection will always take 32 nanoseconds. If the opposite end of the connection is 1 m away, then the "PONG" response can never arrive sooner than 32*2+3.33*2 ns. If it's at the antipodes, the response will instead take at least 62.8*2 ms. Increasing the bandwidth tenfold in the first case will significantly reduce the latency. Not so in the second case.
On the other hand, if the message is significantly large compared to the latency of the connection, increasing the bandwidth does reduce the effective latency of the whole system.

So, which should be optimized depends on how large what you want to send is, and how far you want to send it.
Last edited on Dec 10, 2015 at 3:01am
Dec 10, 2015 at 4:14am
The messages would be short and sent frequently to a computer that is just next to the main.
Last edited on Dec 10, 2015 at 4:15am
Dec 10, 2015 at 4:37am
Then the fastest method is a UDP connection. The latency should be roughly equal to the ping.
Dec 11, 2015 at 8:28pm
YEah UDP unless your being hypothetical in which case light
Dec 11, 2015 at 9:44pm
What do you think high speed networks use for their signals, devon?

-Albatross
Dec 11, 2015 at 10:19pm
Dec 11, 2015 at 11:02pm
Physical media has nothing to do with the network layer protocol.
Dec 12, 2015 at 12:09am
Yeah. Comparing UDP vs. optic fiber is like comparing NTFS vs. SSDs. It's meaningless.
Dec 12, 2015 at 12:29pm
Well since we have the option for "any sort of cable" it would make sense to use fibre optics.
Dec 12, 2015 at 12:39pm
Not necessarily. Have you seen the prices of NICs capable of using optic fiber?
Dec 12, 2015 at 9:41pm
the question could be twisted to mean more.
Dec 13, 2015 at 12:20am
the question could be twisted to mean more.

That's pretty vague. Can you be more specific about what you mean?
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