A Simulated Network Infrastructure Model for a Direct-Recording Electronic Voting System in a National Election Setting

A Research Presented to the College of Engineering University of San Carlos Cebu City, Philippines

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Masters of Engineering in Computer Engineering

By Linda E. Saavedra Rosana J. Ferolin, M.Eng.

March 2012

 Linda E. Saavedra, Rosana J. Ferolin, M.Eng. All Rights Reserved 2012

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A Simulated Network Infrastructure Model for a Direct-Recording Electronic Voting System in a National Election Setting

By Linda E. Saavedra Rosana J. Ferolin, M.Eng

SIGNED BY:

Rosana J. Ferolin, M.Eng. Adviser, Project Design

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University of San Carlos Department of Computer Engineering

APPROVAL SHEET

NAME

SAAVEDRA, Last Name

LINDA First Name

E. Middle Initial

PROGRAM MAJOR TITLE

Master of Engineering in Computer Engineering Computer Networks A Simulated Network Infrastructure Model for Direct Recording Electronic Voting System in a National Election Setting. October 9, 2012

DATE

EVALUATION COMMITTEE

_____________________________ Engr. Alberto S. Baacia, M.Eng. Committee Member

_____________________________ Engr. Christian V. Maderazo, M.Eng. Committee Member

_____________________________ Engr. Christine D. Bandalan, M.Eng. Committee Chair

___________________________ Engr. Rosana J. Ferolin, M.Eng. Adviser

__________________________ Engr. Van B. Patiluna, M.Eng Department Chair iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to fill this page with my heartfelt gratitude to the following individuals who helped me close an intense chapter in a students book we call, research. To Engr. Rosana J. Ferolin, who not only served as my adviser but also gave me firm support and guidance throughout the entire research. I would not have been the person I am today if not for my family, especially my mother. Thank you for serving as a pillar of support, always believing that I can be better and that I can go places if I just believe and have faith. My study would not have been possible if not for the efforts of the DRE team, Arnold, Merk, Gab, Moon, Juliene and Juliet; the significant exchange of information from the area managers - Mr. Romulus Torres, Mr. Mark Pepino, Mr. JP Borromeo, Ms. Des Placencia, Ms. Lorena Borbon and Mr. Eric Quinain -, the sales representatives - Jonel, Randy and Tess - and from the COMELEC Region 7 Secretary, Ms. Tessy Mercado; the rigorous training and consultancy from my mentors Sir CJ Acebes, Sir Melben Lamparas, and Sir Cornelio Ediza; and the unending support from the old and new staff of my base of operations, the SECN Laboratory. I will be forever grateful for everything weve achieved.

To Glady, April, my CompE family and all my friends, you have made this excruciating journey bearable, memorable and fun! Gozaimasu. To Khate, for teaching me how to be brave. Thank you for challenging me to reach for more than one star. For those who lend a helping hand but I failed to mention, you have my thanks. And last but not the least, I would like to thank the Almighty Father, for without HIM, I am without. Domo Arigatou

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
APPROVAL SHEET................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENT ............................................................................................................. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ xi LIST OF EQUATION ................................................................................................................. xi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................ xii CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................. 1 The Problem and Its Setting....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................... 5 Goals and Objectives ................................................................................................... 6 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................ 7 Scope and Limitations................................................................................................. 8 Assumptions ................................................................................................................ 8 Theoretical Background.............................................................................................. 9 Network Architecture ......................................................................................... 9 Network Topology ............................................................................................ 13 Network Types .................................................................................................. 15 Servers................................................................................................................. 17 Web Server ......................................................................................................... 17 Database Server ................................................................................................. 18 Simulation Tool.................................................................................................. 18 Wireless LAN Networking................................................................................... 19 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................... 20

1.7.1 1.7.2 1.7.3 1.7.4 1.7.4.1 1.7.3.2 1.7.5 1.7.6. 1.8

CHAPTER 2 .............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Literature Review..................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER 3 .............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Methodology ............................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. vii

3.1. 3.2. 3.2.1. 3.2.2. 3.2.3. 3.3.

System Overview.................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Infrastructure Design ........................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Precinct to Regional Level ............................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Regional to National Level .............................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Simulation Model ............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

Data Gathering ......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER 4 .............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation of Data............... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.1. Performance Analysis .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. TCP Request ..................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Network Traffic ............................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Bandwidth Utilization .................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Round Trip Time (RTT) .................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Service Response Time (SRT) ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Network Utilization ........................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.1.1. 4.1.2. 4.1.3. 4.1.4. 4.1.5. 4.1.6. 4.3. 4.4.

