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% DOCUMENT VARIABLES (fold)
  \newcommand{\doctitle}{Advantages and Challenges in Operating a Converged Network in a Business Environment}
  \newcommand{\modname}{Network Management}
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% THE DOCUMENT (fold)
\begin{document}
  % Title page (fold)
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  % Table of contents (fold)
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  % Abstract (fold)
  \begin{abstract}
    Here would be an abstract, overall explanation of the entire document.

    It would be advisable to write this at the end, I imagine.
  \end{abstract}
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  % Report content (fold)

  \section{Introduction} % (fold)
  \label{sec:Introduction}

    % Describe the business context - who they are, current situation
    MediaTron is a medium-sized business enterprise, which currently operates a diverged network system. They utilise separate networks for each of data, voice and video traffic, which allows them to easily control access and quality to each of these services. However, the current director of resources at the company is unimpressed with the cost of operating three separate networks at all times. In light of this statement, this technical report will attempt to identify and explain the advantages and challenges involved in operating a converged network.

    % why is current situation bad?
    The current system in use by MediaTron requires operating multiple separate networks at once - one each for voice, video and all other data traffic. Whilst this can make it easier to determine which types of data have higher priority, it can massively inconvenience the business in other aspects. First and foremost, the cost of operating these networks is much higher than normal - it is clear even without explanation that operating three networks will be exponentially more expensive than operating only one. There are also additional challenges presented to the network administrators working for MediaTron, as they are required to monitor and work on multiple networks at any given time.

    % briefly explain convergence
    These problems, especially relating to the ease of administration of resultant networks, could quite possibly be mitigated by migrating MediaTron's business network to a converged architecture. Implementing a converged network means that all data will travel over a singular network - be it data, voice, or video. Implementing a converged network will decrease running costs as it only requires one network for all of the needed data, and it will ease administration due to the network administrator only having one network to look after at any one time.

    % further intro
    However, as with any technology, there are certain pitfalls that must be taken into consideration when making the switch. This report will attempt to explore and identify any issues or challenges that may result from implementing a converged network, such as problems related to quality of service and queuing strategies. Key concern will be given towards Quality of Service in this report, as ensuring all data is prioritised correctly is a major requirement of operating a successful converged network in a business environment.

  % section Introduction (end)
  \section{Converged Network Traffic} % (fold)
  \label{sec:Converged Network Traffic}
    % Briefly explain this section and some advantages
    The advantages and benefits of implementing a converged, singular network in a business environment are many. The remainder of this section will attempt to identify and explain the main advantages of converged networks, and how these advantages may specifically benefit MediaTron as a business.

    % brief desc of convergence
    ``In the telecommunications world, ``Convergence'' means moving towards the use of one medium as opposed to
many. There are many drivers for convergence, but perhaps the most significant is a vision of the future: a more elegant world where everything is simpler. Most telecommunications services (and much of the associated equipment) that we have today are a function of technological limitations, which existed at the time of their development and introduction'' \citep{Gorur2006}.

    % cost savings
    This would entail constructing a single physical network that will be responsible for carrying all the various types of data in MediaTron's internal network. One of the main advantages here is that a converged network will only require a singular physical network rather than the multiple required by a divergent infrastructure, which introduces cost savings related to the actual hardware and cabling involved in the business network \citep{Tsurusawa2010}.

    % easier administration
    Money saved here throughout the implementation of the network could be utilised in other areas of the business, which is a major advantage to MediaTron and it's assets. The resultant singular network would also be easier to administrate - there would only be one set of routers, cables and other equipment for network administrators to be concerned with. Not only does this save the time of the administrator and improve troubleshooting and error response time, it could lead to further cost savings by requiring less administration staff to be on hand at a time.

    % disadvantages to a singular network
    However, as with most technological systems, a converged network introduces some challenges in addition to the advantages it provides to the business. Transferring video and voice in tandem with data incurs additional network overhead, as the amount of bandwidth required by voice is quite large. It is even more so for video, as video may also include sound or audio data within the video stream \citep{Tsurusawa2010}.

    % expand on the above disadvantages
    The inclusion of voice and video with data on the network therefore can introduce congestion if the network becomes overloaded. If too much information (voice and video included) is being sent over the network at once, performance will begin to decrease as there will be competition between the voice, video and data traffic to reach it's respective destination.

    In order for a converged network to function correctly without significant slowdowns, a suitable QoS policy must be developed and integrated within the MediaTron business. There are a variety of QoS systems, most of which function quite differently to the others available.

