EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 1

Table of Contents
Abstract .....................................................................................................................2 Introduction...............................................................................................................3
Local Area Network (LAN) ....................................................................................................................................3 Wide Area Network (WAN) ...................................................................................................................................4 Comparison between LAN and WAN. ................................................................................................................4 Transmission control protocol (TCP/IP) .............................................................................................................5 File Transfer Protocol (FTP) ...................................................................................................................................5 Web server ....................................................................................................................................................................5 Network Topology .....................................................................................................................................................6 OPNET...........................................................................................................................................................................6 Open system Interconnection layer (OSI) ..........................................................................................................6

Objectives ..................................................................................................................8 Literature Review ......................................................................................................9

Congestion Control For Fair Bandwidth in LAN .............................................................................................9 Alternate method .........................................................................................................................................................11 Effective bandwidth utilization in WAN networks ...................................................................................... 11 Time Response Optimization On Local Area Networks ............................................................................. 12 Literature review summary................................................................................................................................... 14

Methodology ............................................................................................................ 16
Configuration with simulation results ............................................................................................................... 17 First Scenario ...............................................................................................................................................................17 Second scenario ...........................................................................................................................................................22 Third scenario ..............................................................................................................................................................27 Summary Table ............................................................................................................................................................33 Advanced scenario 1............................................................................................................................................... 34 Advanced scenario 2............................................................................................................................................... 36 Advanced Scenario 3 .............................................................................................................................................. 40 First Scenario ............................................................................................................................................................ 41 Second Scenario ....................................................................................................................................................... 42 Third Scenario .......................................................................................................................................................... 44 Channel Capacity..................................................................................................................................................... 45

Discussion ................................................................................................................ 41

Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 48

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Abstract
In this paper several ways of network configuration and determining system performance are analyzed, a review on bandwidth optimization and time response utilization is done. The paper discussion is divided into two sections, the first section discusses on how to configure two local area networks where by each network consist of two computers installed on it. The second section of this paper discusses on analyzing and evaluating WAN performance on a small company LAN that consist of 20 user PCs, three sharing printers, a local file and an email server. Simulation on each section is done and the results are well analyzed and explained, a brief conclusion of the report is done and a future enhancement to improve the system performance is stated and explained.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 3

Introduction
A Network system is configured using different setups of network systems. It is widely known that a network system can be setup using two main network configurations, these configurations are local area network (LAN) and wide are network (WAN). In configuring a network system one should refer to hardware and software environment, which builds a complete network system. In a network configuration the following things should be considered, transmission control protocol (TCP), Internet protocol (IP), File transfer protocol (FTP), webserver and the network topology. The entire abovementioned are described in short explanations below.

Local Area Network (LAN)

Local area network is a computer network, which interconnects different computers with a limited or small area; LAN setups are usually done in areas such as schools, homes, small offices, laboratories and other limited areas.

The technologies which plays apart in building local area networks are the twisted cables used as Ethernet and Wi-Fi wireless technologies, few of the companies and organizations uses the new advance of technology which requires optical fiber. Local area is more useful for sharing resources purposes, this include sharing files, printers, games or other many applications. A local area network can be expanded to connect to other LANs, to the Internet or other WAN. Local area networks are built using in less expensive hardwares, such as hubs, network cables, Ethernet cables and network adapters. LAN can also be configured to wireless technologies, which makes it be Wireless local are network (WLAN) can be expanded to other LAN hardware options. Internet connection sharing (ICS) supports controlled access to LAN resources and its used to configure local area network; it is a specialized operating system of Microsoft windows. Ethernet local area network is the most common Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

LAN, a local area network can be as small containing two computers to large LAN comprising of many thousands computers divided into logical groups called subnets.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

Wide area network is one of the network configurations that cover a broad or wide area, this refers to any networks that links through metropolitan regional or across national boundaries. Large business organizations and government mostly use this network configuration. They utilize WAN to share data among employees, buyers, and suppliers from various geographical locations. The most common and popular WAN is the Internet it self. Internet contains segments such as VPN-based extranets; these are also WANs in themselves.

Further more many wide area networks are research networks that utilize leased lines. Compared to LAN, WAN is more expensive to set up.

Comparison between LAN and WAN.