Data Integrity ............................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Cost-Benefit Analysis ............................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER 5 .............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation ...................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.1. 5.2. 5.3. Summary ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Conclusion................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Recommendation...................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

APPENDICES ..Attached CD

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1. Manual Voting System Infrastructure .................................................................. 2 Figure 1.2. PCOS Voting System Network Infrastructure .................................................... 4 Figure 1.3. Client-Server Model.............................................................................................. 10 Figure 1.4. Centralized Server Model .................................................................................... 11 Figure 1.5. Distributed Server Model .................................................................................... 12 Figure 1.6. Physical Topology Map........................................................................................ 13 Figure 1.7. Common Physical Topologies ............................................................................. 14 Figure 1.8. Logical Topology Map ......................................................................................... 15 Figure 1.9. Local Area Network ............................................................................................. 16 Figure 1.10. Wide Area Network ........................................................................................... 17 Figure 2.11. RFID Reader, Fingerprint Reader and Thermal Printer Integration ....... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 2.12. Network Set-up .................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 2.13. DRE Voting System Prototype ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 2.14. General View of System Architecture ............. Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 2.15. Simulation Environment ................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 2.16. Architecture of the Developed e-Voting System ............ Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 3.17. Infrastructure Design Hierarchy ...................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 3.18. Network Environment Structure ..................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 3.19. Centralized Set-up ............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 3.20. Distributed Set-up .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. ix

Figure 3.21. Precinct Connection ........................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 3.22. Precinct to Region Connection ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 3.23. Region to NCDB Connection ............................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 3.24. Overall Infrastructure ........................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 3.25. Simulation Environment ................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 3.26. Log-in page for RFID scanner and Fingerprint reader .. Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.27. TCP Requests Summary .................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.28. TCP Request Comparison in Change of Set-up ............. Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.29. TCP Request comparison in Change of Bandwidth ...... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.30. Network Traffic Summary ................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.31. Network Traffic Comparison in Change of Set-up ........ Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.32. Network Traffic Comparison in Change of Bandwidth Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.33. Bandwidth Utilization Summary ..................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.34. Bandwidth Utilization Comparison in Change of Set-up .... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.35. Bandwidth Utilization Comparison in Change of Bandwidth ................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.36. Round-Trip-Time Summary ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

Figure 4.37. Round-Trip-Time Comparison in Change in Set-up ..... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.38. Round-Trip-Time Comparison in Change of Bandwidth .... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.39. Service Response Time Summary .................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.40. Service Response Time Comparison in Change of Set-up ... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.41. Service Response Time Comparison in Change of Bandwidth ............... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.42. Network Utilization Summary ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.43. Network Utilization Comparison in Change of Set-up . Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.44. Network Utilization Comparison in Change of Bandwidth Error! Bookmark not defined.

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1. Sample Size Used ................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 4.2. Summary for TCP Request ................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 4.3. Summary for Network Traffic in KB/s ............... Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 4.4. Summary for Bandwidth Utilization in KB/s .... Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 4.5. Summary for Round-Trip-Time in ms ................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 4.6. Summary for Service Response Time in ms ....... Error! Bookmark not defined. xi

Table 4.7. Summary for Network Utilization in KB/s ........ Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 4.8. May 2010 National Election Budget .................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 4.9. DRE Case 1 Budget ................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 4.10. DRE Case 2 Budget .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 4.11. DRE Case 3 Budget .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 4.12. Cost Comparison between PCOS and DRE ...... Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 4.13. Net Present Value ................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

LIST OF EQUATION

Equation 4.1. NPV Formula ................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

ABSTRACT

In the hopes of improving the voting system in the country, a group of researchers developed an automated voting system patterned using the concept of retail technology. This voting system is termed as Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting system. DRE was successfully created but it did not include an infrastructure design for big scale deployment thus, performance would still be uncertain.
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This research focused on the infrastructure design for a nationwide deployment the DRE system created. Centralized and distributed set-up was considered as well as different transmission media and bandwidth. A simulated environment was created to test the performance of the DRE system in different settings. Performance analysis showed that a distributed set-up is more efficient to adapt. It gave the system good network performance in terms of round-triptime, service response time, traffic and utilization. It was also determined that bandwidth may affect network performance. The infrastructure designed made use of both wired and wireless transmission with the connection provided through a partnership with established telecommunication companies in the country. Cost-benefit analysis reveal that the DRE voting system is a sound investment and in the long run, economical than the PCOS system used.