  % section Converged Network Traffic (end)
  \section{Quality of Service} % (fold)
  \label{sec:Quality of Service}

    % how can we rectify this?
    Fortunately for MediaTron, there are already existing frameworks and methods that can assist in the management of traffic on a converged network. Commonly referred to as Quality of Service (QoS), these technologies usually function by assigning priorities to certain types of information on the network (voice, video, data), and then ensuring that any information sent locally follows these priorities. With proper configuration and setup, a QoS policy can be used to effectively ensure that voice, video and data arrive as effectively as possible over the network.

    % implementation
    There are a variety of different systems for the implementation of quality of service technologies on a network. However, at the base level, QoS systems are configured individually on routers, and are responsible for forwarding information on the network on a prioritised manner. Over the remainder of this section, some of the various quality of service technologies will be discussed. A suggested system for MediaTron to use in their network will be put forward, and the reasoning behind this decision will be explained.

    % types of QoS system
    In this section we will primarily be concerned with Integrated Services (IntServ) and Differentiated Services (DiffServ). Whilst both of these perform Quality of Service functionality, there are significant differences between the two which will be explored later on in this section.

    % IntServ
    \subsection{Integrated Services} % (fold)
    \label{sub:Integrated Services}

      % intro to intserv
      Integrated Services is a QoS architecture that aims to deliver fine-grained control over the information being transferred throughout the network. The basic idea behind IntServ is that every router in the system must implement it in order for traffic to travel successfully, and that every application which requires prioritisation has to make an individual reservation for the specific piece of data to travel.

      % IntServ quote
      ``In IntServ-based networks, each flow reserves network resource and the reserved resource is used by the flow at highest priority. Thus, the maximum end-to-end queueing delay of a flow can be precisely predicted solely from the amount of reserved network resource'' \citep{Shioda2005}.

      % analyse/explain quote and etc
      The IntServ system essentially reserves a portion of the available network resource for the desired application, from end-to-end. Each traffic flow then utilises it's reserved network resources at the highest priority, enabling it to reach it's destination as fast as possible over the reserved resource available.

      % advantages
      The reservation of the the entire end-to-end flow is one of the advantages of the Integrated Services system. As the flow reserves the specified amount of resource over the entire network, an accurate delay for data can be calculated, based upon the amount of network resource reserved. This would allow an administrator to prioritise traffic quite easily by assigning different amounts of network resource to various services running on MediaTron's network.

      % more stuff on intserv perhaps

    % subsection Integrated Services (end)

    \subsection{Differentiated Services} % (fold)
    \label{sub:Differentiated Services}

      % intro to diffserv section
      Differentiated Services, or DiffServ, is another common Quality of Service system in use today. In contrast to the IntServ system mentioned above, DiffServ is expressly designed for coarse-grained control over the data being transmitting, relying on the use of a few traffic classes to distinguish between the different data types and priorities.

      % explain what diffserv is
      The various traffic classes are then queued and sent over the network with different priorities. Relying on a few, well-defined classes with different priorities allows a network administrator to easily prioritise certain types of traffic on the network. Rather than requiring a traffic flow to be reserved through the entire network as with IntServ, DiffServ uses a field in the IP packet header to define the traffic classification \citep{CISCO2005}.

      % continue description - PHB?
      As information from different traffic classes arrives at various routers on the network, it is forwarded on to the next router in the series by one of a number of Per-Hop Behaviours (PHBs). There are a number of PHBs defined in DiffServ, and more can be added by an administrator. The PHB essentially helps to define the priority of the traffic class, as it specifies how quickly and efficiently the system should attempt to forward that type of information.

      % quote about DiffServ
      ``The DiffServ architecture enables service differentiation to be implemented in a scalable way so that heterogeneous traffic and performance requirements can be satisfied in a converged IP infrastructure'' \citep{Yang2007}.

      % how can it benefit mediatron?

    % subsection Differentiated Services (end)

  % section Quality of Service (end)
  \section{Queuing Strategies} % (fold)
  \label{sec:Queuing Strategies}

  	\subsection{FIFO} % (fold)
  	\label{sub:FIFO}

  	% subsection FIFO (end)
  	\subsection{WFQ} % (fold)
  	\label{sub:WFQ}

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  	\subsection{CBWFQ} % (fold)
  	\label{sub:CBWFQ}

  	% subsection CBWFQ (end)
  	\subsection{LLQ} % (fold)
  	\label{sub:LLQ}

  	% subsection LLQ (end)

  % section Queuing Strategies (end)
  \section{Conclusion} % (fold)
  \label{sec:Conclusion}

    % this speaks for itself i think

  % section Conclusion (end)
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\end{document}
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