Definition: LAN LAN (Local Area Network) is a computer network covering a small geographic area, like a home, office, schools, or group of buildings. WAN WAN (Wide Area Network) is a computer network that covers a broad area (e.g., any network whose communications links cross metropolitan, regional, or national boundaries over a long distance less speed(150mbps) WANs have a lower data transfer rate as compared to LANs Internet is a good example of a WAN WANs tend to use technology like MPLS, ATM, Frame Relay and X.25 for connectivity over the longer distances Computers connected to a wide-area network are often connected through public networks, such as the telephone system. They can also be connected through leased lines or satellites Layers 3 devices Routers, Multi-layer Switches and Technology specific devices like ATM or Frame-relay Switches etc. WANs tend to be less fault tolerant. as it consists of a large amount of systems there is a lower amount of fault tolerance. Experiences more data transmission errors as compared to LAN WANs (like the Internet) are not owned by any

Speed: Data transfer rates: Example: Technology:

high speed(1000mbps) LANs have a high data transfer rate Network in an organization can be a LAN Tend to use certain connectivity technologies, primarily Ethernet and Token Ring one LAN can be connected to other LANs over any distance via telephone lines and radio waves

Connection:

Components:

layer 2 devices like switches, bridges. layer1 devices like hubs , repeaters LANs tend to have less problems associated with them, as there are a smaller amount of systems to deal with. Experiences fewer data transmission errors Typically owned, controlled, and managed by a
August 8, 2012

Fault Tolerance:

Data Transmission Error: Ownership:

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 5

single person or organization one organization but rather exist under collective or distributed ownership and management over long distances In this case since networks in remote areas have to be connected hence the set-up costs are higher. However WANs using public networks can be setup very cheaply, just software (VPN etc) Maintaining WAN is difficult because of its wider geographical coverage and higher maintenance costs. Have a large geographical range generally spreading across boundaries and need leased telecommunication lines

Set-up costs:

If there is a need to set-up a couple of extra devices on the network, it is not very expensive to do that Because it covers a relatively small geographical area, LAN is easier to maintain at relatively low costs. Have a small geographical range and do not need any leased telecommunication lines

Maintenance costs:

Geographical Spread:

Table 1, comparison between LAN and WAN, http://www.diffen.com/

Transmission control protocol (TCP/IP)

These are the set of protocols or rules, which are used together with Internet protocol to send certain data in form of data packets or message units between computers on a particular network. In a given network configuration the Internet protocol takes care of data delivery, while the TCP makes sure that data packets have successfully divided into small units, which can be efficiently transmitted.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

File transfer protocol is a network-standardized protocol, which is used to transfer files from one user to another user on a transmission control protocol (TCP) based network such as the Internet. FTP is built and installed on a client server and uses different controls and data connections between the client and the server.

Web server
Webserver can be referred to either hardware or software in a network configuration. It acts as the hardware if it is a computer, roundly it acts as the software if it is the computer application, and the main purpose of it is to deliver the web content that can be accessed through the Internet. Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Network Topology
Network topology is the topological structure of a particular network and maybe represented physically o logically. A network topology contains some arrangements of various elements of a computer; these elements can be links, nodes, workstations and other configurations. As stated above a physical topology is the one which involve arrangements of various network components such as cable installation, device location etc. where as the logical topology is the phenomena which explains how data flows within a network configuration.

OPNET
OPNET stands for Optimized Network Engineering Tool, It is an application, which is used to analyze the performance of different network configurations, it provides performance analysis for computer networks and applications. It is an important application in networking; one can design, implement and test a network system using OPNET. In this paper performance of a wide area network will be analyzed using OPNET and different performance scenarios will be evaluated and explained according to the simulation results provided by OPNET.

Open system Interconnection layer (OSI)

The OSI layer is very useful in network configuration; the models of OSI layer are used in designing and troubleshooting any network, since the OSI layer is the standard base of any network. The OSI layer is made up of seven models, which are, Physical, data link, network, transport, session, presentation and application.

Physical layer This is the lowest layer of the OSI model, it refers to transmission of data packets and un structured raw beat stream over a physical medium, example wires, cables, radio waves etc.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 7 Data link This refers to point-to-point or broadcast of frames through a transmission link with error checking, hence provides error-free transfer of data frames.

Network This layer controls the operation of the subnet, it involves in routing or forwarding of packets through intermediate nodes called routers.

Transport This refers to error free transmission of data; it transmits data from one end to the other end with flow of control.

Session This layer allows session establishment between running processes, it also handles operation of users and coordination, it also recovers an interrupted connection

Presentations This layer converts the information into accessible usable independent platform format Application This layer serves as the window for users and application services, it provides network services into application

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Objectives
To configure two local area network computers, consisting a minimum of two computers each To allocate static address for the computers in the network. To perform wired data transfer between networks in the laboratory To evaluate WAN performance using OPNET To simulate its configuration and to show the results To discuss on the response time for FTP and webpage downloads To describe the advantages of having a redundant link To discuss link utilization between LAN and the ISP To provide future enhancement for the network to improve its performance

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 9

Literature Review

Congestion Control For Fair Bandwidth in LAN

In a simple knowledge of networking, it is genuine that high concentration of users in a cell or a particular network leads to Internet drop offs and uncontrolled traffic at the access point (AP). These problems lead to poor connectivity for users, link failure resulting to performance degradation and a possible network collapse.

In this paper ways to overcome these problems are discussed and analyzed, through this ways it is what is said to be congestion control. The method that will be used to control congestion is based on the channel utilization. The aim of this method is to schedule proportionally the traffic flow by backlogging the que length while meeting the quality of service (QOS) requirements ( zibo shi, et al, 2009).

