Talk:Spoke-hub distribution paradigm

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I don't know if I picked the right name for this... Should it be spoke-hub model?

When I clicked to this page from UPS, I was hoping to see an indication of the alternatives to the spoke-hub model. I have heard this referred to as a star network. See network topology. And I guess I have answered my own question with that link, although I don't know what names the shipping industry might use for the other models. Jim Winters 19:25, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] add a layman's definition?

i'm trying to sort out the "hub" disambiguation page, which is how i came upon this article. i'm wondering if someone could start the article with a simple definition, in layman's terms... It is also used as hub-and-spoke for integration software, see this "XI 3.0 provides hub-and-spoke messaging (SOAP/XML-based)"


The Hub-and-Spoke term also refers to the centralized fleet management system utilized by the majority of airline operators.


  • "For a network of N nodes, only N-1 routes are necessary to connect all nodes; that is, the complexity is O(N). This compares favorably to the N*(N-1) nodes, or O(N2), that would be required to connect each node to every other node in a point-to-point network." huuuuuuuuh? I'm really interested in this topic, and i'm wondering if somebody might be a wiki-pal and dumb it down for me, or even, add a diagram? pleeease? be a pal! Taco325i 17:10, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

"Node" and "point" are being used for "hub," "origin," and "destination" (in other words, both hubs and endpoints), and "route" means "spoke." N stands for the number of points. O is an unspecified function which gives the "complexity" (whatever that is) of a network. O(N) indicates the complexity of a network (presumably a hub-and-spoke network) of N nodes. I suspect the meaning of complexity in this context is very simple, but I hope somebody more familiar with the issue will join the discussion. "O(N2)," which is actually O(N-squared), is being used to indicate that the complexity of a network in which every point is connected to every other point is a function (the same function) not of N, but of the square of N. In other words, consider a network of four towns in New England, four in Mexico, four in Alaska, and four in Kansas. In each group of towns, pick one to act as a hub, making the rest endpoints. (The hubs themselves may also be considered endpoints; I don't know.) Consider Kansas City, the hub in Kansas, to be a super hub, because traffic among the other hubs passes through it. Since there are sixteen points, it would take a certain number of routes to join each point to every other point (15 + 14 + 13 +...), but a lesser number of routes to connect all the endpoints to hubs, and each hub to the super hub. Perhaps if understood the terminology better and had more fingers, I might be able to tackle the math. Unfree (talk) 16:21, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] why is this efficient?

This method is continually discussed as efficient, yet no despcription of the root of its efficiency is addressed. Its shortcomings are also clearly left unmentioned.

[edit] Rahat

Who is this Rahat ? (I'm not even completely sure if this was supposed to be a quote.) Taw 08:27, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] German version

I only know a smattering of German, and so am daunted by looking at the Deutsch version, but I see that it boasts of a much better design, more par with other Wikipedia articles in quality. Someone could take the relatively simple task of translating it, or at least using it as a guide for expanding the stub English version.

[edit] Italian

On that topic, I also noted that the Italian version hinted at information which would also be of use in the article-whole. (However, I know even less Italian than I know German.) Just food for thought. JamesEG 06:24, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Translation

I got it translated, however I did not get a chance to edit it at all on here. If someone could clear up some of the wording, we have something to work from on the main page of this topic. It is [[1]] Ksax 04:42, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Overload

"It may be difficult or impossible to handle occasional periods of high demand between two spokes." I wonder whether "spokes" should be changed to "hubs." High traffic between two spokes would suggest that the hub between them experiences the overload, whereas high traffic between two hubs puts the pressure on a spoke. What's the intended message? Unfree (talk) 15:49, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Request for list

I'd like to see a list of the major hubs used by various companies. Unfree (talk) 15:51, 26 April 2008 (UTC)