Network Delay – Where is it Hiding?

Find out how hardware acceleration solves packet processing issues in network trouble-shooting and DPI applications

Network delays can have a significant impact on customer experience. As more and more users take advantage of services that have increasing demands on network bandwidth, the issue of network delays that impact service performance will become increasingly important.

That’s why network operators are deploying sophisticated DPI solutions to troubleshoot network issues. But, today’s 10Gb/s and emerging 40Gb/s networks can overload traditional host-based DPI solutions. That’s why hardware acceleration is required, to offload host processor requirements. Find out more by downloading our new white paper – Using Hardware Accelerated 10-40Gb/s Packet Analysis in IMS Policy Applications.

Network delay problems affect all users. For consumers, rapidly adopting services that require real-time performance – such as online gaming, for example – network delays will disrupt and damage their experience, leading to dissatisfaction.

For enterprise users, the adoption of cloud services – of which more and more will have real-time performance requirements, such as video conferencing and collaboration – delays will degrade service and impact the efficiencies and cost savings that such cloud services are supposed to introduce.

In both cases, there is the additional complication of user expectation. People expect services to work in both a mobile and fixed environment, seamlessly. Their perceptions have changed and people don’t expect there to be a difference between what they can do on their mobile device and on their fixed terminal.

This means that network operators have to be able to identify and resolve delay issues before they have a significant impact on service performance and delivery. Customer dissatisfaction leads to churn – and with customer acquisition costs so high, it makes sense to focus on strategies to retain customers.

But where is the delay to be found? Does the problem occur in the access network? In the cable head-end? In the cell-site? The backhaul? The core? Network operators have to be able to identify problems wherever they occur. They have to be able to sample traffic, selectively filter media streams and run analysis to determine if a problem exists and isolate the area in which it is found so that they can take action.

With NGN networks running at 10Gb/s, 40Gb/s and beyond, this is not a trivial issue: there is simply a vast trove of data to be processed – and it has to be analysed in real-time. It’s a real-time world now and that demands high-performance network processors and monitoring systems for DPI applications.

In an ideal world, there would never be any problems; there would always be sufficient bandwidth to cope. But it’s not an ideal world – problems occur on a regular basis, despite best efforts and advances in network provisioning and planning. That’s why network operators need the ability to perform DPI, monitor traffic flows at all points in the network and aggregate results so the full picture can be realised.

Investing in high-speed monitoring capabilities for DPI applications is essential to ensure that existing customers receive the quality of service they expect. And, if you want to add customers, being able to differentiate on service quality may just be a significant asset. The benefits of being able to monitor traffic throughout the network are clear – and it’s a fundamental requirement to be able to adapt to the next generation of transmission speeds. The message is clear: if you want to find hidden delays, you need the right equipment and the ability to cope with the faster line rates delivered by core transmission solutions.

Find out how to build and deploy advanced solutions to manage and monitor your network by contacting Telesoft Technologies today.