By using this method, link utilization will be improved and lead to allocation of fair bandwidth to each user out of the total bandwidth available. The method uses link utilization as the traffic/congestion indicator and notifies to the sender to adjust its data transmission rate, by doing so congestion criteria is met. Note that the link utilization is computed by the channel occupying time in a given time period, (Zibo Shi, et al, 2009).

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Below is the simulation of the method explained above

Figure 2, FRA sending rate and TCP congestion window under the same RTT simulation scenario

From the above diagram it is clearly observed that all the four users represented as FRA can share the link bandwidth equally, simply because at the beginning of the simulation the faman rapid amplifier (FRA) flow spread their traffic congestion rapidly and un equally, in the next figure the simulation shows the congestion has been spitted and rise until they reach a steady state value of 0.2 mbs as the link speed with a very negligible fluctuation. This is because the adjustment of the FRA sending rate is based on the maximum available bandwidth of the local area network instead of packet loss (Zibo Shi, et al, 2009).

However the transfer control protocol (TCP) submerged in this system detects traffic congestion from packet loss at the source node and makes a rapid fluctuation of data at the congestion window.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

1 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 1

Alternate method

In any network system there exist inherent conflict between fairness and throughput, the conflict occurs in many network systems. Many researchers have studied these problems in context of (single hop) local area networks, where by several clients exchange traffic through access points (AP). As another alternate way of reducing congestion, researchers propose the use of multi hop extension to wireless local area networks, where by the client traffic is forwarded through a series of client links (Qunfeng Dong, et al, 2006). Hence by using multi hops it helps to diverge the traffic to each user fairly, avoiding link cell congestion, which results to link failure.

Effective bandwidth utilization in WAN networks

In order to increase and bridge the speed at the LAN-WAN interface many enterprises install a number of policy based devices to enforce the administrative policies over the WAN access ( Ashok Singh Sairam, et al, 2006).

In many local networks the most conventional techniques of bandwidth management is highly concentrated only on the outgoing traffic from the local networks, simply because that is the traffic which can be easily controlled.

However in reality and technical validity it is the incoming traffic that causes problems such as bottlenecks to the networks. In this review several methods are branched out which can help in bandwidth utilization. Some of the methods proposed are the use of simple load balancing to optimize the use of WAN in a certain environment of scattered homes. This method controls the incoming traffic by diverting the outgoing traffic from some of the nodes to other links of the network. Through this method the incoming Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

bandwidth is measured and the thresholds are defined, then the traffic diversion takes place to maintain the defined thresholds (Ashok Singh Sairam, et al, 2006)

Time Response Optimization On Local Area Networks

LAN as one of the network configuration has effects on time response if not configured well, by definition time response, is the time taken by a particular network to respond. Some networks respond fast and others delay; different technical issues can cause this problem.

On this paper we discuss and review on how time response can be optimized on a local area network for file transfer protocol (FTP) and webpage downloads. Different methods can be done to optimize time response on LAN, a suggested method on this review is through a plan of active experiment. Implicit faults and bottlenecks are network faults which have a higher influence on response time of a particular server, considering these faults, the proposed procedure can allow us to save time cost and increase mor validity of obtained diagnosis (A. Babich et al., 2008).

The active experiment procedure is done in the presence of the test load which provides different variance of factors, this method of active experiment planning is mainly directed to fault detection and is helpful for detecting implicit faults and bottlenecks which are very difficult to locate on a fully configured system (A. Babich et al., 2008).

Further more researchers have found that most LAN installed in educational institutions are not performing well in response time, and this leads to poor performance of the full system, this lack of performance is due to the fact that little attention is given on educational LAN and there work load is high since there purpose mostly is to control the distribution of software. In this paper the characteristics of this class of network is reviewed since response time is taken as the criteria of judging the system performance. The system is tested using four different policies where several tasks are allocated among servers and system response is investigated through a combination of a closed-form Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
August 8, 2012

1 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 3

queuing theory, and discrete simulation( Miles Kennedy and Aarti badami,2001). Loadleveling is the primary method for testing all the allocation schemes. Below is the discussion on how response time can be improved using the four different allocation policies, considering economic basis.

The first scheme is, workstation specific allocation (WSA). In this scheme, each server is said to be redundantly storing the entire software library and designating a set of subsets to all the available nodes. In this scheme, load leveling is achieved by assigning a number of work stations to each server ( Miles Kennedy and Aarti badami,2001).

The second scheme is mainly based on package allocation thus called, Package Specific Allocation(PSA). In this scheme all available file servers has assigned to itself a unique subset of the available software library. In this scheme load leveling is satisfied by choosing the subsets and mixing the software to all servers, by doing so the system is likely to attract almost an even share of the total work load( Miles Kennedy and Aarti badami,2001).

