TARVOS is a prototype for a new discrete event-based network simulator, designed as part of my Masters research. It will provide support to simulating MPLS architecture, several RSVP-TE protocol functionalities and fast recovery in case of link failure.
TARVOS is open software, protected by GPL - GNU General Public License. Download the source code for the last release of the simulator below.
Several applications for computer networks require
certain levels of Quality of Service (QoS).
Voice over IP (VoIP) applications, for instance, generally tolerate a
certain amount of delay and support a low packet loss.
Conventional routing and forwarding protocols, used in computer networks,
such as IP and OSPF, work based on the best effort philosophy.
I.e., metrics like link capacity, traffic characteristics, and moreover
resource reservation are concepts not taken into consideration.
Although these protocols are robust when it comes to network fault
recovery, for instance link failures, the mechanism responsible for fault
recovery does not take into account the recovery time, which impacts directly
onto the performance of applications.
The MPLS protocol, together with the signaling protocol RSVP-TE, provides
functionalities that can be used as tools for Traffic Engineering in a computer
network, comprising traffic flow control, resource utilization control,
constraint routing, and also implementing an algorithm for fast recovery in case
of failure. All these factors can be
used as to guarantee QoS levels for different applications.
From these concepts and from the initial interest in examining the effect
of rapid recovery on an application’s performance, by using simulation, a number
of available simulators are evaluated.
This leads to the building of a prototype for a computer networks
simulator, named TARVOS Computer Networks Simulator, oriented to simulate the
fast recovery functionality in MPLS and RSVP-TE networks.
TARVOS’ constructive details are demonstrated and its functionalities are
explained, followed by a guide to model simulations.
Additionaly, in order to investigate and validate the prototype, the
study of the effect of link failures on the performance of a VoIP application is
presented.
Keywords: computer networks, simulator, fault recovery, performance analysis, traffic engineering, quality of service, QoS, MPLS, RSVP-TE, VoIP, fast recovery, rapid recovery, simulation.
TARVOS – an Event-Based Simulator for Performance Analysis, Supporting MPLS, RSVP-TE, and Fast Recovery (pdf) (2007)
Published in XIII Brazilian Symposium on Multimedia and the Web - Webmedia 2007, Oct. 20-24, 2007, Gramado, RS, Brazil, vol. 1, p. 222-229.