Providing and verifying advanced IP services in hierarchical DiffServ networks‐the case of GEANT

The differentiated services (DiffServ) framework is widely proposed as an efficient method for providing advanced IP services to large‐scale networks, with QoS requirements. However, the provisioning of such services in production networks has proved to be more difficult than initially expected, in defining, setting and verifying appropriate Service Level Agreements (SLAs). GEANT, the Gigabit core pan‐European research network, on a pilot basis introduced ‘Premium IP’ service, offering bounded delay and negligible packet loss to the European National Research & Education Networks (NRENs) that it interconnects. However, large scale provisioning of this new service requires the definition of efficient interaction procedures between administrative domains involved and methods for SLA monitoring. This paper focuses on these issues and presents the experience acquired from the early experiments in GEANT, as an example of hierarchical Gigabit multi‐domain environment, enabled with QoS provisioning to its constituent NRENs. This model scales more efficiently than the common peering Internet Service provider (ISP) commercial paradigm. Finally, we outline other options that promise QoS, such as Layer 2 VPNs in MPLS backbones, with non‐standard (yet) mechanisms. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

IP QoS across multiple management domains: practical experiences from pan-European experiments

GEANT is the pan-European 10 Gbs network interconnecting European national research and educational networks (NRENs). A Premium IP service based on the DiffServ EF PHB has been specified and implemented for this environment to provide quality of service to selected user groups on a Europe-wide scale. Basic features of Premium IP are described, and results from early experiments in the production networks of GEANT and the NRENs are presented. Next steps are proposed for achieving a fast and wide availability of Premium IP in the European research networks.     

Performance analysis of relative service using TCP‐aware marking and dynamic WRED

The implementation of successful assured forwarding (AF) services according to the DiffServ framework remains a challenging problem today, despite the numerous proposals for assured forwarding per‐hop‐behaviour (AF PHB) mechanisms and AF‐based service implementations. The interaction of the TCP and UDP traffic under an AF‐based service and a number of relative issues such as fairness among flows, achievable bandwidth guarantees and qualitative performance have been taken into consideration in this work in order to address the existing limitations. We propose two modules, the TCP‐window aware marker (TWAM) and the dynamic WRED (WRED) mechanism for implementing the differentiated services (DiffServ) AF PHB. We provide analytical models and an experimental evaluation in order to demonstrate how they succeed in enhancing the quality, improving the performance and easing the deployment of a production level AF‐based service. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SLA-based QoS pricing in DiffServ networks

The availability of high-speed transmission media and networking equipment in contemporary networks, as well as the evolution of quality-demanding applications has focused research interest on the provision of advanced qualitative services in addition to the traditional best-effort model of the Internet. A number of alternatives for service differentiation and QoS provisioning have been proposed and standardized, but in the case of backbone, transport networks the DiffServ architecture has prevailed, due to its scalability and deployment feasibility. The provisioning of services according to the DiffServ framework has in turn raised the requirements for interdependent, controlled resource allocation and service pricing, with particular needs for pricing mechanisms that preserve the potential and flexibility of DiffServ. At the same time, such mechanisms should reflect resource usage, allocate resources efficiently, reimburse costs or maximize service provision profits and lead customers to requesting services that will maximize their revenue. In this work, after reviewing related research, the principles that a pricing scheme for DiffServ-based services should follow are presented, stressing the differences form traditional Internet pricing. Based on these principles, an analytical approach to pricing a particular class of DiffServ-based services and a methodology for applying this approach in a real network are proposed and evaluated.     

Performance issues of bandwidth management in ATM networks

In our days, efficient management of the available network resources becomes a critical issue, both from a functional point of view (so that users can be provided with the bandwidth they need), and an economical point of view (so that carriers can satisfactorily and efficiently serve as many customers as possible and at the same time increase their revenue). In this paper we consider a bandwidth control scheme (i.e. managed bandwidth service) for an ATM network infrastructure which is applied to the Greek research and technology network (GRNET). We present some methods that we have tested (in a simulation setting) in order to increase the efficiency of the system and the utilization of the available bandwidth. More specifically, we consider a bandwidth‐resizing algorithm for virtual paths, in order to keep the allocated bandwidth very close to the bandwidth actually used. This leads to an increased number of accepted requests and better network utilization. We, also, use the simulation results in order to get an estimation of the effective bandwidth for VBR paths that can be used in call admission. Finally, we consider a semi‐offline scheme where requests are gathered and considered for acceptance in regular intervals. Simulation results show an increase in the utilization of resources. As a further improvement, we allow connections to be allocated a little before or after the time initially requested. This leads to further improvement in network utilization. All the improvement schemes were tested with the ATM‐TN simulator and the results look promising. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diuron biodegradation in activated sludge batch reactors under aerobic and anoxic conditions

Diuron biodegradation was studied in activated sludge reactors and the impacts of aerobic and anoxic conditions, presence of supplemental substrate and biomass acclimatization on its removal were investigated. Diuron and three known metabolites, namely DCPMU (1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-3-methylurea), DCPU (1-3,4-dichlorophenylurea) and DCA (3,4-dichloroaniline), were extracted by solid-phase extraction (dissolved phase) or sonication (particulate phase) and determined using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Diode Array Detector (HPLC-DAD). During the experiments only a minor part of these compounds was associated with the suspended solids. Under aerobic conditions, almost 60% of Diuron was biodegraded, while its major metabolite was DCA. The existence of anoxic conditions increased Diuron biodegradation to more than 95%, while the major metabolite was DCPU. Mass balance calculation showed that a significant fraction of Diuron is mineralized or biotransformed to other unknown metabolites. The presence of low concentrations of supplemental substrate did not affect Diuron biodegradation, whereas the acclimatization of biomass slightly accelerated its elimination under anoxic conditions. Calculation of half-lives showed that under aerobic conditions DCPMU, DCPU and DCA are biodegraded much faster than the parent compound. In the future, the sequential use of anoxic and aerobic conditions could provide sufficient removal of Diuron and its metabolites from runoff waters.