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CHAPTER 1 The Problem and Its Setting

1.1

Introduction Each individual has the freedom to choose and this preference for

someone or something is manifested through voting. In the Philippine setting, people cast votes to select local and national leaders. The voting system in the Philippines has evolved from manual voting to automated voting with the use of Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines. But whether voting is done manually or automatically, only registered voters are eligible to vote. Registered voters are those individuals who registered to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). To facilitate ease during voting, the registered voters are grouped into precincts based on the home address given during the registration process. This way, voters need to go to their respective precincts to vote. The manual voting system is the traditional pen and paper voting. This type of system requires voters to write the names of their selected candidates in a piece of paper called ballot and once done, will drop it in a locked box called a ballot box. The infrastructure of this voting system is very straightforward.

When polls closed, ballot boxes with the election returns from different precincts will be collected and will be transported physically to canvassing centers where

authorized volunteers will open the ballot boxes and manually count the votes from the ballots.

Figure 1.1. Manual Voting System Infrastructure

From the precinct, the election returns will be physically transported to the municipal/city board of canvassers. A certificate of canvass (COC) and a statement of votes per precinct (SOVP) are issued and this will be relayed to the provincial board of canvassers. Again, a COC and a statement of votes per municipality/city (SOVM/C) will be issued and passed on to the national board of canvassers which is composed of the Congress and COMELEC. This pen and paper voting system, although implemented for years, has a number of setbacks. For one, election fraud, which includes dropping of preprinted ballots to ballot boxes and voter identity theft, is quite rampant. Interception and switching of ballot boxes also happens while en route to
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canvassing centers.

Since votes are made through writing, the elderly and

illiterate take a long time, if not, experience difficulty in casting votes. Because of the manual counting of votes, results would take weeks or even months, to be known. A lot of volunteers are also needed to facilitate the whole voting process. The use of PCOS machines on the May 2010 National Election was the start of the automated election process in the entire Philippines. This system still make use of paper ballots but instead of writing the names of chosen candidates, voters need only to shade the oval opposite the candidate name. The ballot will then be fed to the PCOS machine and the machine will determine if the casted votes are accepted or rejected. When polls closed, the PCOS machine will

automatically count the casted votes and election returns (ER) will be printed per machine. After the ERs are printed, the results will be transmitted electronically to city or municipal canvassers. The canvassers would consolidate the results from all precincts within the city or municipality. The same process will take place from the city or municipality to the province, from province to Congress and then to COMELEC. For every result transmission, a copy will be transmitted to the COMELEC central office. Figure 1.2 illustrates the transmission process. The connection in yellow indicates electronic transmission.

Figure 1.2. PCOS Voting System Network Infrastructure

The use of PCOS machines automated the counting process only and the announcement of results took less than a month. But several problems were still encountered. Because only a few machines were deployed, three to four

precincts were joined, resulting to a long queue of voters. Extra marks made in the ballot would cause the ballot to be rejected by the machine. Voter identity theft was still a concern. A number of volunteers were still needed to aid the voting process. Most of all, data security was an issue and data integrity was questioned. As a move to improve the voting system, the study, Touch Screen DirectRecording Electronic (DRE) Voting System with Fingerprint Recognition, Radio
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Frequency Identification (RFID) and Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) Integration [2], was made. This created a DRE voting system that made use of the concept of retail technology. In this voting system, all areas of the voting procedure are automated from the registration, voter identification, casting of votes, ballot canvassing and counting of results. Further details of the DRE voting system can be found in Appendix A. This study however, focused on the development of an interactive voting system only and a prototype of the DRE voting system was successfully created. However, it did not include a network infrastructure design for big scale deployment. Without an appropriate network infrastructure, performance would still be uncertain. There is a need for a

simulated infrastructure design so that the deployment of the DRE voting system would be systematic, performance can be anticipated, faults can be identified and measures can be prepared.

1.2

Statement of the Problem This research focused on the development of a network infrastructure

design most appropriate for the DRE voting system developed, in the Philippine setting. The following questions were answered: 1. How will the network infrastructure be designed? a. What equipment, transmission media and technology will be most appropriate to use? b. What architecture is suitable to implement?
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c. How will multiple connections be handled? 2. How will the simulation of the network infrastructure be carried out? a. What will be simulated?

1.3

Goals and Objectives The main goal of this research was to come up with a network

infrastructure design for a DRE voting system and have its performance simulated. It also achieved the following objectives: 1. To design the network infrastructure of the DRE voting system a. Determine what transmission media wired or wireless, most applicable to the Philippine setting b. Determine the equipment to use c. Determine what network set-up centralized or distributed, is most efficient to adapt 2. To simulate the designed network infrastructure a. Check network traffic b. Monitor system response time 3. To create a proof of concept that the designed infrastructure is feasible 4. To perform performance and cost-benefit analysis as recommendation for actual implementation is

1.4

Significance of the Study The output of this study would be very beneficial to organizations and

sectors that would have voting procedures.

