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Subject:Re: 22.5 hrs to post a message? From:Matt Ion <soundy -at- NEXTLEVEL -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 19 Jun 1997 20:07:31 -0800
On Thu, 19 Jun 1997 08:17:00 -0700, Wilcox, John (Contractor) wrote:
>These two messages that I sent yesterday morning showed up on the list
>this morning, over 22 hours later. This is ridiculous. Does this
>happen to other people? It's possible that it just took a long time to
>get out of Weyerhaeuser.
It's amazing how readily people get accustomed to the speed of Internet
mail delivery, and how impatient they get and think something's broken
if a message doesn't get where it's going within seconds.
John, while the Internet mail delivery model is normally very fast and
efficient, do keep in mind that a message almost NEVER goes directly
from the sending machine to the recipient. It normally has to go to
your ISP's mail server, then bounce around a couple more servers at
your ISP, then out into the world where it's routed through a number of
different systems, then to the ISP at the receiving end, where it may
be bounced around several different machines before finally ending up
at its destination.
When sending to a listserv, the posted message takes an equally
convoluted path to get back to you. Just looking at the header of your
message as I got it, it passed through six different machines between
listserv.okstate.edu and my home computer.
Anywhere along the way, a packet may get delayed, rerouted, or in rare
instances, lost completely. 22 hours is rare, but not unheard of.
Your friend and mine,
Matt
<insert standard disclaimer here>
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