The third scheme is Package Usage Allocation(PUS) This scheme uses the technique of package arrangement, packages are arranged in descending order according to their popularity ( Miles Kennedy and Aarti badami,2001). So by working down on the list in descending order, packages gets assigned to the file server until the total sum of the mainline storage reach an approximate value of eighty percent of the total cache memory ( Miles Kennedy and Aarti badami,2001). In order to avoid trashing seldom used help files and some needed files, the remaining percent of the cache memory is used as the safety margin, incase of addition of materials in the cache memory, the servers use the longest un used discipline for selecting what files can be over written with the added files. Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

The last scheme is state allocation scheme (SAS). This scheme functions when a request is made at the file server, in this situation the scheme looks for a file server if there is a possibility having the requested package in cache, if the result is positive meaning that a server is available, then the work station will be assigned to the server, if not the program reviews the workload on each server and the workstation gets assigned to the file server with the least load (Miles Kennedy and Aarti badami,2001).

Literature review summary

Title Journals description Congestion control for fair bandwidth LAN in The journals are about how to Channel utilization, the aim of this method is to schedule proportionally the traffic flow by backlogging the que length while meeting the quality of service (QOS) requirements, link utilization is used as congestion indicator to notify the user to adjust its transmission rate. The setup of this system is simple to install not It targets normal Methods used Advantages Disadvantages

local area networks, not so advisable for busy networks

control traffic on local networks. area

complicated. The method is not costful interms of installation.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

1 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 5

Another was is the use of multi hop extension to wireless local area networks, where by the client traffic is forwarded through a series of client links, this will lead to fairly divide the traffic to individuals reducing congestion at the link. The system is flexible, can be used in both systems normal LAN and busy The method uses multi extensions; the system hop hence is

LANs which requires high use of softwares.

complicated, as you have to take into consideration several link nodes. A bit more

expensive compared to the first method.

Bandwidth utilization wide network. in area

The

journal

The method used is load balancing, This method controls the incoming traffic by diverting the outgoing traffic from some of the nodes to other links of the network. Through this method the incoming

It

easily

controls

the

The

method

is

discusses on how to improve speed at the LAN-WAN interface utilization bandwidth. with of

incoming traffic by diverting the outgoing traffic form different link nodes, hence traffic can easily ne share through different WAN

highly concentrated on incoming traffic only, outgoing

traffic is somehow neglected.

bandwidth is measured and the thresholds are defined, then the traffic diversion takes place to maintain the defined thresholds

workstations.

Time

response

The

journal

The method used is the plan of active experiment, the method is done in the presence of the test load which provides different variance of factors, this method of active experiment planning is mainly directed to fault detection and is helpful for detecting implicit faults and

The

advantage

of

this

It

is

time since active

optimization on LAN

discusses on how to improve time response on LAN for FTP and

method is the ability to detect implicit faults and bottle necks which are very difficult to allocate in a network system

consuming, requires

experiment and the presence load, of test also

webpage downloads.

complicated set up.

bottlenecks which are very difficult to locate on a fully configured system Time and utilization response link in The journal Workstation allocation(WSA) Package allocation(PSA) Package allocation(PUS) State allocation Scheme (SAS) usage specific specific The methods states how package and workstation can be allocated to improve time response on busy LANs. It gives out different ways to improve time response.

discusses on four network schemes which can be used in improving

busy LAN such as educational

LAN

response time on busy LAN such as educational LAN.

Table 1, Literature review summary

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Methodology
In this part of the report, all the flow of the work done is explained step by step. As mentioned in the objective and abstract, the purpose of this report is evaluating the application performance across WAN. Evaluation and testing is done through a softwarebased platform named OPNET.

As an overview testing will be done to a network system of a small company called delta soft technologies, which consists of 20 user personal computers, sharing three printers and a local file with an email server. The users are expected to run different applications, which in include FTP, video streaming, file sharing, email and web browsing. Also users run locally served applications such as printing, accessing the database and using the intranet system. Through our application testing in OPNET, our goal is to study the response time of various tasks, this will require to look at response time of FTP downloads and webpage downloads, also link utilization between the LAN and the ISP will be briefly analyzed all this will fall onto the first scenario of our testing.

After an evaluation of the first scenario, second scenario will involve adding a T1 link between the LAN and the ISP to double the available capacity; this will be done by splitting the LAN into two smaller switched segments and adding the T1 link between them. Load balancing will ensure that there is an equal utilization between the T1 links. The last and the third scenario will be evaluating the effect of failing one of the devices and see the advantage of having the redundant link.

Explained above is the short overview of what is going to be evaluated during the testing procedures of our desired system below. Testing will be evaluated using three scenarios. Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
August 8, 2012

1 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 7

Configuration with simulation results

First Scenario

Figure 0, Set up of WAN consisting of 20 user PCs

In this first scenario the evaluation of the network performance is done for a busy hour of the day, therefore simulation time will be set to 1 hour. The evaluation will begin after the email and file-sharing server are properly configured. Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Below is the configuration of the network system, which is going to be evaluated.

