DOCUMENTATION 》 IP Header Compression in WAN Links and TOFFEE-DataCenter WAN Optimization

I was doing some specific tests in my TOFFEE and TOFFEE-DataCenter (WAN optimization) scenarios such as variable upload and download speeds. And I was also doing some experiments with speedtest.net and I did some of these tests with TOFFEE-Mocha. I realized there is a case that I can introduce asymmetric constant delays so that you can get different download speed and a different upload speed. And in some cases much faster download speeds and relatively slower upload speeds.

In the previous update (17-Jun-2016) I discussed about the upcoming new Random Packet drop feature along with other completed features. Now I completed the entire TOFFEE-Mocha Random packet drop feature. I completed all the kernel components and the UI support of the same. And to make GUI settings more organized I split the earlier Basic-Settings page into two separate pages namely: Packet Drop and Packet Delay. So this way it is simple to understand settings according to their functionality.

Here is my power-consumption measurements of various devices deployed within my home lab. I measured via my kill-a-watt sort of power-meter which is fairly reliable and accurate. I checked its accuracy with various standard load such as Philips LED laps and other constant power-consuming devices to make sure that the power-meter is precise.

TOFFEE/TOFFEE-DataCenter can be used to optimize Ad-Hoc Mobile Wireless Mesh-Networks. To learn more about the same here are some references: B.A.T.M.A.N. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.A.T.M.A.N. Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_ad_hoc_network Wireless ad hoc network (WANET) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_ad_hoc_network open-mesh.org (Open Mesh) Wiki - https://www.open-mesh.org/projects/open-mesh/wiki

My 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM hard-drive suddenly started making mild clicking noise. I found this happening since morning. I was suspicious that something wrong in this drive and when I opened the Linux Disks app, I can find the cause of this issue. The disk is increasingly getting read errors. Besides I can see various other parameters such as Power-On Hours, Temperature, Head flying hours, etc.

TrueBench is an unique open-source benchmarking system in which the core system performance and efficiency parameters are measured at extreme high resolution in the order of several million/billion µ-seconds for a given specific task. TrueBench is a part of The TOFFEE Project research.

If you want to deploy TOFFEE along with a web-proxy cache (such as Squid Proxy) you can deploy the same as shown below. TOFFEE does not cache files. TOFFEE does packet level network optimization. So if you want caching your web content you can use transparent mode web-proxy cache intercepting your WAN links. A web-proxy may reduce amount of data being processed (optimized) within these TOFFEE devices and so reduce the CPU overheads and improve its performance.

TOFFEE Fudge is a simple intuitive Network Packet Generator which can be used to create custom test synthetic Network Packets and can be used in various applications such as networking research, network infrastructure troubleshooting, ethical hacking, as a network software development tool and so on.

You can build a basic TOFFEE WAN Optimization hardware completely in software layer (i.e its networking data-plane and control-plane). And if you are a product manufacturer you can make commercial WAN Optimization products with TOFFEE with software layer alone. And if you choose to improve its performance, you can use any third-party PCIe Compression Accelerator cards.

VPN Networks may degrade network performance due to various packet processing overheads such as encryption and by adding extra network protocol header(s) (such as IPv4/IPv6, IPSec, etc). This may inflate near MTU sized packets and causes excessive packet fragmentation. Here are the few examples of packet processing involved in a VPN (or a VPN like) Tunnel. With TOFFEE you can optimize these packets even before they get processed on to a VPN device. TOFFEE optimizes packet contents (application payload and transport headers) so that these TOFFEE optimized packets when they get processed by VPN devices (or VPN software stack) they may never need further packet fragmentation. Here is a deployment scenario of TOFFEE with VPN devices.

Assume you have two sites (such as Site-A and Site-B) connected via slow/critical WAN link as shown below. You can optimize this link by saving the bandwidth as well possibly improve the speed. However, the WAN speed can be optimized only if the WAN link speeds are below that of the processing latency of your TOFFEE installed hardware. Assume your WAN link is 12Mbps, and assume the maximum WAN optimization speed/capacity of Raspberry Pi is 20Mbps, then your link will get speed optimization too. And in another case, assume your WAN link is 50Mbps, then using the Raspberry Pi as WAN Optimization device will actually increase the latency (i.e slows the WAN link). But in all the cases the bandwidth savings should be the same irrespective of the WAN link speed. In other words, if you want to cut down the WAN link costs via this WAN Optimization set up, you can always get it since it reduces the overall bandwidth in almost all the cases (including encrypted and pre-compressed data).

I started TOFFEE-Mocha WAN Emulation software development on 1-June-2016. I took the existing TOFFEE components as a base. Although the TOFFEE-Mocha is entirely an independent fresh Open-Source WAN Emulation solution. Ever since I am in the process of defining and inventing features. So far I come up with the most important feature which is expected to be present in any WAN Emulation software is the packet delay option.

Here is a complete log of my lab battery purchase, service record which I maintain in Google drive. These I use for my home (or my family generic use) as well as a part of my home lab. I maintain a detailed log this way to monitor the failure rate of these batteries. This will allow me to select a specific brand/model which has higher success rate and to monitor any premature failure/expiry. The service log helps me to monitor and schedule the next service routine so that I can maintain these batteries in tip-top condition.