Policy-Based Networking: Architecture and Algorithms

Introduction

A typical IP network consists of a large number of routers and servers running a variety of applications that are used by a large number of users. Some of these applications (such as the applications implementing the routing protocols) are needed for proper operation of the IP networks, and other applications, such as Web servers or mail servers, are deployed for a specific purpose. Although individual configurations of the IP network vary from organization to organization, it is safe to assume that the different applications and users in the network interact with each other in a complex and subtle manner. The applications compete with each other to access network resources, such as the bandwidth on different links, the buffer space ...