Figure1, small company LAN with one switch over WAN.

As seen above the file sharing application and the email server have been successful configured, so the next step is to evaluate the network performance by viewing web application response, FTP download response Time and the WAN download link utilization. Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
August 8, 2012

1 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 9

Refer to the images below after a successful simulation result.

Figure 2, WAN download link utilization

The above figure shows the download link utilization, from the figure we can see that the simulation is processed for a hour since it takes the value 60 minutes, and by average the download link reaches a value of 92% for a given time interval. This download link utilization percent is high; hence it will limit the availability of bandwidth to potential user applications Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Figure 3, FTP download response

From the above figure the simulation is also run for 1-hour busy day, and from the graph above the FTP download response time is very close to 2.5seconds, it averages around 2.2 seconds.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

2 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 1

Figure 4, web application response

As for all, web application response is also run in an hour time interval and the web application response as seen from above is close to 1.3 seconds at an average value of 1.2 seconds.

Above are the screen shots of the first done scenario a brief explanation will be done on the discussion part, the next procedure is testing the second scenario and see the response changes of the graphs.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Second scenario

In this second procedure, a redundant link will be added to the network system so as to double the capacity, load balancing is going to be used, and this will ensure an evenly distributed traffic between the two links. With an additional link it is expected all the results to reduce, from the previous scenario. ADDED LINK

Refer to the diagram below

Figure 5, additional T1 redundant link to the network system

As seen from the above the network system is divided into two smaller segments, where by each segment is connected to a switch, the LAN is connected to the Internet with two Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
August 8, 2012

2 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 3 redundant links (T1). Load balancing between the two links is done using enhanced interior gateway routing protocol (EIGRP).

The first simulation done on the configured system above is the WAN download link utilization; the simulation is run for a busy hour of the day. Relevant results are shown below.

LEGEND: Blue: first scenario Red: second scenario

Figure 6, WAN link utilization of the below link (T1).

As observed above, the link utilization of the lower link has reduced from 92% average, to an average value of 55%, these are the results expected from this scenario.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

The following simulation is the results of the link utilization of the upper link, the average percentage value is expected to be nearer to 55%, as this will assure us that traffic was evenly distributed, satisfying load balancing condition.

Figure 7, WAN utilization of the upper link.

As expected the average percentage of the link utilization is around 40.8% to 49%, these values are close to 55%, this shows that load balancing is done to ensure an evenly distribution of traffic towards the link. Note that only one graph is represented here simply because the upper link was not present in the first scenario.

The next simulation results is based on the response times, our expectation in these results is that an additional link will increase the response time meaning that the system will be fast and the values will drop down compared to the first scenario. Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
August 8, 2012

2 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 5

Refer to the results below

LEGEND: Blue: first scenario Red: second scenario

Figure 9, Web page application response of the second scenario

As observed above, one can see that the web page application response has dropped down from a previous value of around 1.1seconds to a current value of 0.45seconds; this is the significant improvement of the system. Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

LEGEND: Blue: first scenario Red: second scenario

Figure 10, FTP download response of the second scenario

Our expectation requirements are met by referring to the figure above, it is clearly shown that the FTP download response has dropped down from its previous average value of Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
August 8, 2012

2 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 7 around 1.25seconds to the current value of 0.6seconds, this is a significant improvement of the system.

Third scenario

In this scenario one router of the configured system of the second scenario is going to be failed, and relevant response of the system are going to be shown on the simulation results, short description of the results will be analyzed. Our expectation to this scenario is that the application response times and the link utilizations will respectively increase. Brief description of this scenario will be explained on the discussion part of this paper.

Refer to the figure below

FAILED ROUTER

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Figure 11, Configured WAN system with a failed router

By observing the figure above, one can see that one of the router of the system is failed; this is indicated by an X sign on the second router. This condition is tested to see if the additional redundant link (T1) has any significance to the system and how the system will perform and react at an absence of one router.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

2 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 9

LEGEND: Blue: first scenario Red: second scenario Green: Third scenario

Figure 12, compared results of all scenarios for the lower link utilization

As observed from above one can see that link utilization of the third scenario is zero, simply because the router containing the link is terminated.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

LEGEND: Blue: Second scenario Red: Third scenario

Figure 13, compared result of the second scenario and third scenario for the upper link

Both of the second and third scenario contains two switches, but the difference is the third scenario the router is failed, in this simulation the lower link is tested and it is observed that when the router is terminated the users can still access the interne but it will require high utilization, one can see that the utilization of the third scenario has reached an average value of 92% to 93%, while the second scenario remains the same because no termination of the router.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

3 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 1

LEGEND: Blue: first scenario Red: second scenario Green: Third scenario

Figure 14, compared result of all scenarios related to FTP downloads response

Observing the figure above one can see that the average FTP download response of the third scenario has significantly increased compared to the rest of the scenarios, this shows that when one of the router is failed it will increase the FTP download response leading to a slower system.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

LEGEND: Blue: first scenario Red: second scenario Green: Third scenario

Figure 15, compared result of all scenarios related to HTTP page response

As expected the webpage response of the third scenario has increased compared to the rest of the scenarios, this shows that when one of the router of the system I failed it will increase the time taken for application to respond, this will lead to a slower system.

