Insights into the issue in IPv6 adoption: a view from the Chinese IPv6 Application mix

Published onlineThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Although IPv6 has been standardized more than 15 years ago, its deployment is still very limited. China has been strongly pushing IPv6, especially due to its limited IPv4 address space. In this paper, we describe measurements from a large Chinese academic network, serving a significant population of IPv6 hosts. We show that despite its expected strength, China is struggling as much as the western world to increase the share of IPv6 traffic. To understand the reasons behind this, we examine the IPv6 applicative ecosystem. We observe a significant IPv6 traffic growth over the past 3 years, with P2P file transfers responsible for more than 80% of the IPv6 traffic, compared with only 15% for IPv4 traffic. Checking the top websites for IPv6 explains the dominance of P2P, with popular P2P trackers appearing systematically among the top visited sites, followed by Chinese popular services (e.g., Tencent), as well as surprisingly popular third-party analytics including Google. Finally, we compare the throughput of IPv6 and IPv4 flows. We find that a larger share of IPv4 flows get a high-throughput compared with IPv6 flows, despite IPv6 traffic not being rate limited. We explain this through the limited amount of HTTP traffic in IPv6 and the presence of Web caches in IPv4. Our findings highlight the main issue in IPv6 adoption, that is, the lack of commercial content, which biases the geographic pattern and flow throughput of IPv6 traffic. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

THash: A Practical Network Optimization Scheme for DHT-based P2P Applications

International audienceP2P platforms have been criticized because of the heavy strain that they can inflict on costly inter-domain links of network operators. It is therefore mandatory to develop network optimization schemes for controlling the load generated by a P2P platform on an operator network. While many research efforts exist on centralized tracker-based systems, in recent years multiple DHT-based P2P platforms have been widely deployed and considered as commercial services due to their scalability and fault tolerance. Finding network optimization for DHT-based P2P applications has thereby potential large practical impacts. In this paper, we present THash, a simple scheme that implements a distributed and effective network optimization for DHT systems. THash uses standard DHT put/get semantics and utilizes a triple hash method to guide the DHT clients to choose their sharing peers in proper domains. We have implemented THash in a major commercial P2P system (PPLive), using the standard ALTO/P4P protocol as the network information source. We conducted experiments over this network in real operation and observed that compared with Native DHT, THash reduced respectively by 47.4% and 67.7% the inter-PID and inter-AS traffic, while reducing the average downloading time by 14.6% to 24.5%

Developing a Modern Infrastructure for Open Distance Education in China: The Implementation of the NCEC Project

The NCEC project was a joint venture between China and Europe to deliver Internet-based distance education in China. The project was proposed in 1995, sponsored by the European Union since 1998, and finally completed in 2002. This paper shows how the NCEC project was planned and developed, and the importance of its role in the history of Internet application development in China

Network Optimization for DHT-based Applications

International audienceP2P platforms have been criticized because of the heavy strain that some P2P services can inflict on costly inter-domain links of network operators. It is therefore necessary to develop network optimization schemes for controlling the load generated by P2P platforms on an operator network. Previous focus on network optimization has been mostly on centralized tracker-based systems. However, in recent years multiple DHT-based P2P networks are widely deployed due to their scalability and fault tolerance, and these networks have even been considered as platforms for commercial services..Thereby, finding network optimization for DHT-based P2P applications has potentially large practical impacts. In this paper, we present THash, a simple scheme to implement an effective distributed network optimization for DHT systems. THash is based on standard DHT put/get semantics and utilizes a triple hash method to guide the DHT clients sharing resources with peers in proper domains. We have implemented THash in a major P2P application (PPLive) by using the standard ALTO/P4P protocol as the network information source. We conducted realistic experiments over the network and observed that compared with Native DHT, THash only generated 45.5\% and 35.7\% of inter-PID and inter-AS traffic, and at the same time shortened the average downloading time by 13.8\% to 22.1\%

Peering Strategic Game Models for Interdependent ISPs in Content Centric Internet

Emergent content-oriented networks prompt Internet service providers (ISPs) to evolve and take major responsibility for content delivery. Numerous content items and varying content popularities motivate interdependence between peering ISPs to elaborate their content caching and sharing strategies. In this paper, we propose the concept of peering for content exchange between interdependent ISPs in content centric Internet to minimize content delivery cost by a proper peering strategy. We model four peering strategic games to formulate four types of peering relationships between ISPs who are characterized by varying degrees of cooperative willingness from egoism to altruism and interconnected as profit-individuals or profit-coalition. Simulation results show the price of anarchy (PoA) and communication cost in the four games to validate that ISPs should decide their peering strategies by balancing intradomain content demand and interdomain peering relations for an optimal cost of content delivery

