On providing reliable and economical intranet connectivity

Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto.fi Author Antti Mäkelä Name of the doctoral dissertation On providing reliable and economical intranet connectivity Publisher School of Electrical Engineering Unit Department of Communications and Networking (Comnet) Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 66/2012 Field of research Networking Technology Manuscript submitted 24 October 2011 Date of the defence 17 August 2012 Manuscript revised 5 March 2012 Language English Monograph Article dissertation (summary + original articles) Abstract In recent years, the Internet and data networks in general have been a huge driver in how communications are conducted. Internet-based communication technologies have transformed the way data is handled and transferred both around the world and within organizations. As the modern society and especially businesses have become completely dependent on reliable network connectivity in their operations, we need to have proper measures to ensure fault tolerance.In recent years, the Internet and data networks in general have been a huge driver in how communications are conducted. Internet-based communication technologies have transformed the way data is handled and transferred both around the world and within organizations. As the modern society and especially businesses have become completely dependent on reliable network connectivity in their operations, we need to have proper measures to ensure fault tolerance. Telecommunication systems can be designed in a reliable fashion by using redundant components throughout the network, including items such as multiple different, independent links, ports, and nodes. Additionally, environmental factors, such as the stability of power supply have to be accounted for. Obtaining contractually binding reliability guarantees for a flexible network connection has traditionally been very expensive compared to connectivity without such guarantees. This is because of both implementation costs and low competition among solutions and providers. This thesis is focused on creating a new approach to network reliability that would have equal performance with traditional approaches, act independently of specific service providers and their chosen access technologies, and be more cost-effective. The thesis analyzes whether such an approach is technically feasible, preserves network usability, and is economically sound. The proposed new approach is called 'RAIIC' (Redundant Array of Independent Internet Connections). RAIIC is based on the assumption that while a cheap, unguaranteed network connectivity may experience outages, several such connections can be bundled together. Such a bundle can then provide equivalent service to the traditional reliability approaches. The thesis conducts a quantitative analysis on the economical feasibility of the concept, as well as evaluates the feasibility of implementing RAIIC based on Mobile IP technology. The work is concerned primarily in the end-user perception of the networking service. After considering all the studied factors, including results from simulations, implementation work and possibilities to conduct operations over multiple paths concurrently, the conclusions can be drawn that RAIIC fulfills the design goals perfectly. Even the most demanding of common applications, do not overtly degrade in performance during an outage. The technology has been adopted by the Internet Engineering Task Force as an experimental standard.