Summing up from the third scenario, which compares all scenarios, one can realize that an additional redundant link (T1) plays a very big role in link utilization and speeding the application response and FTP download response, hence the system will respond fast.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

3 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 3

Summary Table

Available scenarios Scenario1

Description WAN

Advantages

Disadvantages high link

configuration Simple to configure Requires

having one s8witch not complicated. with one T1 link, one Not so expensive router

utilization, which reduces availability of bandwidth, takes long to respond for FTP download and web page application.

Scenario 2

WAN

configuration Improves utilization

Requires

many

nodes, in more

having two switches Improve with an addition time,

response complicated hence the construction,

redundant link (T1), system two routers. faster, response decreased. Scenario 3 WAN configuration NONE

responds expensive. because time is

Requires higher utilization, limits availability takes of longer

having two switches with T1 links, but one of the router is failed.

bandwidth,

time to respond for FTP download and web page applications, hence results to a slower system.

Table, comparison between the three scenarios

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

The simulation results provided above, are the results obtained for the three different scenarios for evaluating the performance of the WAN, as seen above different scenario provided different outputs and responses, further explanation and details will be done on the discussion part. The next stage of this paper will base on the evaluation of the WAN using the advanced scenarios. Three advanced scenarios are going to be evaluated and simulation results will be provided and described shortly. Refer to the scenarios below.

Advanced scenario 1
In this scenario we are going to evaluate what will happen when providing the data rate to be the same in the WAN links. Firstly data rate will be set in scenario 1 so as an achievement of web page response of 0.5seconds is achieved. So in order to achieve a webpage response of 0.5 seconds, we will provide a data rate speed of 1967750Mbps; refer to the simulation result below.

Figure 16, Advanced scenario 1, achieving webpage response of 0.5s in scenario 1

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

3 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 5

As seen from the above result, achievement of an average webpage response of 0.5seconds is full filled. The next step is to provide the same data rate used above to the network configuration of scenario 2, hence the data rate will be provided to both upper and lower link of the scenario 2. Below are the results obtained.

Figure 17, results achieved after providing same data rate speed to scenario 2.

From the above result we observe that even though the same data rate speed has been used, there is an improvement in webpage response, the system now responds at an average value of 0.45seconds, this means that the system responds faster than the one used in scenario 1. The reason to this is because of the additional redundant link, which improves the application response and the utilization cost of the system.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Advanced scenario 2
On the network configuration in scenario 2, there is a continuous streaming between the music server and several users. This is defined using the traffic demand object, below is the diagram representing the streaming process between users and the music server.

Figure 18, advanced scenario showing users streaming to the music server

As seen from above, there are seven different users who are streaming to the music server, so the following step will be changing the traffic of each user streaming to the server, this will be done by editing the traffic (packets/second) and traffic (bits/second). An observation on application response and FTP download response will be made in comparison to the second scenario where the traffic was constant not changed.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

3 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 7

Refer to the simulation results below.

LEGEND: Blue: Second scenario Red: Advanced scenario 2

Figure 19, advanced scenario 2 in comparison with scenario 2 for FTP downloads response

Observing the figure above one can see that when streaming has started there is a high intense of bandwidth used and the system responds very slowly compared to the normal system when streaming is not done. This concludes that when users traffic is varying and that there is a streaming utilization this will affect the system response time negatively.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

LEGEND: Blue: Second scenario Red: Advanced scenario 2

Figure 20, advanced scenario 2 in comparison with scenario 2 for HTTP page response

As observed from the FTP downloads response, here also the band width is very intense and the HTTP page response is very slow compared to the normal scenario 2, this is because of un equally distribution of traffic between the users, hence leads to a slow system response, load balancing is not satisfied between the nodes.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

3 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 9

LEGEND: Blue: Second scenario Red: Advanced scenario 2

Figure 21, link utilization of advanced scenario 2 vs scenario 2

By referring to the simulation above, one can see that the link utilization for the advanced scenario has reached 100%, this is very high and it will require very high cost to utilize this system because of the high intense of bandwidth used and un equal traffic distribution.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Advanced Scenario 3
In this scenario, failing one of the WAN links of the scenario 3 does observation and testing of the system. The obtained simulation result of this advanced scenario 3 will be compared with the third scenario. Results will be evaluated in terms of link utilization, FTP download response, and webpage response. Refer to the simulation results below.

