Content-centric
networking (CCN) is all about the next generation network architecture that
will power the Internet as we push further into the 21st century. So, why do we
need another Internet architecture?
From
a Communications Network to a Content Distribution Network Well, the
plain fact is that our current Internet infrastructure was designed in the
1970s as a communications network. Van Jacobson (Research Fellow at PARC and
former Chief Scientist at Cisco) states that CCN is like a Copernican
revolution since it places content distribution at the center of the Internet
rather than just communications.
Indeed,
with hundreds of millions of devices hooking up to the Internet our data and
content needs are exploding exponentially. Cisco estimates that global IP
traffic is growing at 32% (CAGR: 2010-2015) and that demand for data is
currently nearing 30 exabytes – 30 billion gigabytes! – per month ( Cisco VNI, 2011 ). So,
our needs are changing, from the Internet being a communications network to it
being a content distribution network that focuses on the data we need,
regardless of where that data is retreived from, i.e. somewhere in the
"cloud".
Content-Centric
Networking - The Benefits
And,
the whole essence of the new Content-Centric Networking architecture will
revolve around the routing and delivery of named content, application-neutral
caching in memory; and, security. The prime benefits will be to reduce network
congestion, improve delivery speed and inmprove content security.
Van Jacobson cites the following for CCN:
Caching
and Content Distribution
The philosopy behind content-centric
networking recognises that a significant proportion of information is produced
once, then copied many times. With substantial storage already available it's
thus more efficient if the network could recognise particular content, keep
only one copy of it but distribute it however many times and to wherever it is
needed. However, Van Jacobson doesn't really believe this is about caching
though, "that the data lives here and I have a copy of it... I don't care
where it lives", i.e. named content doesn't have to reside anywhere in
particular, eliminating the need for global topologies.
The
Importance of Content-Centric Networking for our Future Internet Needs
So why is
this important? With current consumer mobility trends and the explosion of
smartphone adoption around the world, particularly in developing countries, the
CCN would be well provisioned for mobile devices, i.e. when content is
requested from a mobile device then that data will often be available
immediately because it has already been cached on the network. Add to this the
demands from businesses for more and more data transmission and we have a
looming Internet time-bomb.
But
what's the reality? Thanks to the strain on their networks, telcos are well
aware of the content revolution underway; however, Van Jacobson states that the
"fixes" they have used to handle the shift will not last forever.
Further, Van Jacobson goes on to say, “Every day millions of dollars of capex
and opex are invested in tricking [the Internet] into operating far outside its
design parameters... Internet-based content consumption is reaching a scale
where tricks no longer work”.
Thus, it's a given that today's Internet architecture has to evolve but the telcos and content delivery network providers need to develop new business models to fund their infrastructure changes - but that could take another 10 years and will the Internet's architecture take the strain?
Geoff Fitzgerald, Managing Director
Technology Insights & Decisions Made Easy...
www.tech-research.co.uk
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