SE Radio 573: Varun Singh on Evolution of Internet Protocols

In this episode, Varun Singh, Chief Products and
Technology Officer at Daily.co, speaks with host Nikhil Krishna
about the 30-year evolution of web protocols. In particular, they
explore the impact of protocol ossification, which has supported
the Internet’s success but also limits the flexibility of
evolving protocol suites such as TCP/IP and UDP by constraining
future development. Varun points out how the end-to-end principle
emphasizes full flexibility for end hosts, but the TCP
implementation in the OS kernel as well as in “middle boxes” such
as ISPs contributes to the constraints of ossification by
blocking certain types of traffic. Further, the development of
new protocols is challenging due to the need for backward
compatibility with existing protocols. They discuss Google’s
efforts – and the challenges it has faced – in working to move
the HTTP protocol forward. The role of standards bodies such as
the IETF and collaboration between industry stakeholders is
crucial for the evolution of internet protocols, requiring a
balance between maintaining backward compatibility and
introducing new protocols such as QUIC and HTTP/3 to address
existing constraints and improve internet performance and
security. indeed, QUIC includes features that seek to actively
avoid ossification and encourage evolution.