Figure 22, Failed link vs failed router, FTP, webpage response and link utilization respectively

LEGEND: Blue: Third scenario Red: Advanced scenario 3

From this scenario we analyze the result of the failed link and the failed router, when the router fails the ARP table of the network deletes the entry of the router table, so all the available traffic is redirected to the other router connected to the WAN. Similarly one of the WAN link is failed the network traffic request data from the network and router ARP table which is present in the network machines, but since the router is not connected to the WAN link this causes traffic delay. As seen from the graph there is high utilization cost for this advanced scenario because the results is based on the upper link which all traffic is directed to it, causing congestion at the channel capacity. On the other hand the response times doesnt have a big difference with the third scenario but it also does not give good response, the system is still slow.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

4 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 1

Discussion
In this part of the report a brief explanation of the three scenarios described in the above sections will be critically evaluated and analyzed. The evaluation will base on each scenario stated above, the advantages of having a redundant link will be analyzed by the help of an advanced scenario which will require setting the data rate speed to be the same in each link. Discussion will be done with the aid of few simulation results for the redundant link. Below is the brief explanation of the configured WAN relying in three experimented scenarios. First Scenario

In the fist scenario the network is configured to have 20 different user PCs in a LAN connected to a single switch on one router with one link connected to the Internet access. Three criteria were taken into consideration to analyze the network performance. These criteria are WAN download link utilization, FTP download response, and webpage application response (HTTP page response).

The simulation was successful done and valid results were obtained as how they were expected. By evaluating the link utilization, the results shows that the average utilization of this configured system is around 92%, this is very high for downloading hence it will limit the availability of bandwidth for potential user applications.

FTP download response was recorded to be very close to an average value 2.5 seconds and the application response time (HTTP page response) was recorded to be an average value of around 1.3 seconds, the application response times are not so bad but they can be further enhanced by adding an additional redundant link (T1), this will be seen in the next scenario.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Second Scenario
The scenario involves adding of an additional link to the networks configured system; hence an additional switch and additional router are implemented in this scenario, discussion will base on the obtained simulation results described in the simulation part of this paper. This is the most important scenario of all three scenarios; it is in this scenario were advantages of having the additional T1 link (redundant link) are analyzed. In this scenario results are expected to decrease in comparison with the first scenario, and both of the links are expected to have a value, which is near to each other satisfying loadbalancing condition.

The simulation was successful done and valid results were obtained, evaluation was also based in three criteria, which are download link utilization, FTP download response, and application webpage response. The results were as follows the download link utilization was recorded to have an average value of 55% percent for the lower link and 40.8% for the new link, as expected the link utilization have dropped and two links are load balanced to ensure that the traffic is evenly distributed between the two links. FTP download response and webpage application response are also observed to have dropped to 0.6 seconds and 0.45 seconds respectively. Therefore the additional redundant link played a role in improvement of link utilization and response times for FTP and webpage.

An advanced scenario can analyze the importance of an additional redundant link, in this advanced scenario, we will analyze the first scenario and the second scenario ensuring that the data rate speed is set to have the same value in both of the links of the first and second scenario. In this simulation data rate is set to 1967750Mbps for all the links in both scenarios.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

4 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 3 Refer to the simulation results below.

Figure 16, webpage response having a data rate speed of 1967750mbps without and additional link.

Figure 17, webpage response having a data rate speed of 1967550mbs with an additional redundant link

The results above show that the webpage response of a data rate speed of 1967750mbps is around an average value of 0.5seconds when no additional link is added to the system. However when an additional redundant link is added to the system at the same data rate speed, the system response decreases to an average value of 0.45 seconds, this shows that additional of the redundant link improves response time of the webpage downloads, it also improve link utilization and FTP download response as shown from the simulation results described at the simulation section of this paper.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Third Scenario
The third and the last scenario is the other version of the second scenario, the scenario configuration involves two switches, and two T1 links to access the Internet and two routers but one of the router is failed. The expectation result of this condition is to have higher utilization and higher time response, because only one router will be working to operate a system with higher nodes. In this scenario evaluation will also be done in three criteria, which are, download link utilization, FTP download response and webpage application response.

The simulation is done and the valid expected results are successful achieved as shown on the simulation section above in this paper.

The download link utilization in this scenario was recorded to have an average value of around 93%, as expected failing one router will lead to high utilization this will cause limited availability of the available bandwidth for the user personal applications. FTP download response and webpage application response were recorded to have average values of 1.5 seconds and 1.24 seconds respectively. These results are the highest compared to all other scenarios, this shows that failing one of the router will lead to a slower system, as the values of time response have significantly increased compared to the rest of the scenarios.

To sum up, in comparison of the three scenarios discussed above, the second scenario which requires an addition of a redundant link is a recommended network configuration for soft technology company, as its results improves the response time of the system and the download link utilization is successful improved.

