High Performance Networks: Frontiers and Experience: 238 (The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science) - Tapa blanda

'The world of information processing is going through a major phase of its evolution. Networking has been associated with computers since the 1960's. Communicating machines, exchanging information or cooperating to solve complex problems, were the dream of many scientists and engineers. Rudi­ mentary networks and protocols were invented. Local area networks capable of carrying a few megabits per second became basic components of corporate computing installations in the 1980's. At the same time, advances in optical transmission and switching technologies made it possible to transfer billions of bits per second. 'The availability of this huge bandwidth is making people wonder about the seemingly unlimited possibilities of these "fat information pipes" A new world where all interesting up-to-date information becomes instantaneously available to everyone everywhere is often portrayed to be around the comer. New applications are envisioned and their requirements are defined. 'The new field of High Performance Networking is burgeoning with activities at various levels. Several frontiers are being explored simultaneously. In order to achieve more bandwidth and better performance, work is progressing in optical transmission, high speed switching and network resource manage­ ment. Some researchers have started to investigate all-optical networking as a promising approach to remove the relatively slow electronics from the network infrastructure. This will also introduce a new environment with unique characteristics that will have a definite impact on network architec­ tures, topologies, addressing schemes, and protocols.

Several approaches have been used to build experimental gigabit networks in various industrial and academic research laboratories. Many lessons have been learned and progress has been made. High Performance Networks: Frontiers and Experience contains a collection of chapters written by the principal investigators of some of the most representative pilot projects. Authors describe their approaches and provide some advice based on their practical experience. Projects covered include some national gigabit testbeds in the US (Aurora), Germany (Berkom) and Sweden (MultiG). Also described are gigabit research networks implemented in the labs of IBM and HP. The second part of the book covers the implementation of protocols for high performance systems. These include traditional protocols that can still be used in gigabit networks (such as TCP/IP and OSI-TP4) as well as newly proposed protocols (such as T++). An example implementation of a high performance ATM adapter is also presented. Professionals, engineers, and researchers in high performance (gigabit) communications who need to design and build such networks and protocols will find this volume to be an invaluable reference. The book is also suitable for use as a text for advanced courses on the subject.