Confessions of a Network Manager (Part 1)

Okay, I confess.  It's true.  I'm a network manager.  I manage networks.  Not directly, but I approve policies that authorize our technical people to do just that.  I can't help myself.  There, I said it.

What is network management?

Simply put, network management is a series of rules that network managers put in place to ensure the smooth operation of their networks, thus maximizing customers' experiences.  I'm not sure why, but network management has become a debate. 

Why do we do this?

Network management is not your enemy -- it is your friend, even if you're a P2P enthusiast.  Without network management, everyone's online experience would melt down to a completely useless exercise.  It would reduce the Internet to a chaotic free-for-all as if you built a 10-lane superhighway and didn't have any traffic laws in place to keep the traffic moving.

The fact is, network management is absolutely necessary throughout the Internet, from the ISP's all the way through to backbone providers.  It happens everywhere on the Internet.  And it's a good thing that it does.

Bandwidth, throughout the Internet, is a shared asset.  Accordingly, we all have to learn to live with one other as good neighbors.  You don't go to Joe's Barbecue, an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant, and proceed to eat all the food.  The goodies are affordable because they are offered under law of averages and a shared economic model.  If my brother-in-law, Norman, and a few of his buddies showed up every night, Joe would either have to raise the price for everyone or start charging by the pound.

Why are we having this debate?

I guess, to some extent, we created this debate ourselves.  Many of us, myself included, didn't really want to talk about how we managed our networks to keep the traffic flowing smoothly.  We simply did it. Frankly, I believed that if we were totally transparent about it, certain people would figure out ways to defeat the rules of the road, making our management practices harder and more intrusive than we were wanting them to be.

Before you start flaming me, take a deep breath.

Today, let's look at upstream bandwidth.  Here's the deal.  Last time we checked, when we didn't employ network management techniques, far fewer than 5% of our customers monopolized over 80% of our upstream bandwidth.  Suffice it to say (and without going into the technical reasons) clogged upstream also ruins the downstream experiences for everyone else as well.  What does a clogged network mean? ...

Email?  Looks more like snail mail.

Looking up information?  Use the encyclopedia (if you have one). 

Gaming?  Go to an arcade.

Shopping?  Drive to the mall.

Sharing pictures of the kids?  Mail them.

In order for all those things to work, we say to the 5%'ers that, instead of taking 80% of the available bandwidth, you can only have 40% of the upstream at any given time.  You still get 8-times more than the average user, you just can't have it all.

And, what's this about us picking on P2P protocols?

We really don't.  We really are content agnostic.  We look for any and every cause of meaningful bandwidth-usage disparities.  When we find them, we look for ways to smooth out the spikes without blocking the content. But the fact is, that today's Internet usage patterns result in P2P traffic being one of the most disproportionate bandwidth users.  But it's not about what it is, it's just about how much it's using. 

Why don't we just build as much as everyone can use?

ISP's are spending billions of dollars constantly provisioning for increasing bandwidth demand.  It's a never-ending battle which, frankly, I hope never ends.  It means we're in a successful business. But we have to pace our spending so it doesn't get way in front of the vast majority of users' needs.  If we don't, the Internet would become totally unaffordable for almost everyone. 

So, what's so bad?

In this post's example -- upstream bandwidth management -- I've explained that we actually allow disproportionate users to have nearly 10 times more bandwidth than the average customers' demand.  We just don't let them have it all.  That way, we keep the entire Internet experience working reliably and affordable for all.

Research confirms that consumers rate our service higher than any of our competitors' and that we're one of the best ISP's in the country. Responsible network management is one of the reasons we are able to provide one of the fastest and best Internet experiences in the nation.

So, go ahead Norman, have another burger.  Have 8.  But please, don't eat 20.

Comments

[Addm]

Hi Benoit, you didn't store your images in a sdoeblufr in the slideshow's plugin folder, did you? Because other people have had that problem. If so, you'll have to recreate that sdoeblufr and re-upload the images. To avoid this problem at every upgrade, you'd better store the images somewhere else, outside of the plugin folder.If this doesn't solve your problem, could you please give me a link so I can check your website? If you don't want to post it here, send it to me using the contact form (see contact' in the top menu).Oh, and please, next time ask support questions in the support forum.

[Wyatt Ditzler]

For a few network management is not an issue of whether it should be done. The underlying assumption is that if the network manages the traffic the network can also manage the information that goes across. Effectively ending any sense of privacy in electronic communications.

Personally, I have become a convert from the 'network neutrality' group because I think they are missing the mark. We need to have a discussion to insure that the Internet is working effectively, fairly, and still allows for privacy (mindful of the law etc). This would require defining privacy in the electronic context. The other portion is oversight as to whether ISPs follow the legislation.

[Ben]

I agree that that QOS is an important tool in keeping service freely flowing to all paying subscribers.
However, it's also important that it not be employed as a means to block or charge premium fees to access certain parts of the internet (i.e, ebay, youtube, gaming ports, p2p, etc...)

In this article, Michael says Insight is "content agnostic" and that's very reassuring to hear. I would be interested in reading a more in-depth article on Michael's views on Net Neutrailty.

[Dave Wallace II]

I totally agree that network management is a must to running a good network.

However I think that insight and other cable companies are stricter with network management because all the phone customers are on the same cable modem network. (I think they are using QOS for VOIP).

I know this because I hooked my old cable modem up with ethereal and noticed a much of 10.X.X.X address after looking at the packets I discovered that they were Arris/other phone adapters. (I like Arris since I owned some of their stock)

Hands down insight cable modem service is fast and in fact the new 20 mbps plan is faster than Verizon Fios downstream (Not upstream).
The only thing that bugs me about the cable modem service is if you have a ****** neighbor he/she can stiff your packets and see what you’re doing.

Michael, thanks for the blog I enjoy reading your posts.

Can you answer a few questions?

1- Why are phone customers not on a different CMTS system?

2- What are the bit rates of the HD feeds?
a. Are any of the hd feed’s coming off the HITS 105 bird?

3- Clear QAM anytime soon?

Best Regards
Dave Wallace II