Delays - if you use the internet and request an answer from an LLM, you won’t notice if it’s 300-500ms slower than usual. But if you deploy and run a software stack, a delay of 5ms betweenntze app and the database can make the difference between a usable application and an inperfomant one.
Once I was asked to troubleshoot problems with a screen share app. Turned out that the far-side was in Gurgaon. The packets were routed bia 2 geosync sats. One second up, one second over, one second down. 3 second latency.
All without explaining heat radiation, total power budget, physical maintenance, etc.
Data transmission/delays and damage from debris not just radiation
Delays - if you use the internet and request an answer from an LLM, you won’t notice if it’s 300-500ms slower than usual. But if you deploy and run a software stack, a delay of 5ms betweenntze app and the database can make the difference between a usable application and an inperfomant one.
Once I was asked to troubleshoot problems with a screen share app. Turned out that the far-side was in Gurgaon. The packets were routed bia 2 geosync sats. One second up, one second over, one second down. 3 second latency.
Time for a classic: The Case of the 500-Mile Email
Edit: The site seems to be overloaded, but it’s also on Archive.org: https://web.archive.org/web/20260220060645/https://www.ibiblio.org/harris/500milemail.html
A true classic.