'Today' considers data retention and IMP

[Richard Clayton]

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In article <a2b6592c0901120342m10facb66k485103a2d95ceb12@mail.gmail.com>
, Igor Mozolevsky <igor@hybrid-lab.co.uk> writes

>2009/1/12 Richard Clayton <richard@highwayman.com>:
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>> In article <a2b6592c0901120234nb912a8bn72009f8f739ddfa3@mail.gmail.com>,
>> Igor Mozolevsky <igor@hybrid-lab.co.uk> writes
>>
>>>AFAIK, DNS is not context-aware,
>>
>> It can trivially be made so -- and indeed Akamai's entire business model
>> depends on this happening :)   [and doubtless other Content Distribution
>> Networks as well, with which I am less familiar]
>>
>or Google's DNS servers reply differently based on
>the source address of the packet, which I would imagine would be very
>expensive.

then you imagine incorrectly -- this is SOP for many systems

> L4 diversion switches (what CDNs use) 

CDNs exploit DNS long before the traffic gets any near their kit:

  http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140366406000703

>are not the same as
>geo-aware DNS responses, but that doesn't get us any closer to where
>one's data actually lives.

When you start considering data served from a CDN with automated caching
and replication strategies the notion of "actually lives" becomes very
fuzzy -- "everywhere and nowhere" would be a good approximation.

That's not to say that Google (or the other large email services)
actually cache and replicate your email, but to view that email as all
living in one single large shed somewhere on the planet is generally far
too simplistic.

- -- 
richard                                                   Richard Clayton

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary 
Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Benjamin Franklin 11 Nov 1755

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