The issue has been in the spotlight for much of this month, following a decision by Microsoft to abbreviate developer blogs both on its Web site and in syndication, citing a bandwidth crunch. The Redmond, Wash., software giant stopped delivering the full text of postings on the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) to blog subscribers, requiring them instead to follow a link to read the postings in their entirety. Facing a clamor of criticism from its own developers, Microsoft on Tuesday backtracked on that decision.
Microsoft's flip-flop is a red flag for large enterprises and other groups that host and syndicate bloggers. As the practice gains popularity, network administrators could face tough choices in meeting a demand that promises to put new strains on server resources.
The developments at MSDN have also raised questions about fundamental Internet and blogging protocols and practices, with the "blogosphere" erupting in debates over everything from obscure extensions to HTTP to the wisdom of group blogs and the resurrection of push technology.
"This is part of a bigger trend," said Mike Morford, a senior technologist with Packeteer, a company in Cupertino, Calif., whose software helps network administrators manage bandwidth. Blog syndication is "currently one of the best tools for sharing more information more effectively. The problem is more information takes more bandwidth, and bandwidth is not free."
That won't get an argument from Microsoft. For months, the company published whole blog entries by members of MSDN in a single aggregated feed, both on MSDN's blog page and in syndication using the RSS (Really Simple Syndication) protocol.
Bandwidth-hogging blogs
But as blogging became more popular at MSDN, the site's page sizes ballooned and bandwidth costs swelled.
On Sept. 4, the company acted to conserve resources by abbreviating to only their first 500 characters both syndication feeds and the blogs as they appeared on the MSDN Web site. Subscribers and site visitors could follow a link to read the whole post. That economy shaved the MSDN blog page by 75 percent to about 100K.
It also raised the ire of MSDN bloggers.
"In the blogosphere, there is hardly anything more irritating (than) an abbreviated RSS feed," wrote blogger Steve Main. on his blog. "The whole purpose of an RSS aggregator is so that I don't have to open my freaking Web browser to 100 different pages. By having the content right there in my aggregator, I can skim an entire article in the time it takes to open up a new Web browser. By not including full content in the RSS feed, you take away some of the productivity gains that RSS offers."
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