[e2e] Small packets - Definition needed..

[David P. Reed]

I understood Arjuna to be asking about a boundary line between small and 
large.  That has nothing, of course, to do with any "optimum" overhead, 
etc.   One would expect large to be larger than the boundary line, and 
small to be smaller.   In fact, the idea that a size is a really bad 
choice makes it a good breakpoint - one won't find much argument if the 
cumulative distribution function is flat in the region one picks.


Once upon a time, 576 would have been viewed as large (and common) 
packets.   Now we see them only in certain topologies, as the typical 
FTP and HTTP packets soar to the artificial limit of 1500 or so (reminds 
me of the "640K PC memory limit" or the "32-bit IP address" - bad 
choices that stopped progress for no particularly good reason).