Dealing with Internet Congestion: Two Solutions “Energizing the Internet” Michael Weaver...

Dealing with Internet Congestion:Two Solutions

“Energizing the Internet” Michael Weaver Bucknell University

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About Bucknell

Private Liberal Arts University

Primarily undergraduate3,250 undergraduates200 graduate students

Primarily residential

Located in central Pennsylvania

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In the wake of the Spring, 2000 Napster explosion…

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The cost of our Internet connection keeps going

down. Soon it will be cheap enough that we won’t need to worry about bandwidth

consumption!

Myth 1

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If audio from Napster causes this much trouble, what will

happen as video becomes more widely available?

Something to Ponder!

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What’s the Potential?Do the Math!

2800 computers in Resnet

100Mbits/sec connection for each computer

2800 * 100Mbits/sec = 280,000 Mbits/sec

Our capacity to consume content:

roughly 31,000 times our current Internet connection to Resnet!

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More realistically

There probably aren’t too many 100Mbits/sec streams out there.

But there are lots of 1Mbit/sec streams

2800 * 1 Mbit/sec = 310 times our current Internet connection.

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Something to ponder!

Is the price of our Internet connection going to come down enough that we can increase it’s

capacity 310 times?

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Myth 2

We need to protect our technology resources for the

“Academic Mission” of the University.

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How much of your current network activity is directly related to the “Academic

Mission” of your University?

Email?

Web browsing?

Other communications (IM, for example)?

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Was your decision to implement Resnet an “Academic” decision?

Was your Admissions Office involved in that decision?

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Something to ponder!How many of your students have a high

speed connection (like DSL) at home?

Do you expect that number to grow?

Is this “home” use strictly academic, or does it include recreation and entertainment?

Does it (or will it) include audio and video?

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These are lifestyle changes!

They are here to stay!

Our students will expect the same capabilities in their dorm rooms that

they have at home!

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To what extent do these lifestyle changes enable technology for academic use?

Was email a useful academic tool before it was part of our lifestyle?

Web browsing? Etc…

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“Academic Mission” Restated

We must recognize the lifestyle demands on our technology resources,

finding ways to accommodate them,

without jeopardizing the academic needs for those same resources.

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Launchcast

Internet radio station with a twistUsers can “personalize” their radio station

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My thinking

If we could put Launchcast content in the Bucknell network:

1. We would provide students with a legal alternative to Napster

2. We could reduce the traffic on our Internet connection.

So I called Jeff.

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Of course, my thinking wasn’t completely original.

Launchcast was already using a service called iBEAM to put it’s content “close to the edge.”

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That Sets the Stage

We can reduce traffic on our Internet connection by moving

content into our campus network.

We’ll see three things that we’ve tried at Bucknell.

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1

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iBEAMHosts content for various “customers” (Launch.com, MSNBC, The Archeology Channel,

eHow.com, The Golf Channel)

Streaming server (Real Networks and Windows Media Server)

On-demand and live content

Tiered Architecture Most popular content “at the edge” Other content distributed on iBEAM servers

throughout the Internet All content available at iBEAM’s central server.

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iBEAM

iBEAM installed a “MaxCaster” server in the Bucknell network last summer.

We were the second school in the country to have one installed.

iBEAM’s ArchitectureRequest for content that is on “Bucknell’s” iBEAM server

Local iBeam Server

Bucknell Network

InternetConnection

Nearest iBeam Server

Request for content that is NOT on “Bucknell’s” iBEAM server

iBeam Server

iBeam Server

iBeam Server

iBEAM Architecture:Live content

iBEAMServer

@bucknell

Bucknell Computer Center

iBEAM

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What does iBEAM cost?

$0(A little rack space)

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Who pays for iBEAM?

It’s customers!(Launch.com, MSNBC, The Archeology Channel, eHow.com, The Golf Channel)

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iBEAM Benefits

Better performanceSince some content comes from a local

server instead of a server somewhere out on the Internet.

Reduced traffic on our Internet connection.

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Launchcast and iBEAMAs we started to work with Launchcast and iBEAM, we realized: Launchcast content is available in several bandwidths Most of iBEAM’s users are dial-up users Therefore, the content on any iBEAM MaxCaster

server (including ours) is mostly low-bandwidth However, our users are broadband users

So, very little Launchcast content is served from Bucknell’s iBEAM server.So, we haven’t promoted Launchcast to our students as an alternative to Napster

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iBEAM

However, any content that is delivered from Bucknell’s iBEAM server is still a

reduction in traffic on our Internet connection.

