Network acceleration with TCP Fast Open

Getting There Faster

Article from Issue 147/2013
Author(s):

With TCP Fast Open, Google introduces a protocol extension, implemented in the Linux kernel, that avoids unnecessary latency in network traffic and promises up to 41 percent acceleration, depending on the application.

In mid-2011, Google’s “Make the web faster” team, which is led by Sivasankar Radhakrishnan, Arvind Jain, Yuchung Cheng, and Jerry Chu, presented a draft for reducing preventable latency. The technique, which is called TCP Fast Open (TFO), depends on streamlining the process of opening a TCP session.

The idea itself is not new – way back in 1994, RFC1379 and RFC1644 specified the conceptually similar Transactional TCP (T/ TCP). Unfortunately, an analysis published in September 1996 revealed serious security issues with T/TCP [5], and the technique failed to establish itself on a broader front. Based on this previous experience, the Google team refined the approach when developing TFO, leading to an improved result. Linux kernel 3.6 implements the necessary client-side infrastructure, and 3.7 will include support for TFO on the server end, so it looks like the era of faster TCP connections might be just around the corner.

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
Print Issues
Digital Issues
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Print Subs
Digisubs
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Java Anonymous Proxy

    Many Websites log IP addresses and access times to identify users. If you don’t want to wind up as data in someone’s market research, the Java Anonymous Proxy will keep your surfing secret.

    more »
  • Server Name Indication

    Server Name Indication lets you operate more than one SSL-protected service per IP address.

    more »
  • Anonymous Browsing

    The major web browsers claim to protect users against data collectors and the advertising industry; however, promises are often quite different from reality.

    more »
  • Admin Workshop: X Window

    Thanks to automatic hardware detection, today’s admins rarely need to configure the X window system manually. But if you want to use X11’s excellent networking capabilities and tuning options, you will certainly benefit from some background knowledge.

    more »
  • Remote Terminal Service with NX

    NX provides fast terminal services, even over slow connections.

    more »
comments powered by Disqus

Visit Our Shop

Trial Subscription

Digital Subscription

Subscribe

Direct Download

Read full article as PDF:

Price $2.95

Linux Administration

News

Tag Cloud

Administration Community Events Hardware Linux Linux New Media Linux Pro Magazine Mobile Programming Software Ubuntu Web Development Windows free software open source