[It amazes me how still many people think that the Internet network
architecture is a variant of the telephone system.
Although the
Internet was originally conceived as an “end-to-end” network, most
traffic today on the Internet rarely goes end to end and instead is
sourced locally from a content delivery network or cloud. With the
deployment of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) and content peering, most
ISPs can offload 40-60% of their Internet traffic at the IXP. Some
R&E networks have reported off loading up to 90% of their traffic
through these types of arrangements. With the advent of clouds and
ubiquitous wireless access soon most Internet traffic will be
terminating locally, as opposed to end-to-end connections.
In
recognition of that trend, several years ago, the famous Internet
pioneer Van Jacobson developed the concept of what is now called “Named
Data Networking (NDN)” – which in effect is attempting to re-architect
the Internet and develop an open standard for content distribution.
It is hoped that NDN will become the standard for content distribution
and the Internet much like TCP/IP displaced many proprietary network
protocols in its day such as DECnet, BITnet, etc. See below. I have
also bogged about these developments and have also written a white paper
on the subject. See my previous blog from yesterday
(http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com/2011/11/oecd-report-internet-traffic-exchange.html).
Currently most mobile telcom operators are still trapped in
the old mindset of building wireless networks that enable “end-to-end”
telephone calls. But as the data tsunami overwhelms their networks they
are now starting to develop new strategies. Many now are attempting to
use Wifi offload to remove some of the large data volumes off their
3G/4G networks. But as the data volume grows, some organizations are
realizing that the network will also have to evolve like the wireline
Internet networks did towards an IXP, enterprise, content peering
architecture i.e Named Data Networking.
Rather than WiFi
being a poor cousin to the primary 3G/LTE network, instead the 3G/LTE
network will be a back up to ubiquitous enterprise WiFi. An example of
this type of strategic thinking is the recent LTE/Wifi project announced
by SURFnet in partnership with KPN
(http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com/2011/10/surfnet-and-kpn-to-collaborate-on-next.html).
This is another reason why deployment of IXPs deep into the community
is critical as they greatly enhance wireless performance.
Even
large circuit-switched optical networks are moving in this direction.
LHCONE is the quintessential example of large set of international
optical networks to distribute data “end-to end” from CERN to computer
databases located at universities around the world. But as researchers
move to clouds and HPC clouds, the need for end-to-end circuits will
largely disappear. Instead the researcher will move data within the
cloud from storage to computation to visualization and then send the
results wirelessly to their iPad or iPhone . This wont obviate the need
for optical circuits because data will still need to be transferred
from CERN to the cloud. Optical Internet Exchanges, on the other hand,
like IXPs will be critical for transfer of data to and from the cloud. –
BSA]
Named Data Networking
http://www.named-data.net/
While
the Internet has far exceeded expectations, it has also stretched
initial assumptions, often creating tussles that challenge its
underlying communication model. Users and applications operate in terms
of content, making it increasingly limiting and difficult to conform to
IP’s requirement to communicate by discovering and specifying location.
To carry the Internet into the future, a conceptually simple yet
transformational architectural shift is required, from today’s focus on
where — addresses and hosts — to what — the content that users and
applications care about….
——
Green Internet Consultant.
Practical solutions to reducing GHG emissions such as free broadband and
electric highways. http://green-broadband.blogspot.com/
email: Bill.St.Arnaud@gmail.com
twitter: BillStArnaud
blog: http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com/
skype: Pocketpro