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Assorted Rants Tagged ‘Latency’, page 2:

Packet Loss for an App-Level Developer. Part I. Router Failures, BGP Convergence Time, AQM, Traffic Shapers.

Quote: “All the routers, switches (actually – pretty much each and every device which forms Internet infrastructure) – are allowed to drop each and every packet.”
Another Quote: “TCP, when it observes a dropped packet, interprets it as an indication of congestion – and slows down.”
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MMOG. RTT, Input Lag, and How to Mitigate Them

Quote: “For fast-paced games, there is one big problem with the flow shown on this diagram, and the name of the problem is “latency” (a.k.a. ‘input lag’)”
Another Quote: “No, better bandwidth doesn’t necessarily mean better latency”
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Part VI: TCP of 64 Network DO’s and DON’Ts for Multi-Player Game Developers

Quote: “In addition, if TCP_NODELAY is set, it MIGHT help to mitigate consequences of exponential backoff algorithm in case of lost packets.”
Another Quote: “All of us are seeing ‘hung’ HTTP connections on a regular basis – that is, when we’ve clicked a link, and the page loading is stuck forever.”
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Part V: UDP of 64 Network DO’s and DON’Ts for Game Engines

Quote: “In general, lag and jitter are not specific to UDP, and manifest themselves for absolutely any Internet connection.”
Another Quote: “If you need a globally-reachable server with single-digit-ms lag for all the players, it is simply not possible”
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Part IV: Great TCP-vs-UDP Debate of 64 Network DO’s and DONT’s for Game Engines

Quote: ““Why bother with UDP at all? The answer is simple: there is a price tag attached to the TCP goodies.”
Another Quote: ““Implementing your own reliable-delivery protocol over UDP is extremely complicated, time-consuming, and error-prone.”
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Part IIIb: Server-Side (deployment, optimizations, and testing) of 64 Network DO’s and DONT’s for Game Engines

Quote: “If your game is the only one working when all the competition is down, it improves user perception about your app a lot.”
Another Quote: “Most importantly, however, this approach allows to keep your players happy – and this is one thing which really matters”
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