This will automate the voting

process and hopefully eliminate most of the problems encountered in the present voting system. A properly designed network infrastructure can guide the deployment of the voting system resources so that the election process can proceed with minimal faults and performance issues. This will also serve as an initial model for a city, provincial, regional and a nationwide implementation of automated election from registration to the announcement of results using the DRE voting system. The resources available can be fully maximized and used to its full potential. An estimate in terms of financial and manpower aspect can also be provided. This would also be advantageous for the voters since it will be easier to register and vote. The study would also serve as an avenue for further research for those who are interested by the subject and by people whose field of expertise is in line with the said subject.

1.5

Scope and Limitations The prototype used in the research was that of the DRE voting system

created in [2]. As such, the network infrastructure design was based on the prototype from [2] and its performance under different settings was measured through simulation. A cost-benefit analysis (CBA) was also performed. The results of the CBA and the simulation would be used as basis for recommendation for actual implementation. The establishment of the connection from the voting kiosk to other levels in the voting hierarchy was the main focus in the infrastructure design. The availability of the proposed equipment and services to be used as well as data integrity were also looked into. Results, however, was only simulated and the research did not include the actual deployment of the infrastructure. Other concerns such as security and database management would be addressed in a different paper.

1.6

Assumptions To fully implement the proposed study, it was assumed that the resources

needed including the connection services were available and fully accessible in target areas for deployment. The DRE voting machine was already implemented and functioning accordingly. The process for the election system was established and
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information in terms of the number of Barangays and population for the country was available. It was also assumed that database load balancing and data

synchronization was already dealt with and applied to the system.

1.7

Theoretical Background This section includes concepts, theories and topics that supported the

study.

1.7.1

Network Architecture This is the design of a communications network. The network The

architecture includes the logical and structural layout of a network. components, functional organization and configuration are also included.

Three network architectures are of particular interest in the study. These are client-server model, centralized model and distributed model.

1.7.1.1. Client-Server Model A client-server model distributes workloads between a server and a client. A server is a machine or a program that provides services while a client is a machine or program that represents users who needs services. servers communicate over a network to perform tasks together. Clients and

Figure 1.3. Client-Server Model

The client makes a request for a service. This request will be received by the server, processed and would send back the necessary response to the requesting client. The client-server model can have one or many servers that can cater to multiple clients and provides a convenient way for programs distributed in different locations to interconnect.

1.7.1.2. Centralized Model In a centralized network, all resources or services are stored or managed at one place by a single server. Because only one server will be monitored, it is very easy to keep all resources consistent and accurate. Securing the system from outside and unauthorized access would be less demanding since only one place/device will be monitored.

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Figure 1.4. Centralized Server Model

As there is only once central device that accepts requests, the network may experience performance issues when a lot of clients will send requests simultaneously. If the central server cannot handle the overflowing requests, this becomes a point of failure and when this happens, the entire network will suffer a fall down.

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1.7.1.3. Distributed Model In contrast with the centralized approach, distributed approach is a network structure wherein resources are spread throughout the area being served.

Figure 1.5. Distributed Server Model

This allows clients to access resources from local and remote servers. Because servers are distributed, there is a need to synchronize the contents from the central server and the local servers.

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1.7.2

Network Topology Network topology defines how devices are connected in a network. It

describes the layout of the wire and the devices. A network topology can be a physical topology or a logical topology. A physical topology is the physical layout of the devices and media. It records where each host is located and how it is connected to the network. Common physical topologies include bus, star, ring, mesh and tree.

Figure 1.6. Physical Topology Map

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Figure 1.7. Common Physical Topologies

Logical topology defines how the medium is accessed by the hosts for sending data. A logical topology map group hosts by how they use the network regardless of where they are physically located. Host names, addresses, group information and applications can be recorded on the logical topology map.

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Figure 1.8. Logical Topology Map

1.7.3

Network Types Computer network designs can be categorized according to scope or scale.

The networking industry refers to network types as a kind of area network. An area network aptly describes how the different topologies are arranged in different ways. PAN, CAN, SAN, LAN, WLAN, MAN and WAN are some of the network types we have today.

