computer science

Netsukuku

Netsukuku is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Netsukuku rather than just read about it. In short: Netsukuku is an experimental peer-to-peer routing system, developed by the FreakNet MediaLab in 2005, created to build up a distributed network, anonymous and censorship-free, fully independent but not necessarily separated from the Internet, without the support of any server, Internet service provider and no central authority. Netsukuku is designed to handle up to 2128 nodes without any servers or central systems…

Key takeaways

Netsukuku belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Netsukuku to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Netsukuku from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Netsukuku is an experimental peer-to-peer routing system, developed by the FreakNet MediaLab in 2005, created to build up a distributed network, anonymous and censorship-free, fully independent but not necessarily separated from the Internet, without the support of any server, Internet service provider and no central authority. Netsukuku is designed to handle up to 2128 nodes without any servers or central systems, with minimal CPU and memory resources. This mesh network can be built using existing network infrastructure components such as Wi-Fi. The project has been in slow development since 2005, never abandoning a beta state. It has also never been tested on large scale.

Operation As of December 2011, the latest theoretical work on Netsukuku could be found in the author's master thesis Scalable Mesh Networks and the Address Space Balancing problem. The following description takes into account only the basic concepts of the theory. Netsukuku uses a custom routing protocol called QSPN (Quantum Shortest Path Netsukuku) that strives to be efficient and not taxing on the computational capabilities of each node. The current version of the protocol is QSPNv2. It adopts a hierarchical structure. 256 nodes are grouped inside a gnode (group node), 256 gnodes are grouped in a single ggnode (group of group nodes), 256 ggnodes are grouped in a single gggnode, and so on. This offers a set of advantages main documentation. The protocol relies on the fact that the nodes are not mobile and that the network structure does not change quickly, as several minutes may be required before a change in the network is propagated. However, a node that joins the network is immediately able to communicate using the routes of its neighbors. When a node joins the mesh network, Netsukuku automatically adapts and all other nodes come to know the fastest and most efficient routes to communicate with the newcomer. Each node has no more privileges or restrictions than the other nodes. The domain name system (DNS) is replaced by a decentralised and distributed system called ANDNA (Abnormal Netsukuku Domain Name Anarchy). The ANDNA database is included in the Netsukuku system, so each node includes such database that occupies at most 355 kilobytes of memory. Simplifying, ANDNA works as follows: to resolve a symbolic name the host applies a function Hash on its behalf. The Hash function returns an address that the host contacts asking for the resolution generated by the hash. The contacted node receives a request, searches in its ANDNA database for the address associated with the name and returns it to the applicant host. Recording works in a similar way: for example, let's suppose that the node X wants to register the address FreakNet.andna; X calculates the hash name and obtains the address 11.22.33.44 associated with node Y. The node X contacts Y asking to register 11.22.33.44 as its own. Y stores the request in its database and any request for resolution of 11.22.33.44 hash, will answer with the X's address. The protocol is a little more complex than this, as the system provides a public/private key to authenticate the hosts and prevent unauthorized changes to the ANDNA database. Furthermore, the protocol provides redundancy in the database to make the protocol resistant to failure and also provides for the migration of the database if the network topology changes. The protocol does not provide for the possibility of revoking a symbolic name; after a certain period of inactivity (currently 3 days) it is simply deleted from the database. The protocol also prevents a single host from recording an excessive number of symbolic names (at present 256 names) in order to prevent spammers from storing a high number of terms to perform cybersquatting.

See also Freifunk Anonymous P2P B.A.T.M.A.N. Digital divide Freenet GNUnet I2P - The Anonymous Network Tor (anonymity network) Wireless community network

External links Official website FreakNet MediaLab Netsukuku the Anarchial Parallel Internet at the Wayback Machine (archived January 13, 2016) Draw your katanas, Netsukuku is out there (the Internet is obsolete) NTSKK - codice segreto rivoluzione February 2010 Italian Wired Magazine story on Netsukuku ANDNA: the distributed hostname management system of Netsukuku Netsukuku Subreddit Netsukuku Subreddit. Netsukuku Mailing List The Netsukuku mailing list. Une alternative à Internet : Netsukuku French Linux.org article about Netsukuku.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Netsukuku

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Netsukuku claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Netsukuku before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Netsukuku ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Netsukuku

In research: Netsukuku appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Netsukuku in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Netsukuku is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Anonymity networks, Computer networks, Mesh networking, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Netsukuku outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Netsukuku in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Netsukuku means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Netsukuku out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Netsukuku in simple terms?

Why does Netsukuku matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Netsukuku?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Netsukuku.