Friends,
As I follow the discussion of putting computers on satellite, I can understand the attraction if I apply the discussion with a satellite and server above my location, suspended by a skyhook. The geometry is very easy (some variations of a triangle). However, with an LEO satellite (or MEO), most of the time the server is not overhead, it is hidden by the horizon. 

Have I missed comments (or naively not understood comments) about how the solutions work when the server is not overhead? I wanted to hear about data locality and how the desired behavior varies according to the position of the server. Does some of the proposed edge computing imply (or assume) the data is needed on many satellites so that there is always a server overhead with the needed data? (Then we have lots of data synchronization challenges.) Clearly, this suggests there is a scaling problem for edge computing solutions because for a single server, most of the time the computer is not at the edge near me.

What am I missing?

Gene
-----------------------------------
Eugene Chang
+1-781-799-0233 (in Honolulu)





On Apr 20, 2023, at 2:24 AM, David Fernández via Starlink <starlink@lists.bufferbloat.net> wrote:

Well, O3b MPower (MEO satellites) is offering independent one hop
dedicated access to the (Microsoft Azure) cloud as "killer
application". If the cloud is on the satellite, half-hop.

Starlink GWs are near Google Cloud datacenters.

Blue Origin is on the mission to move Amazon Cloud to orbit,
eventually, maybe, leaving the Earth as a garden to enjoy, without any
industry on the surface (in a century, maybe). Kuiper will offer one
hop access to Amazon Cloud, then half-hop.

What seems a crazy idea today will be eventually implemented later,
like Starlink (Teledesic failed, fingers crossed Starlink does not go
bankrupt, although I would expect it be saved by Department of
Defense, as Iridium was saved).

As we were discussing recently, maybe starting with anycast DNS
servers on satellites is a first step to consider, before embarking
any other type of cloud servers.

Regards,

David

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2023 04:33:00 +0000
From: Ulrich Speidel <u.speidel@auckland.ac.nz>
To: "tom@evslin.com" <tom@evslin.com>, 'Michael Richardson'
<mcr@sandelman.ca>, 'starlink' <starlink@lists.bufferbloat.net>,
"e-impact@ietf.org" <e-impact@ietf.org>
Subject: Re: [Starlink] DataCenters in Space (was Re:  fiber IXPs in
space)
Message-ID:
<SY4PR01MB697983BB5DEB1B2AA0B2690BCE639@SY4PR01MB6979.ausprd01.prod.outlook.com>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"

Where do I even start? The lack of substantial bandwidth between space and
ground? The extra latency between ground and space compared to terrestrial
cloud, especially as terrestrial cloud edge can move much closer to
customers when space can't? The fact that every LEO satellite is both a few
100 km from every customer and out of the customer's range depending on when
you look? That low temperatures in space don't mean superconductive chips
that produce zero heat, and that that heat is difficult to get rid of in
space? That generating power in space is orders of magnitude more expensive
than on the ground?

Just because Starlink can provide a service somewhere between DSL and low to
medium grade fibre to a few million around the globe it's not "done". Even
with 10x the number of satellites and a couple of times the current capacity
per satellite, Starlink isn't going to supply more than a couple of 100
million at best, and that's not even accounting for growth in demand from
IOT...

--

****************************************************************
Dr. Ulrich Speidel

School of Computer Science

Room 303S.594 (City Campus)
Ph: (+64-9)-373-7599 ext. 85282

The University of Auckland
ulrich@cs.auckland.ac.nz<mailto:ulrich@cs.auckland.ac.nz>
http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~ulrich/
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