chapter02-170305095837.pdf

Top-Down Network Design Chapter Two Analyzing Technical Goals and Tradeoffs Copyright 2010 Cisco Press & Priscilla Oppenheimer  Technical Goals Scalability Availability Performance Security Manageability Usability Adaptability...

Top-Down Network Design Chapter Two Analyzing Technical Goals and Tradeoffs Copyright 2010 Cisco Press & Priscilla Oppenheimer  Technical Goals Scalability Availability Performance Security Manageability Usability Adaptability Affordability  Scalability Scalability refers to the ability to grow Some technologies are more scalable – Flat network designs, for example, don’t scale well Try to learn – Number of sites to be added – What will be needed at each of these sites – How many users will be added – How many more servers will be added  Availability Availability can be expressed as a percent uptime per year, month, week, day, or hour, compared to the total time in that period – For example: 24/7 operation Network is up for 165 hours in the 168-hour week Availability is 98.21% Different applications may require different levels Some enterprises may want 99.999% or “Five Nines” availability  Availability Downtime in Minutes Per Hour Per Day Per Week Per Year 99.999%.0006.01.10 5 99.98%.012.29 2 105 99.95%.03.72 5 263 99.90%.06 1.44 10 526 99.70%.18 4.32 30 1577 99.999% Availability May Require Triple Redundancy ISP 1 ISP 2 ISP 3 Enterprise Can the customer afford this?  Availability Availability can also be expressed as a mean time between failure (MTBF) and mean time to repair (MTTR) Availability = MTBF/(MTBF + MTTR) – For example: The network should not fail more than once every 4,000 hours (166 days) and it should be fixed within one hour 4,000/4,001 = 99.98% availability  Network Performance Common performance factors include – Bandwidth – Throughput – Bandwidth utilization – Offered load – Accuracy – Efficiency – Delay (latency) and delay variation – Response time  Bandwidth Vs. Throughput Bandwidth and throughput are not the same thing Bandwidth is the data carrying capacity of a circuit Usually specified in bits per second Throughput is the quantity of error free data transmitted per unit of time Measured in bps, Bps, or packets per second (pps) Bandwidth, Throughput, Load 100 % of Capacity T h r Actual o u l dea I g h p u t 100 % of Capacity Offered Load  Other Factors that Affect Throughput The size of packets Inter-frame gaps between packets Packets-per-second ratings of devices that forward packets Client speed (CPU, memory, and HD access speeds) Server speed (CPU, memory, and HD access speeds) Network design Protocols Distance Errors Time of day, etc., etc., etc.  Throughput Vs. Goodput You need to decide what you mean by throughput Are you referring to bytes per second, regardless of whether the bytes are user data bytes or packet header bytes – Or are you concerned with application-layer throughput of user bytes, sometimes called “goodput” In that case, you have to consider that bandwidth is being “wasted” by the headers in every packet  Performance (continued) Efficiency – How much overhead is required to deliver an amount of data? – How large can packets be? Larger better for efficiency (and goodput) But too large means too much data is lost if a packet is damaged How many packets can be sent in one bunch without an acknowledgment?  Efficiency Small Frames (Less Efficient) Large Frames (More Efficient) Delay from the User’s Point of View Response Time – A function of the application and the equipment the application is running on, not just the network – Most users expect to see something on the screen in 100 to 200 milliseconds Delay from the Engineer’s Point of View Propagation delay – A signal travels in a cable at about 2/3 the speed of light in a vacuum Transmission delay (also known as serialization delay) – Time to put digital data onto a transmission line For example, it takes about 5 ms to output a 1,024 byte packet on a 1.544 Mbps T1 line Packet-switching delay Queuing delay Queuing Delay and Bandwidth Utilization 15 Average Queue Depth 12 9 6 3 0 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Average Utilization Number of packets in a queue increases exponentially as utilization increases  Example A packet switch has 5 users, each offering packets at a rate of 10 packets per second The average length of the packets is 1,024 bits The packet switch needs to transmit this data over a 56-Kbps WAN circuit – Load = 5 x 10 x 1,024 = 51,200 bps – Utilization = 51,200/56,000 = 91.4% – Average number of packets in queue = (0.914)/(1-0.914) = 10.63 packets  Delay Variation The amount of time average delay varies – Also known as jitter Voice, video, and audio are intolerant of delay variation So forget everything we said about maximizing packet sizes – There are always tradeoffs – Efficiency for high-volume applications versus low and non-varying delay for multimedia  Security Focus on requirements first Detailed security planning later (Chapter 8) Identify network assets – Including their value and the expected cost associated with losing them due to a security problem Analyze security risks  Network Assets Hardware Software Applications Data Intellectual property Trade secrets Company’s reputation  Security Risks Hacked network devices – Data can be intercepted, analyzed, altered, or deleted – User passwords can be compromised – Device configurations can be changed Reconnaissance attacks Denial-of-service attacks  Manageability Fault management Configuration management Accounting management Performance management Security management  Usability Usability: the ease of use with which network users can access the network and services Networks should make users’ jobs easier Some design decisions will have a negative affect on usability: – Strict security, for example  Adaptability Avoid incorporating any design elements that would make it hard to implement new technologies in the future Change can come in the form of new protocols, new business practices, new fiscal goals, new legislation A flexible design can adapt to changing traffic patterns and Quality of Service (QoS) requirements  Affordability A network should carry the maximum amount of traffic possible for a given financial cost Affordability is especially important in campus network designs WANs are expected to cost more, but costs can be reduced with the proper use of technology – Quiet routing protocols, for example  Network Applications Technical Requirements Name of Cost of Acceptable Acceptable Throughput Delay Must be Delay Application Downtime MTBF MTTR Goal Less Than: Variation Must be Less Than:  Making Tradeoffs Scalability 20 Availability 30 Network performance 15 Security 5 Manageability 5 Usability 5 Adaptability 5 Affordability 15 Total (must add up to 100) 100  Summary Continue to use a systematic, top-down approach Don’t select products until you understand goals for scalability, availability, performance, security, manageability, usability, adaptability, and affordability Tradeoffs are almost always necessary  Review Questions What are some typical technical goals for organizations today? How do bandwidth and throughput differ? How can one improve network efficiency? What tradeoffs may be necessary in order to improve network efficiency?