5.5. Master Number Generator Architecture
Given the Usenet network depicted in Figure 5, network traffic can be divided into two main categories: in-network and out-of-network.
Out-of-network (Red) references articles that are un-numbered and enter the network at a single injection point (the Master Number Generator in Figure 5). Articles are supplied by Local peers, Remote peers via other routers on the network (local does not necessarily mean in the same data center or even the same city), Reader servers forwarding locally posted articles, or from the Master Number Generator, articles are assigned numbers and distributed within the network.
In-network (Blue and Green) characterizes all articles that have been numbered and are downstream of the Master Number Generator.
Figure 5
The Master Number Generator architecture provides many upsides for the Usenet provider including:
Network-wide content congruity
Seamless fail-over and disaster recovery
Massive reduction in customer support issues relating to article number synchronization
Ease of administration and troubleshooting
Single point of control for wanted/unwanted content
Despite the advantages, several quandaries remain.