2/15/2006: Data transfer via snail
 

http://cellar.org/2006/datatransferviasnail2.jpg

As we used to say in the olden days, "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of magnetic tapes." Now that both station wagons and magtapes have gone the way of the dinosaurs, here is a new way to demonstrate high-bandwidth, high-latency data communications.

axlrosen suggests this item, which was Boing Boing'd. The idea was conceived and built at an Israeli internet camp to demonstrate this new data transport mechanism, called SNAP (SNAil-based data transfer Protocol).

The actual data is on the two DVDs which make up the wheels. Each DVD holds 4.7 GB of data.

Once it was proven that the data could be moved this way, they did the math to compare it to other data transfer methods:

V.34 modem: 28.8 kbps
ISDN: 128 kbps
ADSL: 1,500 kbps
Pigeons: 2,270 kbps
SNAP: 37,000 kbps

Once the Cellar is moved on Friday, it should be on a 10,000 kbps connection but you know, SNAP seems like a better way.

Doesn't this transfer rate decrease rapidly with distance?

I saw the headline of this thread, and knew what it was because I had seen it on Boing Boing earlier. So I was all ready to throw the old "station wagon full of tapes" quote out there, since that was what I had thought of back when I saw it on Boing Boing.

This is a long-winded way of saying "I got nothin'."

Cool picture and experiment, though.

But just think of your ping times.

GRRRR
 

If any taxpayers money went to this ridiculous project....

reminds me of nasa. I see the value in sending rovers to Mars. BUT note the following:

(a) When the rovers would 'awake' for the day, the Rover would actually play a wake up song. This song was changeable via transmitting new songs across space.

(b) the actual gate arrays in one of the custom asics were constructed to follow a pattern that made it look like marvin the martian from looney toons fame, when viewed under a microscope.

I can GUARANTEE you that implementing (a) and (b) cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayer money.

Ridiculous.

Perhaps. But it is COOL.

Almost certainly not true for (b), since it had to be designed on a microscopic level anyway, and putting it in one pattern is equivalent to putting it in another.
The cost for (a) would depend entirely on how much of that capability was already there for mission-critical applications. When you say "play a wake-up song", I'm guessing you mean on its radio link to NASA, so sending MP3 or WAV data isn't particularly different from sending any other data.

Well, if so, it was Israeli tax money, and who am I to tell them how to spend it?

a point
 

Know why one of the rovers was down for a week after it got there?

Ran out of storage space.

I'm not kidding.

I work in very high tech, believe me the MANPOWER associated with the countless hours of Q&A to insure that every feature works properly is astounding for what we do, I can only imagine that NASA is much more stringent.

yes, but is it ISO9000 compliant?

I read the details at the website quoted and found it amusing that the lettuce router needs to be pulled unless butter and garlic are put on the front of the carriage prompting the snail to move forward and away! Also that there may be disruptions of service in France where snails are on the menu; too funny! :lol:

This invention gives new meaning to the phrase "snail mail."

It should be, as long as all the operating procedures are thoroughly documented.

Sluggish, at best.

Instead of guns they use salt shakers. :mg: