The Works of DANTE - Issue 3

GÉANT2 – Internet2 Initiative Yields Success

A new measurement infrastructure designed to give users the “whole picture” of performance across several networks is currently in development, as a result of collaboration between GÉANT2 and Internet2. The infrastructure allows users to see performance measurement data across different network domains.  

Currently there is a lack of co-ordination for network management, because staff at the network operations centres (NOCs) at the national, regional and campus level do not have a global view of the network, and may spend considerable time troubleshooting problems which are often out of their scope.

Typically, in connecting two end-users, several different networks (or domains) will be used. In many cases, at least five domains are involved: GÉANT, the two NRENs and the two campus/university domains. Each of these domains may make use of diverse tools for monitoring a variety of network characteristics. The mechanisms used to collect this data, and their presentation to users, differ quite significantly between different network domains.

A NOC which has to troubleshoot an end-to-end performance problem does not have standard access to network performance data all along the path to help understand and identify where the problem lies. Each network domain along the path between the two users has its own set of performance data and its own policies to access this data.

The joint initiative between GÉANT2 and Internet2 has addressed this problem. The main objective of the activity is to provide the design and the implementation of a middle layer between the visualisation tools of a user and the measurement tools deployed within the networks.

The joint work proposal was suggested in July 2004, and was agreed during a technical meeting held in September 2004. To consolidate the joint approach a development week took place in mid-May 2005 in the USA. It is intended that a prototype will be deployed later in the summer.