1.7.3.1. Local Area Network Local area network (LAN) connects devices over a relatively short distance networked office building, school, home and a group of nearby buildings. It makes use of the TCP/IP network protocol for communication between computers. Most of the time, LANs are implemented as a single
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Internet Protocol (IP) subnet and use certain connectivity technologies such as Ethernet and Token Ring.

Figure 1.9. Local Area Network

1.7.3.2. Wide Area Network Wide area network (WAN) is a telecommunication network that covers a broad area or a large physical distance metropolitan, regional and national boundaries. A WAN is a geographically dispersed collection of LANs. The biggest example of a WAN is the Internet. A router connects LANs to WANs. Wide area networks uses ATM, Frame Relay and X.25 technologies for connectivity over longer distances.

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Figure 1.10. Wide Area Network

1.7.4

Servers As stated, a server is a machine or program that provides services. In a

nutshell, it is responsible in managing the network resources. There are different types of servers, each type specializing in a particular service. Two types of server are of interest in the study. These are the web server and database server.

1.7.4.1

Web Server A web server delivers content that can be accessed through the internet. It

is usually used to host web sites but it can also store data or run applications. Web servers can be a hardware or software the serves up web pages upon a clients request, usually in the form of HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
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documents. scripts.

Content of HTML documents include images, style sheets and

Web servers also support and interpret scripting languages but they need to be installed and configured for the web server to process them.

1.7.3.2

Database Server A database server is a program that provides database services. A

database is a collection of data that is organized and stored in digital form and managed in some level of quality. There are several kinds of database servers which include flat file, relational, object and object relational.

1.7.5

Simulation Tool When we simulate something, we imitate a behavior of a real object or

process through the use of another system, usually a computer program designed for the purpose. Network simulation is a technique that makes use of a program called network simulator, which models the behavior of a network through mathematical formulas or capturing and playing back observations from a production network. Here, the interaction of the different network entities

involved is observed. By changing certain parameters one can observe how a particular network model reacts to different conditions.
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Network simulators allow users to create a virtual environment of a real time system or a proposed system. The network infrastructure is modeled with devices, traffic and other objects and performance is analyzed. Some simulators can be customized to fit specific needs of the users. Popular network simulators include NetSim, Packet Tracer, OPNET, ns-3, and GNS3.

1.7.6. Wireless LAN Networking Wireless technology has helped to simplify networking by enabling multiple computer users to simultaneously share resources in a home or business without additional intrusive wiring. Wireless networking enables the same

capabilities and comparable speeds of a wired 10BASE-T network minus the hassle of crimping cables, laying wires and drilling into walls. IEEE developed

the 802.11 specifications particularly for wireless local area networks and includes flavors such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 801.11g and 802.11n.

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1.8

Definition of Terms A standard for mobile

3G 3rd generation of wireless techonologies. telecommunication

Access point a device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wire network using WiFi Backup a replication of a machine used in case of failure of main machine used Bandwidth the measure of the rate of the data being consumed/sent in a given time Client a machine that request services from a server Connection availability availability of a link Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) process for calculating and comparing benefits and costs of a project to determine if it is a sound investment and to see how it compares with other alternate projects Data integrity the consistency of information Database a systematically arranged collection of computer data, structured so that it can be automatically retrieved or manipulated Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) a generic name referring to a device that uses automation technologies Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) a high-speed connection that provides digital data transmission using the same wires as the local telephone network IP Address a 32-bit address use to identify device on a network

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Leased line a reserved circuit between two points that connects two or more locations for voice and/or data telecommunication service Local Area Network (LAN) a network setup that connects devices over a short distance Media connector used in connecting devices either in wired or wireless means Network Infrastructure a plan of a network that includes the network design, specifies the equipment to be used and how they are connected Performance analysis evaluation of performance of a particular setup by changing some parameters and noting the effect Response time time it takes for the data transmitted to reach the destination Router a device that makes use of network addresses to route data. Usually indicates a WAN connection Server a dedicated machine that provides services, such as database services, to clients and is responsible in managing resources Simulated model a scaled down version of a design and verified through simulation Simulation imitation of a behavior of a real object or process Virtual Private Network (VPN) a network that makes use of public telecommunication infrastructure to provide remote offices or traveling users access to a central organizational network

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VPN Concentrator a device that is used to create remote-access or site-to-site VPN and is ideally deployed where a single device is required to handle multiple VPN tunnels VPN tunnel a pathway that involves establishing and maintaining a logical network connection Wide Area Network (WAN) a network setup that covers a broad area or a large physical distance WiMax Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. A trademark for a family of telecommunications protocol that provides fixed and mobile internet access

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