Planning the Taiwan Access Management Federation based on Shibboleth

There are a number of different ways in which it may be verified that a user at a computer attached to the internet may be certified as being entitled to use an electronic resource (usually one that has to be paid for) held on a server elsewhere on the internet. Authentication by Internet Protocol is appropriate when the user is in a fixed environment but to enable a user to have wider access other mechanisms are needed, the most universally applicable being authentication relying on the information provided by an access management federation using Shibboleth. Shibboleth is a standard-based, open source software package for web single sign-on across or within organizational boundaries. It allows sites to make informed authorization decisions for individual access of protected online resources in a privacy-preserving manner. The requirements for the security of the solution particularly regarding the intellectual property rights of the owners of the data are discussed. Various possible solutions are outlined based on those in use in the UK Federation, the US InCommon system, the Swiss SWITCHaai, and the Australian Access Federation. The framework and development leading to the implementation of the Taiwan Access Management Federation (TAMF) primarily follow the SWITCHaai and to a lesser extent the other three Federations. The history, management structure, software used and the organization participants in the four federations that TAMF follows are discussed. The progress of TMAF is described as well. It is hoped that this could serve as a model for federations around the world

Expanding Access to Learning

Universities by tradition are established to teach, conduct research, and provide services to communities. With the computer and modem, the classrooms and ivy-covered walls of today\u27s colleges are becoming artifacts of education as it used to be. What we call non-traditional today because they are delivered through various distance learning technologies (computer, videotape, correspondence etc.) will become the preferred delivery system for education in the 21st century. Especially in developing countries, open universities are playing a more important role than tradition ones to make higher education available to more people--especially adults--principally through a system of open access and distance education. Launched in 1981, the Self-Taught Higher Education Examinations Program (SHEE) is a component of the higher education system of china. SHEE, run by the National Education Examinations Authority (NEEA), provides an alternative way to obtain diplomas for people who cannot access the general universities and colleges. It is a form of higher education combining independent study, social assistance, and state examinations. It has been claimed as the world\u27s largest self-study higher education system with 56 of every 10,000 people in the country having attended self-study examinations for the equivalent of a college diploma. All the citizens of the People\u27s Republic of China (PRC), regardless of sex, age, ethnic group, race, or level of education, can take the examinations. Basically, SHEE is not only an examination system but also a type of open university of distance education system. One of its apparent weaknesses is that there is not a campus with the education. The examinees or the students lack enough guidance in their learning process. It is hard for them either to find partners to communicate or facilities such as libraries and labs to utilize. Under these circumstances, the promotion of learning assistance has become the focus of the system. The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) is the Global membership organization of educational institutions, national and regional associations, corporations, educational, authorities and agencies in the fields of open learning, distance education, and flexible, life-long learning. Founded in 1938, the mission of the ICDE is to help provide education for students and children living far away from schools. The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) has become over the years the global membership organization in the field and is now (in 2002) present in 142 countries. The majority of its membership is composed of educational institutions at all levels (schools, colleges, universities), but it also includes national and regional associations, corporations, educational authorities and agencies, active in open, virtual and distance learning. Universitata Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) (Catalonia, Spain) is a virtual university with a global and pioneering focus. UOC offers use of information and communications technologies (ICT). This enables it to overcome barriers imposed by time and space and to offer model of education based on personalized attention for each student. At the UOC, students, professors, and administrators interact and cooperate on the Virtual Campus, making a university community which uses the Internet to create, structure, share, and disseminate knowledge. Since 2001, ICDE, UOC, and NEEA have worked on a project entitled Developing EU-China e-learning Model and Capacities, which has been financially aided by the Council of Europe. The purpose of the project is to promote the e-learning in China by introducing the leading technology and experience in distance education and e-learning of European countries. The project consists of three phases: (1) a study comparing and contrasting the distance education systems and current situations in China and EU, (2) development of a model for virtual education in China, where three questions regarding three aspects are answered: content, teaching methodology, and delivery technology, (3) the development and testing of a platform. The current paper will track and summarize the research activities conducted during the project and explore the education theory and models involved in the project. The advantages and disadvantages, feasibilities and difficulties of e-learning will be discussed as well

In Search of a New Model: Library Resource Sharing in China - A Comparative Study

This paper reviews the framework of library resource sharing (LRS) in China and examines, from a comparative perspective, cases of recent development, particularly in the 1990s and early 2000s. Highlights include: (1) historical review of LRS in the U.S. and China, particularly in the areas of print union catalogs and union lists, online bibliographic utilities, and interlibrary loan; (2) literature review of Chinese publications, and LRS issues and challenges in China; (3) Analysis of three LRS models to provide a contextual grasp of a paradigm shift taking place in China; and (4) comparative analysis of LRS objectives, structure, and governance, etc., in the U.S. and China. The study also underscores the imperative for building a national digital library system in China to gain a competitive edge in resource sharing and to support the country’s rapid social and economic growth. At this stage of development, the success of China Academic Library & Information System provides a convincing argument for a national digital library system with its methods of governing, financing, and development