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

August 8, 2012

4 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 5

Channel Capacity
Channel capacity, Channel capacity refers to the maximum rate of information in bits per second that can be transmitted across a channel. Channel capacity plays a very big role in response time of the systems; if the channel is over whelmed by traffic that it cant handle the system will respond very slowly or even can cause link failure. Different transmission lines have different channel capacities, for a large LAN it is advisable to use a transmission line which has a good channel capacity level. Channel capacity can be used to calculate signal to noise ratio of unknown transmission lines. Channel capacity is defined by a mathematical formula which relates three variables, these variables include channel capacity (maximum bits per second), bandwidth and signal to noise ration. Below is the formula for channel capacity derived from Shannon Hartley theorem.

where by, C=channel capacity B=bandwidth S/N= signal to noise ratio

When observing channel capacity one should consider channel utilization. Channel utilization is percentage of network capacity used by the network. It is given by the ratio of the maximum rate of information transmitted at a given time by the maximum rate of information that a given channel can handle multiplied by hundred percent. For the network configurations on this paper the transmission line used is the T1 line which holds the clear channel capacity of 1.544Mbits/second and the bandwidth value of 8Khz. By this default value we can be able to do calculations of the channel utilization and to find the signal to noise ratio of our network system in the first two scenarios.

Firstly we will calculate the channel utilization of our first scenario, the channel capacity is known which is 1.544Mbits/second, so we have to use the simulation result to know Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

the through put rate in bits per second, through put rate refer to the maximum rate of information transmitted at a given time. Refer to the simulation below.

Figure 18. Through put in bits/second for the first scenario As seen from the figure above the average through put rate is around 1,400,000bits/ second. Now we can calculate the channel utilization. Channel utilization= (max data rate transmitter at a given time/maximum data rate a channel can handle)*100 Channel utilization=(1400000/1544000)*100= 90.7 % From the calculation above we have seen that the channel capacity of the T1 link in our system is utilized by 80.9% for the first scenario, this shows that the traffic against the link is very high, so in order to solve this a new T1 link is to be added to double the channel capacity. Below is the simulation result of the second scenario after a T1 link is LOWER added, refer to the diagram below. LINK

UPPER LINK

figure 20, through put in bits/second for the second scenario Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
August 8, 2012

4 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 7 As seen from the above one can observe that the traffic is distribute between the two links, the upper link having a maximum rate of info transmitted at 600,000 bits/ second and lower link the maximum rate of information transmitted is around 800,000 bits/s. Below is the calculation of the channel utilization to see by how much is the channel utilized after adding an additional link. Channel utilization= (max data rate transmitter at a given time/maximum data rate a channel can handle)*100 Channel utilization= [{(600,000+800,000)/2}/1,544,000]*100= 45.33% The obtained result mathematically is around 45.33% this shows that the link has been utilized approximately by 50%. The results above are very similar to the simulated results of channel utilization on the first scenario and the second scenario; this is the comparison between the simulated results and the calculated result. The following steps are finding the signal to Noise ration of the system. By default the channel capacity of a T1 line is 1.544Mbit/s and the transmission line has a bandwidth of 274878 events per second or frames per second, from this result we can calculate the SNR as shown below.

1544000=274878log to base 2(1+SNR)

SNR=48.08 or 16.8 DB. This result is the signal to noise ration of the first scenario; the following calculation is based on the second scenario, which has a bandwidth of 390246 events per second. 1544000=390246log to base 2(1+SNR) SNR=14.52 or 11.62 DB As seen above one can see that the first scenario has a signal to noise ratio which is higher that the second scenario. Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012

Conclusion
To sum up all the objectives of the report are met, as everything stated on the objective is done and well analyzed. In the first scenario evaluation of FTP, webpage response and channel utilization was well analyzed and explained. The second scenario, which involves adding of a redundant link, was critically evaluated and the advantages of the redundant link were well stated and proved by the help of the simulation result. The effect of failing one router was observed and it was analyzed in comparison with the normal scenario where one router is working perfectly fine. The help of simulation results showed the relevant results and were explained accordingly.

For further evaluation of the system three advanced scenarios were done and observation of what differences they will create to the system were observed. By referring to the last scenario WAN link was failed and the effects of it were compared by the second scenario were one router was in function. The help of simulation results explained effects of both conditions. Channel capacity is well analyzed as shown on the conclusion and manual calculation is done to prove the relevance of channel utilization, the results obtained are close enough to the ones obtained in the simulation result.

Future Enhancement
The response time is the critical element in the network. But since under some circumstances the utilization is high then the response time gets lower as it can be seen in Scenario1 & 2. Hence the network can be enhanced in future by active planning of the peak hour traffic. The clients can be prioritized and be diverted on an external link there by the reducing the effect of the lower response time on the active clients in the network. The second enhancement that can be considered in the above network for the enhancement of the response time is the Ethernet connectivity technique that can Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
August 8, 2012

4 EVALUATION OF WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 9 be employed in the network to boost the response. There common method used here is direct MDI to MDI x connectivity that can delay the response when the client needs to connect proportionally instead there can be a cross over connectivity between the clients that would enhance the response time by cross sectional connecting each of it.

By Arnold Gabriel Ruhumbika Site: http://www.inauzwa.com

Evaluation of WAN PERFOMANCE, MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS August 8, 2012