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The influence of internet architecture on centralised versus distributed internet services

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  • Jari Arkko

Abstract

The internet evolves rapidly as innovations in technology, applications and business emerge. In some cases, the changes have also given rise to the creation of centralised service deployment models and industry consolidation. This paper focuses on the question of how internet technology and open interfaces may affect the ability to deploy services in a collaborative fashion vs in a centralised fashion. The paper presents a categorisation of factors influencing these choices and discusses these factors in the context of several case studies. Some aspects of centralisation and consolidation are direct consequences of physics. A large organisation can provide a short round-trip time to users around the globe, due to service instances in many locations. Other aspects are due to economics. For instance, network effects cause the value of a service to grow per Metcalfe’s law. But technology and deployment choices also have an effect. Federated, collaborative networks with open standardised interfaces (such as email) allow multiple service providers to interact with each other. Closed systems may not allow this. Many popular social networks fall in this category. While technology is not the main driving force behind what are often business and economic decisions, awareness of technology choices makes it easier to understand the likely impacts of a chosen model.

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  • Jari Arkko, 2020. "The influence of internet architecture on centralised versus distributed internet services," Journal of Cyber Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 30-45, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rcybxx:v:5:y:2020:i:1:p:30-45
    DOI: 10.1080/23738871.2020.1740753
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    Cited by:

    1. Pohle, Julia & Voelsen, Daniel, 2022. "Das Netz und die Netze. Vom Wandel des Internets und der globalen digitalen Ordnung [The net and the networks. Transformations of the Internet and the global digital order]," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 32(3), pages 455-487.
    2. Pohle, Julia & Voelsen, Daniel, 2022. "Centrality and power. The struggle over the techno‐political configuration of the Internet and the global digital order," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 14(1), pages 13-27.
    3. Viet-Cuong Trieu & Fu-Ren Lin, 2022. "The Development of a Service System for Facilitating Food Resource Allocation and Service Exchange," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-29, September.

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