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What compression methods are applicable to a typical 1Gbps ethernet link? (non-enterprise bias, hardware or software, layer 1-4)

Or: "What solutions exist to improve typical 1GigE ethernet throughput?"

I lack the expertise to determine what methods in layers 1-4 are practical with current technology.

For instance, I recall that there were some methods with dial-up to compress headers by store state on either end and only send packet diffs, with huge savings, but don't know if that kind of technology is typically enabled in typical home/small-business environments.

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  • Data compression at such a low level in Ethernet is generally restricted to enterprise scenarios, because Ethernet/802.3 is a LAN protocol. WAN protocols and carriers however definitely implement compression in cases where both endpoints are sufficiently capable and configured to do so. Here are some of the Cisco compression implementations available: cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wan/data-compression/… Dec 10, 2015 at 2:57

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There are no standards for compressing the headers of layers 1-4. They are so small that there's not much to be gained.

Payloads compression could make a difference, but there are no standards for that either. But as encryption becomes the default post-Snowden, the window of opportunity for gains from payload compression is rapidly closing (well-encrypted data is indistinguishable from random data, and random data is not compressible).

One reasonably widely available pseudo-standard for increasing GigE efficiency is Jumbo Frames, but GigE is already 94% efficient without it, so you're only squeezing out a few more percent.

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  • I just discovered Robust Header Compression, which seems contrary to this answer. It appears to suggest that 20-60byte headers can be reduced to 1-2 bytes, which occurs to me as a reasonable reduction in transmission, no? Dec 10, 2015 at 20:06
  • @Replete, you said you wanted consumer available solutions only. I cannot find a single switch that supports ROHC. I did find software for use on linux routers to implement ROHC, but thats enterprise: rohc.sourceforge.net Dec 11, 2015 at 16:55
  • Additionally ROHC requires that you set up a compressor on one end of a specific circuit, and deploy a decompressor on the other end. It only compresses IP headers, so the circuit cannot be routed over the public internet. so this is good for enterprises with point-to-point wan links, but useless for any consumer. Dec 11, 2015 at 17:02
  • Thanks for the input Frank. I've accepted this answer as I've realised there aren't many more benefits beyond Jumbo frames worth the effort. Bring on 2.5GbE! Dec 12, 2015 at 17:07

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