Detect black holes throughout the Internet

The reason why you can't go to a particular website at a given time can be very simple. Server and hosting issues, maintenance or the simple fact that a website has been interrupted are the most well-known explanations for why a website cannot load (load). OK.

But there is another reason, a more mysterious ability: Black hole.

A research team at the University of Washington (USA) has begun to outline a scenario where Internet packets simply disappear.

' There is an assumption that if you have an active Internet connection, you have access to all the Internet everywhere ,' says Ethan Katz-Bassett, a doctoral student in computer science and engineering. University of Washington. ' We found out not like that '.

Katz-Bassett is working on a project called Hubble, a system that allows to track what he refers to as black holes of information.

Hubble map detects black holes on the Internet.Photos: TG daily

There are situations where there is a line between two computers that exists but the message - a request to visit a website or send an email - gets lost quite far. Katz-Bassett has published a Hubble map that allows users to monitor such black holes around the world or as a simple form in an address network to check its status.

To determine a network state, the Hubble system sends messages or experimental messages 'around the world' to find computers that can be reached from some but not the entire Internet, one The situation is described as ' possibly to local '. Mr. Katz-Bassett said those short communication cries (messages) were ignored. If a problem emerges continuously in two 15-minute tests, it is listed as 'malfunction'.

The team found that more than 7% of global computers experienced this type of error at least once during the 3-week period in fall 2007.

' When we started this project, we really did not expect to find so many problems, ' said Arvind Krishnamurthy, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Washington and consultant for Katz-Bassett. said, ' We were surprised at the results achieved '.

By the way, the name of the project is not accidental. As the researchers say, it represents a service in the field often described as Internet astronomy.

Just like the Hubble telescope can observe black holes in the universe, this software does the same work on the Internet by monitoring network infrastructure and operations.

Hubble is scheduled to make presentations in San Francisco next week.