MPLS Networking Traffic Engineering Research Assignment (Thesis Sample)

MPLS networking traffic engineering
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Traffic Engineering
Traffic Engineering refers to the stage through which the geometric design planning and traffic operation of networks are formulated and established. Other elements involved in traffic engineering include network devices and relationship of routers for effective transportation of data. Traffic engineering is that feature of network engineering which involves the concentration problems of performance optimization of operational networks. Traffic engineering involves the application of knowledge for successful gain of performance objectives. The application of knowledge includes some activities such as the movement and transfer of data, effective planning of network capacity and effective utilization of network resources.
Traffic engineering involves effective management of data over the network. The improvements and advancements of technology require networks to be managed effectively through securing and making the resources reliable of the network. Traffic engineering facilitates and enhances fast movement of data and ensures reliability of data over the network. The principle functionality of traffic engineering is to identify and concentrate on those problems related to the performance optimization and operation of the network. The techniques and knowledge application level involved in traffic engineering are critical in achieving the performance. Some of those techniques and application of knowledge include the improved data traffic, consistency and effective use of network resources. The main object principle role of the traffic engineering technique is to foresee the improvement of the performance of the operational network, at the resource level and as well as the traffic level. To achieve these objective, the network data traffic performance requirements are accessed as well as the utilization of the network resources. Packet loss and throughput are effective in the measurement of the traffic oriented performance.
Traffic engineering consist of the calculations, computations and configurations of the paths within a network. All these activities involved in traffic engineering aim at having an effective utilization of the bandwidth. Through traffic engineering some key accomplishments and achievements of a network could be achieved. Some of the achievable accomplishments and achievements associated with traffic engineering include mechanized and differentiated services (Ikram, 2009).
The main objective of traffic engineering is to guarantee performance efficiency and the optimization of operational IP networks. Traffic engineering consist of a much broader-spectrum with respect to QoS founded on the principle logic that it facilities the maximization of the network operational efficiency. Traffic engineering has special features that facilitate the placed of traffic onto the network where the links may be underutilized and while at the same time taking into consideration of QoS issue traffic. Offline tools are effective for traffic engineering in circuit-switched networks. The result of the involvement of offline tools includes switches and therefore the availability of deterministic paths for different destinations is made possible. Traffic in conventional IP networks can be engineered in many scenarios (Ikram, 2009).
Link Congestion
According to Reddy, (2005), the calculation of IGP best paths that would have an effect of over utilization of the specific paths whereas the alternate paths are either not utilized or underutilized.
Figure 3: over-utilized link [Ikram, 2009]
From figure 3 above, the link, F-E-D-B does not take part in forward traffic from G to A. the shortest path F-C-B is followed for traffic flow to reach A, the destination. The shortest path within any network is considered as the path that has little number of hops, this implies that shortest path is the least path cost. An IGP can be impelled to look through a path with more hops through the addition of bandwidth simultaneously as one of the link metrics for SPF computation. However, this particular criteria does not put into consideration the concept of congestion.
Load Balancing
The perfect example used to explain load balancing enlightens on the key requirements for traffic engineering within a MPLS network structure comprising of three trans-Atlantic links. The three trans-Atlantic links involved are distinct such that each has a different capacity. 10, indicates that conventional IP routing brings about very dull solution, whereby the load of the traffic involved is balanced unequally across each path. Balancing of data traffic cannot take place equally across unequal paths. For such reason, IGP may not consider the alternating routes based on the simple fact that they are not the shortest paths.
Ikram, (2009), clearly demonstrates this through an example of a diagram. Figure 4 below shows the shortest path computation as described by Ikram, (2009). From the figure 4, the data between point A and E can be uniformly load balanced transversely, from the bottom and top paths. However, this does not identify the dissimilar link sizes that exist between {B-D (10-60) Mbps} and between {C-D (10, 40) Mbps}.
Figure 4: Shortest Path Computation (Ikram, 2009)
MPLS networking traffic engineering
The improved capabilities of Traffic Engineering and its feasibility nature with MPLS is considered as one of the major factors for the disposition of MPLS technologies. The MPLS working groups have by now begun working on Traffic Engineering and there is already a first document outlining the set of planned RFCs. The document clearly explores on the requirements for Traffic Engineering over MPLS. Traffic Engineering has some basic functions in the Internet, however there are some requirements for effective functionality of the MPLs networks to fully sustain the execution of network policies.
Traffic Engineering in the Internet
The primary role of Traffic Engineering implementation over the internet is to facilitate the performance optimization of the operational network. Generally, Traffic Engineering aims at improving reliability and efficiency over the internet. It is through traffic engineering that effective optimization and utilization of resources in a network is guaranteed. Therefore, traffic engineering has over the years become a very important element of internet since most network operators need to handle and deal with the huge amount of pressure resulting from the commercial and competitive nature of the market.
Traffic engineering consists of two primary elements. The first includes the actions that are directed at enhancing the QoS of respective traffic streams. Through such actions, the minimization of packet loss or delay is guaranteed through the maximization of throughput or through targeting of the statistical parameters such as delay variation. The second consists of the resource focused on performance objective which involves the optimization of the entire resource deployment. The two primary aspects of traffic engineering aim at ensuring that at no point over the network will the network subsets resources be over-utilized and maintain a an alternate feasible paths to the underutilized.
Traffic engineering in the internet helps reduce and avoid any form of congestion. Congestion in a MPLS network occurs when the network resources are either inadequate or insufficient to constitute the offered load. Moreover, congestion over the MPLS could also be as a result of ineffective traffic mapping onto the accessible network resources. The first congestion problem experienced over a network is solved through the integration of network capability scheduling and congestion control technique. However, this particular type of congestion is considered as the second type of congestion problems solved through Traffic Engineering. Another technique useful in dealing with the second type of problem involves load balancing policies. Decrease in packet loss is achievable through efficient resource allocation that helps minimize the overall maximum of local resource utilization. Decrease in packet loss enhances the general perception of the network service quality by the end users. The design and structure of the traffic engineering network needs to have a flexible feature that would allow for more complex policies such as taking into consideration the cost structure.
The general structure of the traffic engineering is interpreted as the act of controlling or solving an existing problem in a network through having an adaptive feedback structure. Monitoring and control actions of the state of the network are critical in driving the network to a desired state on the basis of the selected control policy. The most common types of control actions taken into consideration involve the amendment of the parameters associated with the traffic management and the constraints connected resources. The basic implementation and functionality of traffic engineering requires very limited manual intervention, moreover, the key actions should take place inevitably within a distributed scalable fashion. The insufficient control proficiencies presented by the present day Internet interior gateway protocols require the intervention of enhanced methods for Traffic Engineering rate high. IGPs founded on the shortest path algorithms are topology initiated that do not reflect on the dynamic facets such as the accessibility of the bandwidth and the general features of the traffic during the routing decision making process. They may also prompt situations that intensify the congestion problems which are most common in instances where the shortest path of the several streams join on the same links.