Home // ICN 2011, The Tenth International Conference on Networks // View article

Multi-Episodic Dependability Assessments for Large-Scale Networks

Authors:
Andrew Snow
Gary Weckman
Andrew Yachuan-Chen

Keywords: simulation, survivability, reliability, maintainability, wireless network infrastructure

Abstract:
As a network infrastructure expands in size, the number of concurrent outages can be expected to grow in frequency. The purpose of this research is to investigate through simulation the characteristics of concurrent network outages and how they impact network operators’ perspective of network dependability. The dependability investigated includes network reliability, availability, maintainability and survivability. To assess this phenomenon, a new event definition, called an “impact epoch”, is introduced. Epochs are defined to be either single, concurrent, or overlapping outages in time, which can be best assessed with new metrics and simulation. These metrics, Mean-Time-To-Epoch, Mean-Time-to Restore-Epoch along with percentage time the network is not in an epoch state (Quiescent Availability) and Peak Customers Impacted, are investigated. A case study based upon a variable size wireless network is studied to see what insights can be garnered through simulation. The new proposed metrics offer network operators valuable insights into the management of restoration resources. Simulation proved invaluable in identifying multi-outage epochs, as modeling their occurrence, frequency, duration and size is analytically intractable for large networks.

Pages: 441 to 448

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2011

Publication date: January 23, 2011

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4413

ISBN: 978-1-61208-113-7

Location: St. Maarten, The Netherlands Antilles

Dates: from January 23, 2011 to January 28, 2011