'Avalanche' of information/bits

The frequent Community Technology Previews (CTPs), Betas and other kinds of information across the different products often end up causing a virtual ‘avalanche’ of information flow for our customers. These information 'avalanches’ pose problems related to congested servers, network traffic and download speeds.

To address these issues, Microsoft Research (MSR) is working on innovative technologies with the codename "Avalanche". Avalanche provides a PC-based, fast, internet-scale software distribution solution. The Avalanche model addresses internet software-distribution problems using network coding which ensures that any piece uploaded by a given peer can be of use to any other peer. This research paper and these slides provide more information on network coding and Avalanche.

The Developer Division has a pilot project under way using Avalanche to download CTP bits for our Most Valuable Professionals.

Namaste!