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The last I heard

iBEAM architecture change in the worksContent on Bucknell’s iBEAM server will be

based on Bucknell usage, not global usage (heterogeneous edge).

Both iBEAM and Launch are struggling financially.

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2

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<TR VALIGN=TOP><TD><A HREF="/powerbook/"><IMG

SRC="http://a772.g.akamai.net/7/772/51/5f25d2cfae812f/www.apple.com/home/images/01/powerbook01-01092001.gif" ALT="1" thick. 5.3 pounds. Slot-loading dvd. 5 hour battery. Airport. 15.2" mega-wide screen. Titanium." WIDTH="280" HEIGHT="328" BORDER="0"></A></TD>

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C:\>tracert –d a1904.g.akamai.net

Tracing route to a1904.g.akamai.net [134.82.11.7] over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <10 ms <10 ms <10 ms 134.82.8.254

2 <10 ms <10 ms <10 ms 134.82.11.7

Trace complete.

Where is a1904.g.akamai.net?

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Akamai

Hosts web content for various customers Apple, Britannica.com, CNN Interactive,

JCPenney, MSNBC, Yahoo

Web serverTiered architecture All content comes from Akamai server in Bucknell

network Content is cached on that server for some period

of time If particular content is not on the server, it is sent

down to the server from the closest location

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Akamai

Akamai installed a “FreeFlow” server in the Bucknell network last

summer.

Akamai Architecture

Bucknell’sAkamaiServer

AkamaiServer

BucknellNetwork

Internetconnection

Request for content that is already cached on Bucknell’s Akamai server.

Request for content that is not current on Bucknell’s Akamai server.

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Akamai Benefits

Better performance when web browsingSince some percentage of hits come

directly from the Akamai server in our network.

Reduced traffic on our Internet connection.

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What does Akamai cost?

$0(A little rack space)

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Who pays for Akamai?

It’s customers!(Apple, Britannica.com, CNN Interactive,

JCPenney, MSNBC, Yahoo)

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Total inbound hits 656,914

Total inbound Mbytes 4,495

Total outbound hits 1,764,206

Total outbound Mbytes 14,651

Summary report from 2/26/2001 12:00AM -> 3/6/2001 12:00AM (GMT)

of in/out traffic for Akamai region 493

Akamai Statistics

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Translated

Bytes per day that don’t go over our Internet connection

1,450 Mbytes

Hits per day that don’t go over our Internet connection

160,000

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Akamai Negatives

None that I can find!

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Coming soon to Akamai

Streaming Content

(6 – 9 months)

Launchcast

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3

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Intertainer

What is it? “Entertainment on Demand”Movies, concerts, music videos, tv showsSome content is free (music videos, for

example)Some content is pay-per-view (movies, for

example)

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Intertainer TestWe are conducting a semester-long test of Intertainer.We are their first school to try it.Server installed in January, and test started the first week of FebruaryLimited to one dorm 320 students 100 Mbits/sec connections, switched, w/gigabit uplink

to backbone, so this should not interfere with anything else.

If all goes well with the test, we will expand it to the entire campus next fall.

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More About Intertainer

Windows Media Server

750 Kbits/sec streams (320 x 240, 30fps)

Pay-per-view content ranges from $.99 to $3.99 for 24 hours access

200 hours of content on the server at any given time

Intertainer Architecture

Bucknell’sIntertainer

Server

Internetconnection

BucknellNetwork

Request for any Intertainer content.

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Intertainer Architecture II

Roughly 10% of content is refreshed each week.

This content does go over our Internet connection (once) to get it to the server.

We restrict them to off-hours so they don’t interfere with other traffic.

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What Does Intertainer Cost?

< $0Bucknell gets a share of revenue

(a little rack space)

The “production” model isn’t worked out yet.

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Intertainer Test

So far, no technical problems

Doesn’t interfere with other traffic on our network

Reasonable quality streams even at full-screen (“near VHS”)

Is usage meeting expectations?

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Intertainer TestWhat do we hope to get out of it?

1. To the extent that our students use Intertainer instead of similar services, they will not be using our Internet connection.

2. We are testing our ability to deliver video over our network.

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Intertainer TestWhat do we hope to get out of it?

3. Can this service also be used to deliver course-related movies to students

a. in place of three-hour checkout of VHS/DVD?

b. Revenue generated from entertainment will be used to cover cost of academic use.

c. Some licensing and timing issues to be worked out.

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Summary

1. Recognize lifestyle demands on technology resources, and find proactive ways to deal with them.

2. Reduce traffic on your Internet connection and get better performance by moving content into your campus network.

3. Three vendors that you might want to look at: iBEAM, Akamai, Intertainer

4. The price is right!

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Contact InformationMichael Weaver, Bucknell University www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/mweaver/presentations 570 577-1049, [email protected]

Launch: www.launch.com

iBeam: www.ibeam.com

Akamai: www.akamai.com,www.akamai.com/html/en/op/aanp_partners.html,Kirsten Fitzgerald, 617-250-4635, [email protected]

Intertainer: www.intertainer.com, Larry Fitzgibbon, 310-895-2103, [email protected]

Internet Congestion

Two SolutionsMimi Royston - Assumption College

Mike Weaver - Bucknell University

Internet Congestion

Assumption College’s Approach

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Assumption College

Small Liberal Arts School

Private Catholic College

Residential Area of Worcester, MA

1800+ Undergraduate Students

1500 Student Machines on the Network

Close Community Environment

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Mimi Royston

Associate Director of Computer Services

Network Manager

Security Administrator

Chair of our TLTR

Alum of the campus

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Why are you here?

Napster

Gnutella

Scour

iMesh

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What did you do?

Ban

Rate Limit

Prioritize

Cache

Increase Bandwidth

Or … Nothing

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New “Napsters”

Asta Lavista

CuteMX

Audio Galaxy

Hot Client (HotLine)

Yoink

Gnutella (version ?)

Cracks for Napster (banned MP3’s)

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This is just the beginning …

VideoStreamingDownloading

Phone Applications

FTP

Tickers and Trading

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Assumption’s Network Utilization (3 T1’s)

Normal

Day

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They’re Back!

Students Return

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Assumption’s Current Network Utilization

Network Applications

42%

12%

25%

13%8%

Napster

iMesh,Gnutella

Http

AOL IM

ELSE

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The Network Goes Down

DOS attack

Our ISP is having problems

The Internet (some other large ISP) is having problems

Hardware Problems

There are lots of reasons other than Napster

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What did we do?

Educate - What are others doing?Think - What do we want to do?Get Input - Users Status of Network Educate - Shared Resource for Everyone!Get Input - Our Campus Priorities Educate - Technical Possibilities Get Input - Together Set Policy

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Philosophy

Network is a shared resource for a diverse constituency!

Network has an extremely diverse (and changing) set of applications.

We are Education - Don’t Ban Anything!

We are Assumption = Community, Collaboration and Sharing.

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How did Assumption react?

Monitor the Network

Notified the Campus

Formed a Committee

Purchased QOS software

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Monitor the Network

Know your unique campus problems iMesh was popular here (20%)

Get to know what tools are good for what purposes / problems

Educate!!

Poll students, faculty and administration

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Notifying the campus:

Email Message(s):We have been monitoring the campus network for the past week and are finding that on average approximately 68% of our network usage is from programs like Napster, Scour, and iMesh. These programs are widely known to bring down campus networks because of the amount of bandwidth they use.

We will continue to monitor the network on campus. We do not intend to ban anything at this time. We are asking the entire Assumption community to limit the amount of bandwidth they are using by limiting the usage of these types of programs.

We will contact the high bandwidth users of applications such as Napster, Scour and iMesh in an effort to limit heavy network use.

Asking them to monitor themselves as well.

Individual users will be asked to decrease their use. IT WORKED (decreased Napster traffic)

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Forming a Committee - QOS

Faculty

SGA

Administration

Students

TLTR Group

Resnet Staff

IT

Representation

Education

Lots of Discussion

Willingness to Debate!

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Purchased a QOS product

Checkpoint’s Floodgate

Consultant Installation

Still having problems

Wide open continues to have best performance over time

Can use when congestion is too high

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QOS Policy

FIRST:Educational and Network Functions

SECOND: Everything Else

Wanted a simple policy that we didn’t have to chase after all the time!

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Other Schools:

Ban

Rate Limit

Prioritize

Cache

Increase Bandwidth

No Single Solution !!!

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Why are we unique?

Education and Sharing is working Email to campus reduced 10% of Napster Not only solution (it helps!)

Did not react right away

Started with Philosophy

Policy is focused on what we want to insure!

Dealing with Internet Congestion: Two Solutions “Energizing the Internet” Michael Weaver...

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